Flu "pandemic"

[Genestho]

BBC's Talking point, views from Mexico...This Doctors viewpoint is all over the net...

I'm a specialist doctor in respiratory diseases and intensive care at the Mexican National Institute of Health. There is a severe emergency over the swine flu here. More and more patients are being admitted to the intensive care unit. Despite the heroic efforts of all staff (doctors, nurses, specialists, etc) patients continue to inevitably die. The truth is that anti-viral treatments and vaccines are not expected to have any effect, even at high doses. It is a great fear among the staff. The infection risk is very high among the doctors and health staff.

There is a sense of chaos in the other hospitals and we do not know what to do. Staff are starting to leave and many are opting to retire or apply for holidays. The truth is that mortality is even higher than what is being reported by the authorities, at least in the hospital where I work it. It is killing three to four patients daily, and it has been going on for more than three weeks. It is a shame and there is great fear here. Increasingly younger patients aged 20 to 30 years are dying before our helpless eyes and there is great sadness among health professionals here.
Antonio Chavez, Mexico City

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/8018428.stm

Prepare? I don't think you could prepare, stay behind closed doors, make sure you have enough of what you need to live basic for a month, who knows?

[Lissa]

My eight year old was watching TV as I was cooking dinner she came running up to me upset telling me she doesnt want to get that flu. I had to tell her not to worry and that its not in NZ. I never told her it could come here, but I am going to make sure that she doenst watch the news again, I dont want her to overworry about it, it sounded damn awful on the news.

[jaymzw]

Mock all you like buddy, do some more research & youll agree that we should be really thankfull that we're not in America at the moment.....

I'm happy i'm not in America most of the time

[Usarka]

Looks like I picked the wrong week for major surgery at hosp.

Woohoo! BTWI heard the local mexican restaurant has a special on pork burritos.

[peasea]

My eight year old was watching TV as I was cooking dinner she came running up to me upset telling me she doesnt want to get that flu. I had to tell her not to worry and that its not in NZ. I never told her it could come here, but I am going to make sure that she doenst watch the news again, I dont want her to overworry about it, it sounded damn awful on the news.

You need to change channels or turn the bloody thing off at news time, it'll make your kids paranoid and scar them for life. In fact, the latter option is probably best all round. Who knows, your 8y/o probably lies awake at night worring about the property market crashing, the economic crisis and that crock of shit they call global warming.

Let her be an 8y/o in fun-loving, blissful ignorance. She'll find out the truth about this wonderful planet of ours soon enough.

[peasea]

Looks like I picked the wrong week for major surgery at hosp.

Woohoo! BTWI heard the local mexican restaurant has a special on pork burritos.

Don't tell me; you flu down for one?

[Ixion]

Did you know that one of the earlier , but very serious, symptoms of the pig flu, is loss of balance. The worst cases present with recurrent episodes falling off their chairs. There is little hope for these poor souls

On a brighter note , if all the pigs get pig flu (well, in logic, they should), we should be safe from speeding tickets for a while.

Though on reflection, perhaps that would require snake flu.

[Lissa]

You need to change channels or turn the bloody thing off at news time, it'll make your kids paranoid and scar them for life. In fact, the latter option is probably best all round. Who knows, your 8y/o probably lies awake at night worring about the property market crashing, the economic crisis and that crock of shit they call global warming.

Let her be an 8y/o in fun-loving, blissful ignorance. She'll find out the truth about this wonderful planet of ours soon enough.

Yea sure I dont usually watch the news myself, so if I had known she was going to watch it, I wouldnt have let her, but you know being eight she can use a remote. I know all about kids should be kids for as long as possible.

But how can you control what goes on at school? My daughter found out about the little girl that was killed by her Uncles, not in the school yard, but at topic time in the classroom. She also knew about the birdflu from school as well... I have to be able to answer her questions, they dont hide anything from kids at school anymore. Infact she was told by her teacher that me and her father were not allowed to smack her, or lay a finger on her, which is of course right.

[peasea]

Did you know that one of the earlier , but very serious, symptoms of the pig flu, is loss of balance. The worst cases present with recurrent episodes falling off their chairs.

OMG! I'm doomed.

[peasea]

Yea sure I dont usually watch the news myself, so if I had known she was going to watch it, I wouldnt have let her, but you know being eight she can use a remote. I know all about kids should be kids for as long as possible.

But how can you control what goes on at school? My daughter found out about the little girl that was killed by her Uncles, not in the school yard, but at topic time in the classroom. She also knew about the birdflu from school as well... I have to be able to answer her questions, they dont hide anything from kids at school anymore. Infact she was told by her teacher that me and her father were not allowed to smack her, or lay a finger on her, which is of course right.

Go give the teacher the bash. Fuckers.

[pzkpfw]

They say this thing might have started in cheap Mexican intensive pig farming places.

i.e. lots of pigs jammed in, sick, and in contact with people.

I think the same thing, more or less, is true of bird flu (people close to intensly farmed birds).

That all gives the virus the chance to jump species.

I REALLY REALLY hate to say this, but I started to wonder if the veggies are on to something.

I know folk have got hepatitis from fruit picked by infected people (the South Auckland blueberry scare of a few years back), but overall an intensively farmed fruit or vegetable seems safer than intensively farmed meat...

(Warning, the above may be all bollocks.)

[Pixie]

Well...that should keep W.H.O. happy - '"swine flu" is rampant' they scream. 'Everybody stay home - gobble up tamiflu - wrap your kids in cotton wool and stick 'em in glass cases...' Just heard someone canceled their trip to Mexico despite going to a place 1000km away from the outbreak...talk about over-reaction...

Dunno about anyone else but I could feel the glee as I listened to the first reports from the chief boohoo of W.H.O. Sounds like a media beatup to me. Flu. Pah. I seem to recall the race surviving all the flu epidemics that came through when I was a kid. Guess we must have got soft in modern times huh..?

Yeah the 1918 flu pandemic was a beat up too.20 million dead - sure!

[jonbuoy]

Yeah the 1918 flu pandemic was a beat up too.20 million dead - sure!

And thats without air travel!

[Mikkel]

Just relax.

[Winston001]

What I and other posters really object to is the media cries of alurum over this flu. They immediately jump to the worst possible scenario, try to blame authorities for not moving fast enough, and breathlessly interview virologists hoping to draw statements of lethality.

TV One last night had Wendy Petrie reporting live from in front of Rangitoto High School for 15 minutes. How dramatic! How.......unnecessary.

Yes we need coverage, yes it could be bad, but as Maha says, the 1976 outbreak fizzled out. Anyone seen that reported?