Health Discussions

Geez, I've got to tell you, I hope this will be resolved one way or another soon.

I'm having second thoughts about traveling in a crowded plane if something this rampant is going around.

Let's hope for the best -- I'm already partly packed!

Just to reassure anyone who sees this.  The Center for Disease Control has found that Tamiflu is effective in the laboratory on Swine Flu.  I had no problem getting a prescription for Tamiflu so I'd have it at home if needed. 

The problem with Tamiflu from what I have been reading is, that simply put it is an effective drug however it needs to be adminisitred fairly early into the incubation period in order to be truly effective.  So I have a feeling that tamiflu would be helpful to someone who is in relatively decent shape immune system wise.  But if they were in those catagories that are considered higher risk, elderly, weak immune system, hiv/aids, cancer etc the drug probably wouldn't have that much of an effect.

But those are great reviews thank you for pointing those out to us

Have faith in God. :D

Well a little kid died in TX. The first one in the states and I am panicked. It took me several sessions with my psychiatrist to get me on a plane after 9/11. I almost bought Tamiflu from Canada and al lmy kids got disaster kits and I made one so I have masks. We have to get on a plane June 2. I'll be wearing one. Now the question is - is it worth it to go to a Red Sox game with 36,000 people?? If it were cold I could wear gloves and cover my mouth with a scarf but it was 90 yesterday! HELP!!

Sorry this showed up twice. I'll say something. When I feed my birds I wash my hands with scalding hot water.

I personally don't  let this worry me one bit.  We've had so many "scares" and the truth is we can't all go locking ourselves up in our houses to avoid everything.  Considering most the people in the US recovered just as if they had the flu, I'm not worried, you just can't let yourself get worried.

Wash your hands, stay clean, and stay away from ppl who are sick or coughing, but don't lock yourself inside or you'll just go nuts.

Besides, with them saying the symptoms are the same as the flu, the recovery is the same as the flu, I'm not thouroughly convinced it's really anything more than just a different flu.

It's important to note this toddler was a Mexican toddler who was here visiting.  That makes a big difference if you ask me because we have no idea if he had the right shots and such that most kids get.

I agree, this will pass... just like SARs passed and West Nile Virus passed and every other disease that came and went.  Just take care of yourself as if you already have it - and you probably won't get it!

To me, it's just another "keep the populace frightened of something so they're easy to control" ploy.

I laugh at swine flu.

I posted a review last night about what the World Health Organization has to say about the swine flu, whether or not pork is safe to eat, what to do to protect yourself, and the latest stats.

Any strain of the flu can be deadly to those who have an altered immune system (very young, very old, some chronic illnesses). I think one of the tough parts about this type of flu is that it does not necessarily have a "season" and that it has a resistance to two of the four drugs used for the flu.

As someone that was in Mexico on vacation last week (I returned to Chicago Sunday night) I was surprised by how much this is in the media in the US.  Now, granted, I wasn't in Mexico City...no one was talking about this in the Cancun area at all, but the US media seems to be so over hyped on this.

I completely agree with vivasuzi...this will pass...it's media hype.

CDC Website:

Every year in the United States, on average:

• 5% to 20% of the population gets the flu;
• more than 200,000 people are hospitalized from flu-related complications; and
• about 36,000 people die from flu-related causes.

I just think it's interesting that ppl are so hyped up about this swine flu when so many deaths occur for the REGULAR flu year after year and no one goes nuts about it.  Some people say the reason to worry is b/c there is no vaccine - but I don't do the yearly flu shot and neither do many of my friends and family... so that makes no difference to me.

Also, honestly I am a hypocondriac in that the more I hear about something like this, the more i think I have symptoms.  But I'm also an optimist and believe I can tell that I don't have a disease or anything.  Talking about it on the media every hour just makes me thing "am i lightheaded or am I just tired?  Is my throat scratchy or is it just b/c I was outside in the cold late last night?"

I hope it's not as bad as they say it on tv...at this economic situation, we don't really want any epidemic to terrify us further...let's just pray this will be over soon

I'm nervous about this H1N1 Swine/Mexican/North American flu.  It is now in 11 states with something like 80 US cases confirmed.  It is in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and I think even Asia.  IMO, this thing is going to get much worse before it gets better.  I have food and water stockpiled in the basement in the event that it simply isn't safe to go out into the community.

I was in Mexico just 2 weeks ago, but not in Cancun or Mexico City.  The incubation period is 3-4 days according to the CDC so I guess I'm in the clear for now... but I work in a NJ high school with 2000+ students.  Not exactly the best environment for avoiding viruses....

Honestly, I was talking with our health staff today about this and this virus is no different than any other flu virus.  It just happens to be spreading in the spring instead of the winter like we are all used to.  It is spreading at a similar rate as the "regular" influenza.  If you take care of yourself, wash hands and be aware of the people around you you have less of a chance of contracting it.  If you do, treat it like it's any other flu.

There are a couple of cases here in Michigan already but what's going to happen is going to happen and it's not going to make a difference if I freak out about it.  True I don't want to get sick, but stressing about it right now isn't going to help any.

