Swine Flu: Stay Updated

[sculpting]

my baby has swine flu....

 

[violaine]

^Ack! You scared me (in live new posts!) He is very sweet.

 

[heart]

Arrrrrrgh! There's a women at work in hysterics about it....I suppose it's not too misplaced as we are on the front lines, but still, we are in Australia, only unconfirmed cases here. Oh and one of the registras decreed any one with the sniffles MUST sent home IMMEDIATELY.
Whoop, whoop....I love a good flu pandemic, keeps me employed.

Goodness, so far this flu doesn't sound as bad as something like some of those respiratory syncytial virus that go around and no one gets all excited about trying to stop the spread of them. I knew a couple who lost their heathy 18 month old to one of those and that winter me and my friend were so very sick and she ended up in the hospital with pneumonia. There's always bad stuff that can go around in the season it happens.

 

[Synarch]

my baby has swine flu....

Looks just like you.







(kidding)

 

[sculpting]

Looks just like you.



(kidding)

you should have seen him before the surgery.... The curly tail was cute, we almost kept it....

my widdle piggy-wiggy

 

[JAVO]

Here is an interesting observation from one epidemiologist's blog:

From: Aetiology: Swine flu--deja vu all over again?

Back in 2007, I wrote about an outbreak of swine influenza from an Ohio county fair. The peer-reviewed paper analyzing the swine influenza isolated from that outbreak has just recently come out.
...
According to her analyses, the Ohio pig isolates are the most closely related to the new Texas and California human isolates.
...
So what it looks like to me is that this isn't a *new* reassortant virus, but is closely related to one that had already been identified in swine--and that had already caused an outbreak in humans right here in the US.

 

[jenocyde]

YouTube - 1976 Swine Flu Propaganda

 

[Jeremy]

MESSAGE FROM JOE ALUTTO AND
JAVAUNE ADAMS-GASTON
The Ohio State University Medical Center is releasing the following statement this evening (4/29). We want to make sure you received this before it is released to the local news.

The Ohio State University Medical Center provided treatment to a patient who was diagnosed with probable swine influenza A (H1N1) virus, which is pending confirmation at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The patient is an employee of the Medical Center who contracted the virus outside the workplace. The patient responded well to treatment and is being discharged this evening.

OSU Medical Center staff followed all recommended precautions to prevent the spread of the illness to others. Individuals who had contact with the patient prior to admission are being notified. The Medical Center is providing prophylactic/preventive medication to those individuals, in accordance with standard CDC recommendations.

The Medical Center’s normal patient visitation schedule remains unchanged. The hospital continues to urge all visitors and staff to follow infection control steps including covering your mouth and nose if you have a cough or sneeze, and not visit patients if you are ill. Frequent use of waterless hand sanitizers is also recommended.

OSU Medical Center is working in collaboration with the CDC, Ohio Department of Health, and Columbus Public Health and following all appropriate guidelines.

For more information on swine influenza, go to CDC - Influenza (Flu) | Swine Influenza (Flu).

We will provide updates in the following days through e-mail and the university emergency web site Business and Finance :: default.

Shit just got real.

 

[CrystalViolet]

Goodness, so far this flu doesn't sound as bad as something like some of those respiratory syncytial virus that go around and no one gets all excited about trying to stop the spread of them. I knew a couple who lost their heathy 18 month old to one of those and that winter me and my friend were so very sick and she ended up in the hospital with pneumonia. There's always bad stuff that can go around in the season it happens.

I can understand the registar's concern. I suspect he's been wanting to impliment those rules for a while. He has to be more careful than most, as he has dealings with immunocomprimised patients. Admittly I thought it was an odd reaction for a doctor.
Protocol women (sorry, personal nickname) is however one of those people who believes everything that's written down. You should see her head spin when she reads contridictary reports at work.
I agree about worse things being out there, so I reckon it's a smoke screen for something else.

 

[sculpting]

I was teaching him to be a "feeler"...

 

[heart]

Food for thought from an opinion piece:

Simon Jenkins: Swine flu? A panic stoked in order to posture and spend | Comment is free | The Guardian

It is flu, a mutation of the H1N1 virus of the sort that often occurs. It is not a pandemic, despite the media prefix, not yet. The BBC calls it a "potentially terrible virus", but any viral infection is potentially terrible...(snip)

Meanwhile a real pestilence, MRSA and C difficile, was taking hold in hospitals. It was suppressed by the medical profession because it appeared that they themselves might be to blame. These diseases have played a role in thousands of deaths in British hospitals - the former a reported 1,652 and the latter 8,324 in 2007 alone. Like deaths from alcoholism, we have come to regard hospital-induced infection as an accident of life, a hazard to which we have subconsciously adjusted.

