The Glade 4.0

So I was reading this article: http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local-beat/Another-Youth-Dies-With-Swine-Flu-62599617.html and see that people are hyping everything up still.


Says she was carrying it, not that it was the cause of death. And she had multiple other health conditions. Yet the school is calling all the parents letting them know a student died of swine flu. Hooray for mass panic.

My son had the swine flu and all he had was a fever for 4 days. And it was very mild. He was fine.
Our other kids had the regular flu, including my stepdaughter who tested positive for the flu BUT DIDN'T EVEN HAVE A FEVER.

Am I missing something here? This is not the god-awful thing (so far) that everyone has been saying it would be.

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

Fear is the greatest weapon the societal machine has against individuality. Keep the people scared of every little thing, make mountains of of molehills, and they will be too busy to notice how sucky their lives are becoming. H1N1 is just another strain of flu, and not a particularly severe one at that.

I have this same issue with the schools around here for other reasons. They've made the entire school a "Peanut and Nut free zone." Kids cannot bring anything to school for snacks or lunch that contain either peanuts or nuts.

Yes, there's the very rare individual who is deathly allergic to nuts or peanuts (not both, nuts and peanuts aren't even related to each other), but this isn't a new thing, and it's still pretty rare. It's not like the environment has somehow gotten worse and people are less healthy than they used to be. Furthermore, a person who is allergic to those things generally knows it, and has been trained to avoid them. We didn't have such stupid restrictions when I was a kid. Now if they find a peanut on the floor of a schoolbus they take it out of commission and sanitize the entire bus before they let kids back on. (Or, maybe kids shouldn't eat stuff off the floor of a schoolbus? Whether or not they're allergic to them?)

It's all idiotic. Our society is driven by fear and panic...it's all the easier to restrict the individual when people are constantly in fear.

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Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

One of the knights (relatively young) in the SCA (medieval society) down in the San Diego area is doing her best not to die from the swine flu, which wasn't diagnosed until it had already almost killed her. It comes in at different levels for different people, and responds best to treatment when caught early.

People are going to react to the more virulent cases, like her Grace (she's also a Duchess in the SCA) has contracted. It shut down her kidneys, there has been a great fear she wasn't going to make it, she's still not out of the woods.

Yes, many aspects of it are overblown, but by making people very scared of it people aren't treating it like the annoying flus that come around every year and seeking treatment for it. This is saving lives, most of the time. Scaring a lot of people as well, most of whom will just ride it out when/if they get it.

Where is the happy medium?

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

And percentage-wise, just as many people die from the annoying flus that come around every year. It's not like it's a more severe disease.

_________________
Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

Sad news, just read the latest update, she's being taken off life support. Her name in the SCA is Kolfinna, I did not know her personally so don't offer me condolences. If you feel like doing anything offer up a prayer for her.

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

Phe and I both had the swine flu. It was incredibly mild as far as flues go. The "normal" flu that I contracted back in high school knocked me for quadruple the loop of this one, and the flu Phe got from her flu shot a few years ago was much worse for her than Piggy.

Swine flu (I mean, H1N1; think of the pig farmers! ) is, in most cases, incredibly mild. Phe and I had identical illness durations: a day of sore throat, a day and a half of being knocked on our asses with fever, chills, coughing, fatigue, etc., and then about a week of expelling the mucal invader ("Is there no end to your oozing?!"). Rest, OTC cold meds, rest, tissues, more rest, and a boatload of vitamin C knocked it right out. This is how it has appeared to be for most everyone who has caught it, and it's been running absolutely rampant here.

However, some people seem to be affected very strongly by it. My boss's son was hospitalized with complications from it. Poor little guy had breathing tubes and everything put in. It hit Captain Trips a bit harder than Phe and I (not much harder, but he's a complainer ), and a few others have had it lead to complications such as sinus infections and the big terror, particularly among the elderly, pneumonia.

By and large it's not in any way the terrifying Stand-like superflu that our 24-hour news cycle claims, but in certain people it can take some problematic and deadly paths. It's not something to be taken lightly, but it's also not something that should be terrifying the world.

So can the regular flu

Its overblown nonsense.

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Holy shitsnacks!

I've been following this story as well on other forums. A truly sad moment.

In a way, most of the time the flu will only kill the very old or very young. Big strong Moose, not so much. This will kill you if untreated. That is what has folks flipping out. People that should have been able to fight off a normal flu bug are failing.

