Swine Flu

[softballdaddy]

The University Interscholastic League, which oversees school competitions in the state of Texas, has suspended all competition until May 11 because of concern over the swine flu pandemic. Charles Breithaupt reported in a written statement“Taking every possible precaution to prevent the further spreading of this disease is an important contribution to the welfare of our great state, and altering the schedule of our events is a way to keep our participants safe."

[softballdaddy]

Many years back my  wife had the sniffles, she asked what I thought she had...I answered on her it could only be the swine flu...to make a long story short, I am single.

[Dr PennyStock]

Many years back my  wife had the sniffles, she asked what I thought she had...I answered on her it could only be the swine flu...to make a long story short, I am single.

ROFLMAO

[boomer]

LOL I kills me when they make OLD News new again.

Well since everybody is scared and freaked out  how about a pandemic scare?

http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssHealthcareNews/idUSN0242732820090302?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0

 WASHINGTON, March 2 (Reuters) - Virtually all cases of the most common strain of flu circulating in the United States now resist the main drug used to treat it, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Monday.

CDC researchers said 98 percent of all flu samples from the H1N1 strain were resistant to Roche AG's (ROG.VX) Tamiflu, a pill that can both treat flu and prevent infection. Four patients infected with the resistant strain have died, including two children.

This year, H1N1 is the most common strain of flu in the United States, although the flu season is a mild one so far, and still below the levels considered an epidemic.

Few doctors even test patients for flu, and Tamiflu is not widely prescribed. But the news is sobering because the pill, known generically as oseltamivir, is one of the few weapons against influenza, which kills an estimated 36,000 people in the United States in an average year.

It is also considered a key weapon against a potential pandemic of a new type of influenza, and this study suggests the virus can rapidly evade its effects.

http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/P144404.asp

Bird flu sweeps southern China! Bird flu blasts northern Thailand! Bird flu attacks Turkey! Germany finds bird flu! Bulgaria, Romania, Azerbaijan -- bird flu, bird flu, bird flu!

Well, you can say one thing for the threat of an avian influenza pandemic. It does provide a pretty good geography lesson. Maybe we can watch Where in the World Is Bird Flu? on PBS from our quarantine bunkers.

No one can know for sure when or if the virus will make the jump to humans -- or whether any of these 28 companies working on treatments will hit it big

[boomer]

Also just to clear that post up

H5N1 is bird Flu

H1N1 is Swine Flu

[ShyTrader]

What I find so interesting is how it is being blown so far out of proportion.

In stead of emphasizing goo hygiene, and taking care of yourself, and being careful and considerate of others, and taking vitamins, and getting enough sleep at night, the news media has everyone in a panic.

Since I play the stock market, I would ALMOST bet, that more people have died from the "normal" flue than have died from either the bird or swine flue this year. That's just a guess, but with the reported death cases so far, it's pretty insignificant for all this PR.

[boomer]

36k die every year in the US from the Flu. Swine flu has killed 5 people in the US and 56 in Mexico.


http://uk.reuters.com/article/healthNewsMolt/idUKTRE54A4BA20090511
The new strain of H1N1 flu that has killed 56 people in Mexico and been carried around the world by travelers appears to be more easily passed along than the regular seasonal flu, researchers reported on Monday.

As many as 23,000 Mexicans were likely infected with the swine flu virus,

[ShyTrader]

36k die every year in the US from the Flu. Swine flu has killed 5 people in the US and 56 in Mexico.

I recognize that it is a bigger issue in Mexico, but just cause something is really bad in another country, does not mean we need to panic here. I think your numbers prove my point emphatically.

Assuming your numbers are correct, and I'm sure they are (If I remember right you are in the medical field) than
On AVERAGE, in the last 6 weeks 4500 Americans have died from the flu (assuming 36k per year).
Contrast that with 5 from H1N1 during the same period.

I'm not trying to hint we should not worry about it, but we do have to put it in perspective. MOST people are surviving it better than the regular flu.

[boomer]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601124&sid=aLfBou.TH4lI&refer=home

"About four of 1,000 people infected with the new H1N1 strain in Mexico by late April died, according to a study published today in the journal Science that was led by Neil Ferguson of the Imperial College London."

"Swine flu has been confirmed today in 4,694 people, according to the WHO, the health agency of the United Nations. Sixty-one people have died, including 56 in Mexico, three in the U.S., and one each in Canada and Costa Rica, health officials said. The U.S. confirmed 2,618 cases in 44 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

http://www.who.int/en/

(If I remember right you are in the medical field)

Nope just a stock trader

[CB]

I had the swine flu 3 weeks ago.  It lasted about a week and wasnt as bad as the normal flu.