Hard Light Productions Forums
Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: Enigmatic Entity on April 27, 2009, 05:36:13 pm
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So what do you think of this "swine" flu virus? Do you think it'll go global? Do you think someone made it up and released it hoping for some kind of mass death? Solutions? Discuss:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090424/ap_on_he_me/med_swine_flu (I couldn't be bothered searching elsewhere...).
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I'm no medical expert, but I've been wary of the "OMG VIRAL OUTBREAK GOING TO KILL US ALL" scares we seem to have every four years or so.
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yeah, it all reeks of some conspiracy to sell those little white mask thingys
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I'm sure that's what people said originally about Mono Turambar :p
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Turambar knows about mono.
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&t=p&msa=0&msid=106484775090296685271.0004681a37b713f6b5950&ll=32.639375,-110.390625&spn=15.738151,25.488281&source=embed
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I'm no medical expert, but I've been wary of the "OMG VIRAL OUTBREAK GOING TO KILL US ALL" scares we seem to have every four years or so.
There's a fine balance between taking due care of this sort of thing and running around like Chicken Little.
On one hand the media loves a good panic. But on the other hand Spanish flu killed around 100 million people. Making people take care and containing these diseases is a good idea. Although SARS and avian flu may seem like an overreaction now it's worth remembering that we have no idea how widespread they would have been had the WHO not come down on any suspected case like a ton of bricks.
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Hmm, there's two cases right next door in Kansas
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.
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There's 'Ton 'o Bricks' and then there Janet Napolitano briefing the press corp about it.
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I may be a panic riddled baby, but I would much rather my government take a good long look at any fatal disease that could become an epidemic.
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To be honest, I think this may have been around in the US longer than being said. For instance, the past few months, a lot of people have come down with a nasty respiratory infection along with cold/mild flu like symptoms just like the mild cases of the swine flu that are going on in NY. I caught it too, and while much more annoying than deadly, I easily see how this could translate into pneumonia. I got over it after getting a steroid shot from the local Dr. Now whether or not any relation, I don't know.
The more I'm watching, the more I think that had this just been in the US, it would have likely been just diagnosed as an late season outbreak of the flu or some kind of crud.
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http://xkcd.com/574/
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The vaccine for it will appear in about two weeks, big deal.
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While this is probably another "YOU CAN PANIC NOW" to some degree, fear is prevention.
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...you may want to consider an alternate destination. The WHO has raised the pandemic threat to 4.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090427.wflu0428/BNStory/Front/home
And no, this isn't just fear-mongering. If the lethal strain goes person-to-person and retains its virulence in colder climates, this thing could be 1918 Redux.
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Well, ****, I'm screwed.
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My friend was going to mexico for his honeymoon.
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Eh, they said that with SARS and bird flu. SARS was something to get scared about since we didn't have anything to protect against it. At least we've got some treatments for it based on existing H1N1 vaccine stockpiles.
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*Flails arms*
We're DOOMED!
Seriously, though, I bet it'll vanish within a few weeks.
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great time to go to mexico though
i bet plane tickets are super cheap right now
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Huh, I didn't think of that. Let's go, then, Tura.
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Eh, they said that with SARS and bird flu.
Yep. And prompt action from the WHO stopped them being a bigger problem.
I've never understood the thought processes of people who complain that disasters weren't bigger because proper precautions were taken against them.
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Who's been complaining that they're not a bigger problem?
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It's a fairly common thing. I've heard all kinds of complaints about the reaction to SARS being heavy-handed.
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Eh, they said that with SARS and bird flu. SARS was something to get scared about since we didn't have anything to protect against it. At least we've got some treatments for it based on existing H1N1 vaccine stockpiles.
The only functional mitigating treatment we have is antivirals... and those aren't widely available in most of the world. If this thing actually does switch to a lethal person-to-person transmittable strain capable of operating in colder climates, this is a pandemic virus with the potential to decimate the Third World and wreak havoc even in countries with advanced health care systems.
In point of fact, this IS the avian influenza scare - a recombinant flu virus with avian components, incubated in pigs, that successfully jumps to humans. The whole reason why avian influenza is a worry in the medical community is because of the recombinant properties of influenza as a viral family - it can create novel forms for which we have no natural immunity or medical counter with relative ease. Anti-virals are of limited effectiveness because they are targeted generically at the viral immune response rather than at a particular virus.