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Raell Kromwell

Alright alright, it was me, it was my fault! I snuck back into the barn and banged that pig when no one was looking. I hadn't had sex or bacon in weeks, it was out of my control!

Then I couldn't go miss work, you know, **** was hitting the fans, and I didn't think it would blow itself into such a big damned, deal! I would have taken the sick days if I had known!

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"It's real, grew up in trife life, the times of white lines
The hype vice, murderous nighttimes and knife fights invite crimes" - Nasir Jones

Again, this isn't much different from seasonal flu. There are differences, but they are not differences in severity or deadliness.

From the CDC:






Basically, the only difference appears to be who are in the high-risk categories. H1N1 kills different people than seasonal flu. It doesn't appear ready to kill any more people. Of course, that means that there does need to be awareness that people in those risk groups need to be watched carefully if they develop flu symptoms.

_________________
Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

I know I posted a lot of this previously, but it was lost with the old Glade.

As always, you can find influenza information at http://www.flu.gov.

You can also go to the CDC website http://www.cdc.gov and or call the toll free number 1-800-CDC-INFO (1-800-232-4636) for information 24 hours a day.





Overblown? Maybe a little so far, but only by some, we (the CDC) has been trying to take a cautious approach.

Nonesense? Absolutely not (especially if it is you or a family member that dies from it!). There are a lot of reasons to be concerned, and I'll try to detail below why this strain has caused so much concern, if you want to find out why. It also is a cause for concern mainly (as already mentioned by some here) that like the seasonal influenza, this strain causes the most problems for people with pre-existing health problems (unlike other deadly flu viruses, like the 1918 flu, that caused healthy people's immune systems to turn against them and with a death rate as high as 5% killed millions in the United States and tens of millions throughout the world).

Question: Why is the 2009 H1N1 virus such a concern to public health officials?

If you look at the criteria used for global pandemics (as identified by in the International Health Regulations developed by the World Health Organization in collaboration with experts throughout the world, including the CDC follow the 2005 SARS outbreak) you can see that this virus matches the criteria:

1. Novel virus (this is a new combination, a new "species" if you will of the influenza virus of an animal or human-animal type, covered under Phase 3)

2. Sustained human to human transmission of this animal or human-animal virus (phase 4)

3. Sustained community level outbreaks (in two or more countries within a single W.H.O. region Phase 5)

4. Sustained community level outbreak in at least one country in another WHO region (phase 6).

With those identifying factors presenting very quickly, starting back in April, a lot of concern was raised in the United States (and throughout the world) about this virus.


(removed some discussion info as Talya covered it nicely above)


More info:


Prevention & Treatment
Get Vaccinated. Vaccination is the best protection against contracting the flu. You need two vaccines to be fully protected this year. The seasonal flu vaccine is different from the H1N1 (Swine) flu vaccine. The CDC is encouraging people to get both vaccinations. Get the seasonal vaccination as soon as possible and get the H1N1 (Swine) flu vaccination as soon as it is available in early fall. More information on Vaccination go here ( http://www.flu.gov/individualfamily/vac ... index.html ).

Find a Flu Clinic Near You and Get Vaccinated. The American Lung Association (ALA) has an online tool called, Flu Clinic Locator. Visit the ALA Flu Clinic Locator to find a clinic near you ( http://www.lungusa.org/site/pp.aspx?c=a ... &b=1015035 ).

If you do contract the flu, talk to your doctor about antivirals. Antiviral drugs are prescription medicines (pills, liquid or an inhaler) that can be used for prevention or treatment of flu viruses. If you get sick, antiviral drugs can make your illness milder and make you feel better faster. Two types of antivirals, Oseltamivir (TAMIFLU®) and Zanamivir (RELENZA®) may be effective against the H1N1 (Swine) flu. More information on medications and antivirals go here ( http://www.flu.gov/individualfamily/pre ... index.html ).

Take these everyday steps to protect your health:

- Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
- Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.
- Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
- Stay home if you are sick for 7 days after your symptoms begin or until you have been symptom-free for 24 hours, whichever is longer. This is to keep from infecting others and spreading the virus further.
- Follow public health advice regarding school closures, avoiding crowds and other social distancing measures.



Bottom line, H1N1 and seasonal influenza should not be ignored, especially for those with pre-existing medical conditions.

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Gorse

I was talking with my aforementioned boss (the COO) this morning. His wife is now sick as well. He imparted some wisdom, which I thought I'd share, in case it aids anyone fearful of the swine flu.

Him: "You know why I stay healthy when everyone around me is getting sick?"

Me: "No, how?"