Exactly lilsquibb... freaking out about it, reading about it all day, and being scared won't stop it from infecting you.  Just take care of yourself as usual, clean your hands, and enjoy life :)

I completely agree with vivasuzi.  It's just because it's on the news, internet, paper.  It's a media craze and people are panicking for nothing.  It's good to raise awareness but not to send everyone who has the slightest sniffle or body ache to urgent care and emergency rooms.  Thousands of people die of the flu every year, but the media doesn't talk about it.  Everyone just needs to go about their daily business and develop good hyigene habits.  It's sad that a toddler died in Texas, but again, that is 1 death from the swine flu in Northern America.  How many other toddlers have died of the regular flu this year alone?  I'm sure there have been many, but no one talks about it. 

A news channel report in the US --soon after NY students had tests, but results were pending if same strain as Mexico---showed many people running about with masks!  The typical mask as seen really is not effectual for something as tiny as a virus, which can be seen only with an electron microscope.   Made for a "good" TV picture.!!??

Need to minimize being in big crowds.  Wash hands well & often. Keep hands away from face, nose & eyes.   If coughing,--cough into elbow area of arm & NOT your hand. If not feeling well--stay at home, keep ill kid at home etc.  Evauluate if travel to a problematic area is REALLY necessary.  Use those wipes to disinfect the shopping cart handle when marketing, etc. Good sleep & good nutrition are important to ones immune system.  The elderly, kids & babies have weaker immune systems, as do chronically ill folk & ones needing immuno-suppressive drugs & chemotherapy.    2 current anti-viral meds are available.

I agree with Meowmom. As with all colds and flu precaution is really the best way to go. Always wash your hands well and STAY HOME if you are sick! Parents wanting their kids to get perfect attendance at school don't help anyone if they send their kids to school sick. Or for that matter people who go to work sick because "nobody else can do my job", yeah right.....Common sense can go a long way in containing any virus.

I wish we could stop ppl from coming to work sick. I hate hearing ppl hacking up a lung and saying "well I had to come in b/c I have so much to do".  Screw that!  If you are so sick that all you are doing is blowing your nose every two minutes and coughing all over, you should stay home and rest.

I'll just add another two cents here in saying that if you receive a live vaccine (nasal spray) for the flu that you can be contagious to people with an altered immune system--check with your healthcare provider for the length of time you should stay away from those with an altered immune system. The shots are a killed vaccine and you should not pose a threat to people who have a lowered immunity. If you have flu-like symptoms, the work will probably wait for you if someone else can't do it.

Amen sister!  LOL  I got a really bad cold in March at my old job because the gal who was training me to do something came to work sick and sneezed and snotted all over me.  Ugh.  It was gross and I Lysol wiped everything thrice but it didn't help.  Gross.

Also gross is the face mask.... I mean think about it.  If they actually ARE effective at trapping germs on the outside, isn't the thing basically a big germ sponge stuck to the area of your face where you don't want germs stuck?  Blech.  Yeah, I'm a germophobe and proud of it.  LOL

When I was at my doctor today, she said she couldn't give me a "just-in-case" prescription for Tamiflu to get filled just in case I get this H1N1.

I think they are worried that if people have these prescriptions in hand, they might panic if they catch a cold or something and start medicating themselves unnecessarily which could possibly cause harm.

We're Number 1! Yes, Houston has already had an early case of Swine Flu. They have shut down several schools, just to be safe.

I was hearing on the news tonight that there is a daycare (pretty prominent one at that) that closed down today so they could "do a thorough disinfection" of the place.  There have been no reported cases around here yet so to me this seems extreme.  This particular place happens to be a big provider for the local community collage so if parents had any finals today.. tough.

All I know is suddenly the media isn't talking about it as much... so I'm still convinced it's not a pandemic and we don't need to lock ourselves inside.  Good thing :)

I certainly hope that this won't be a pandemic and I have no intention of locking myself inside -- in fact, I spent most of yesterday and today circulating around, running errands.  I think it is important to remember though that it wasn't the media but the World Health Organization and other professional outfits who raised the alarm about all this.  But then, what do a bunch of DOCTORS know, right?

The thing about pandemics is that you have to take them seriously from the get-go.  If it all turns out to be a false alarm, then that's fine -- no harm done -- but with a pandemic it is better to take it seriously from the start if medical professionals think there might be danger.  Better safe than sorry because if precautions aren't taken right away at the onset, it might be too late to save the day later on.  Once a major disease like a serious strain of influenza gains momentum, it's too late.

Several people on this thread have made the very good observation that thousands of people die from "ordinary" flu every year.  That is true but it isn't true that the media never says anything about that.  In fact, the media says a lot about the danger of flu every year but most people aren't listening until something big like this starts to happen.

In conclusion, we can only hope that we will be able to laugh at all this a month from now.  There isn't a doctor in the world who doesn't hope for that outcome.

vivasuzi said…

All I know is suddenly the media isn't talking about it as much... so I'm still convinced it's not a pandemic and we don't need to lock ourselves inside.  Good thing :)

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The last headline I remember seeing yesterday from Associated Press was something along the lines of Swine Flu not as big of a concern as origianlly thought.  Now.. not much in the news.