SARS did not kill normal healthy adults. Influenza does, and a novel strain of influenza is just as capable of wiping out a third of the human population on Earth now as it was back in 1918.
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Isn't the swine flu actually killing young adults, as well? That'd be a significant cause for worry.
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Eh, they said that with SARS and bird flu.
Yep. And prompt action from the WHO stopped them being a bigger problem.
I've never understood the thought processes of people who complain that disasters weren't bigger because proper precautions were taken against them.
Who's been complaining that they're not a bigger problem?
It's a fairly common thing. I've heard all kinds of complaints about the reaction to SARS being heavy-handed.
So true, and I even thought that tendence was an Italian featureTM, only.
But yeah, those people are boring. What do they expect, several hundred thousand deaths or anything like that to justify precautions? :wtf:
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This just happens to have happened during allergy season as well, so people who are sick from an immune overreaction to pollen get to be scared besides being miserable.
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All this talk of a pandemic has reminded me of this website (http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/).
I wonder how effective those treatments they have been stockpiling will be, should things become worse. Apparently, it would take months to make an effective vaccine for this type of flu according to what I'm reading here (http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUKTRE53P2KH20090426).
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Isn't the swine flu actually killing young adults, as well? That'd be a significant cause for worry.
It's killed people in Mexico from pneumonia following the flu(which is how the normal seasonal flu kills). From some of the articles I've read, doctors in Mexico, turned a lot away or denied them care. That would easily explain the deaths so far as pneumonia can easily kill you if you don't get medical help.
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This just happens to have happened during allergy season as well, so people who are sick from an immune overreaction to pollen get to be scared besides being miserable.
I hear that, allergies are full fledged and it's time for another soaker to wash away the pollen. :ick:
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(http://rookery3.viary.com/storagev12/1365500/1365985_2a3c_600x1000.jpg)
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Isn't the swine flu actually killing young adults, as well? That'd be a significant cause for worry.
Yeah but young does not equal healthy. They could already be immune compromised and their systems are not able to fight off the flu.
Remember...its the flu. It may be a nastier flu but the flu isn't really new to us....the statistics for the numbers of people who die from the flu every year are out there and its not some small insignificant number. The key is prevention followed by proper treatment. I don't think this is panic worthy yet....BUT the panic may make people do some sensible things like wash their bloody hands!
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Some cases in NS. Man, this ruins my parents big vacation.
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The conspiracy nutters are definately going to have a field day with this......
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The conspiracy nutters are definately going to have a field day with this......
They're way ahead of you. :p
Just found out that a few people down at my school's campus have presented "probable" cases of it, though there aren't really any details to go around. If they made the connection that quickly, I kind of suspect they must have been in Mexico recently.
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Thankfully I'm not going to England until December. I know that's nowhere near Mexico, but I'd rather not travel around during this time.
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A bit of basic hygiene, washing your hands regularly, not transferring particles from outside to your hands to your eyes/nose/mouth and everyone should be fine (unless the virus is spread by airborne particles? I'm not sure). That's the message the media should be sending out really.
EDIT: Well, obviously not fine as such considering the virulence of the strain, but still sensationalisation and inciting mass panic does nobody any good. Better to highlight the dangers of the influenza in a way that encourages proper steps to be taken to limit the spread.
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http://xkcd.com/574/
"how long until the swine flu reaches me here in madagasgar?"
:lol:
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I remember that game...
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http://xkcd.com/574/
"how long until the swine flu reaches me here in madagasgar?"
:lol:
It can't beat "My dad said flu vaccines are linked to autism, so to be safe from swine flu i'm trying to lick an autistic kid."
All the more hilarious considering we had that exact argument a month ago or so ago. Minus the... y'know... licking.
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What's the big deal about Madagascar? It seems to pop up a lot when talking about swine flu.
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What's the big deal about Madagascar? It seems to pop up a lot when talking about swine flu.
There's a relatively popular Flash game called "Pandemic" that involves trying to tweak a deadly virus to wipe out the entire human population. The trouble is, the island of Madagascar often tends to close its borders at the first sign of outbreak, leaving it high and dry and costing you the game. There have been some people editing the Wiki article on swine flu to say that the country had decided to close up shop. :p
Looks like we have the death of a 23-month-old in Texas being contributed to the virus. Sadly, it was probably just a matter of time until there was a fatality here.