MRSA and C difficile are not like swine flu, an opportunity for public figures to scare and posture and spend money. They are diseases for which the government is to blame. They claim no headlines and no Cobra priority. Their sufferers must crawl away and die in silence.

 

[matmos]

The two Scots who caught Piggy Flu in Mexico have just strolled out of (enforced) isolation in Airdrie hospital - none the worse for this "lethal" virus.

 

[swordpath]

Thank God I'm currently safe in Iraq.

/irony

 

[Salomé]

The two Scots who caught Piggy Flu in Mexico have just strolled out of (enforced) isolation in Airdrie hospital - none the worse for this "lethal" virus.

We scoff at your "swine 'flu".

 

[prplchknz]

I had a tickle in my throat yesterday (dust most likely) while standing in line at walgreen's and so I cough and people around me took a step away from me. Slightly entertaining.

 

[heart]

Purple? Was this you today?

Female passenger's 'flu-like symptoms' divert flight from Germany to Boston

Okay, so from what I understand, here in the USA people are sick a few days with a mild flu and then they get better---unless they already have some immuno-compromising illness. This is SOP. But they are closing schools?

We all already heard the WHO and CDC say that there was no real way to keep this thing from spreading and if they believe it may mutate, isn't it better that more people catch it while it is mild and gain immunity to it? I just don't understand.

 

[Kyrielle]

Female passenger's 'flu-like symptoms' divert flight from Germany to Boston

Okay, so from what I understand, here in the USA people are sick a few days with a mild flu and then they get better---unless they already have some immuno-compromising illness. This is SOP. But they are closing schools?

We all already heard the WHO and CDC say that there was no real way to keep this thing from spreading and if they believe it may mutate, isn't it better that more people catch it while it is mild and gain immunity to it? I just don't understand.

I don't know. There's no vaccine for it, and aside from basic hygiene and taking care of yourself, which you should be doing anyway, there's not much you can do to stop it. I'm not terribly worried. I think people are freaking out so much because it came from pigs. As far as I'm concerned, it's just yet another flu mutation and seems to be doing the same things that every other flu mutation has done. (Watch some evil swine-flu-induced fate befall me.)

When it upgrades to a super flu like the one in Stephen King's The Stand, then I'll be more than just mildly concerned.

 

[Jeremy]

MESSAGE FROM OSU EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

Ohio State student diagnosed with probable swine flu

An Ohio State University student was diagnosed with probable swine influenza A (H1N1) virus, which is pending confirmation at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The student was exposed to the virus outside the university through close contact with family members that were believed to have the H1N1 virus.

The student is a male, freshman and a resident of Stradley Hall. The university is following recommended precautions to prevent the spread of the illness to others. The student has been moved to another location for isolation and is being treated and monitored.

The university is communicating with the 450 residents of Stradley Hall. In addition, individuals who had close contact with the student over the last two days are being notified. The student health center is offering prophylactic/preventive medication to those individuals.

The Wilce Student Health Center, 1875 Millikin Rd., will hold clinic hours for students tomorrow from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. Students also can call the clinic’s advice nurse line at 614-292-4321.

The university continues to urge all students, faculty and staff to follow infection control steps including frequent hand washing and covering your mouth and nose if you have a cough or sneeze. Frequent use of waterless hand sanitizers is also recommended.
Ohio State is working in collaboration with the CDC, Ohio Department of Health, and Columbus Public Health and following all appropriate guidelines.

The university continues all regular operations.

For more information on swine influenza, go to this page.
Ohio State students, faculty and staff will be updated regularly through the emergency web site Home - Emergency - The Ohio State University.

Sincerely,
Bob Armstrong
Director, Emergency Management & Fire Prevention

Shit just got realer.

Also, freaking freshmen going out and getting the pig flu. They need to stop sharing those beers from that shady Mexican guy.

 

[CrystalViolet]

There has to be something more to this? Something They're not telling us? I read on the updates that work has now started e-mail us that WHO is one step away from shutting down international boarders and preventing international travel! What!
The conspiracy theorist in me says there is an alteria motive here....

 

[ptgatsby]

The conspiracy theorist in me says there is an alteria motive here....

Nah, just people not understanding that they are attempting to prevent what could be (and what is likely if they do nothing), and not what is. That's prone to over-reaction, unfortunately, as the weakest link is what causes the dam to break.