Him: "I drink."

Me: "Well, alcohol-based hand sanitizers do work."

Thank you Gorse, good information.

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

I don't recall if anyone remebers me posting back in July about this, but I just got an email that announced the winner of the make a flu message contest. I thought some of the runner-ups were better, but anyway, for anyone that wants to check them out:

http://www.flu.gov/psa/contest/2009/index.html


Anyone with Seinfeld like phobias about toothbrushes stay clear of the "Toothbrush Prank".

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Gorse

Thanks for the warning. I actually put my toothbrush back in the plastic after every use and hide it from the kids....

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

Adding to the semi informational nature of this thread, some information from an ER nurse, (amusingly, also a Duchess in the SCA)

I work in an ER and most of those we see with flu symptoms feel miserable and wretched, but that is the worst problem they will have with it. H1N1 (or swine flu) has received a large amount of press, but every year over 70,000 people die from "basic seasonal varieties of influenza". It is just not blasted across all the media like we are seeing now. Flu vaccines may not be perfect...it is a scientific "guess" regarding which of the various influenza variants will be the "bad one" each year and only 3 of them are used for the vaccine. But they do work, and side effects are minimal if any for most people.

The seasonal flu vaccine is now being given...the vaccine for H1N1 will be out any day ...these can not be given at the same time. The CDC recommends 2-3 weeks between the vaccines so get moving on it now. Please get vaccinated, get your loved ones vaccinated.

Also if you develop a sudden cough, high fever ...do NOT go to work or school ...do not spread this illness. Currently ERs are being impacted by the numbers of people running to the ER at the first symptoms of anything ....call your doctor or go to the clinic or urgent care. The emergency rooms are being overwhelmed by minor colds and flu symptoms and are not having the staff or space to care for those who are seriously ill. If your symptoms get worse, you have issues with shortness of breath, are unable to keep down fluids, or continue to worse ...then you must get medical care immediately.

In the meantime, if you have the tiniest bit of symptoms ...keep your germs to yourselves (be selfish with them)...wash your hands, do not share your cup or spoon etc...sneeze into your sleeve...etc. ..and PLEASE stay home if you are ill ...we will miss you for one event ...but we are tired of missing our friends forever.

The following is the basic information from the CDC web site:

If you get sick with flu-like symptoms this flu season, you should stay home and avoid contact with other people except to get medical care. Most people with 2009 H1N1 have had mild illness and have not needed medical care or antiviral drugs and the same is true of seasonal flu.

However, some people are more likely to get flu complications and they should talk to a health care provider about whether they need to be examined if they get flu symptoms this season. They are:

..Children younger than 5, but especially children younger than 2 years old
..People 65 and older
..Pregnant women
..People who have:
?Cancer
?Blood disorders (including sickle cell disease)
?Chronic lung disease [including asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)]
?Diabetes
?Heart disease
?Kidney disorders
?Liver disorders
?Neurological disorders (including nervous system, brain or spinal cord)
?Neuromuscular disorders (including muscular dystrophy and multiple sclerosis)
?Weakened immune systems (including people with AIDS)

Also, it's possible for healthy people to develop severe illness from the flu so anyone concerned about their illness should consult a health care provider.

There are emergency warning signs. Anyone who has them should get medical care right away.

What are the emergency warning signs?

In children

..Fast breathing or trouble breathing
..Bluish skin color
..Not drinking enough fluids
..Not waking up or not interacting
..Being so irritable that the child does not want to be held
..Flu-like symptoms improve but then return with fever and worse cough
..Fever with a rash

In adults

..Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
..Pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen
..Sudden dizziness
..Confusion
..Severe or persistent vomiting

Do I need to go the emergency room if I am only a little sick?

No. The emergency room should be used for people who are very sick. You should not go to the emergency room if you are only mildly ill. If you have the emergency warning signs of flu sickness, you should go to the emergency room. If you get sick with flu symptoms and are at high risk of flu complications or you are concerned about your illness, call your health care provider for advice. If you go to the emergency room and you are not sick with the flu, you may catch it from people who do have it

Megan
ER nurse in modern life

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

A 14 year old girl just died in Maryland of H1N1. She was healthy - no underlying medical conditions.

Alcohol in moderation can indeed help with basic infections.

Or so I've heard.

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“The duty of a patriot is to protect his country from its government.” - Thomas Paine

Yes, which occasionally happens with seasonal flu, too. Also note that a 14 year old girl is in a higher risk category for H1N1 due to her age.

My issue is with the fear-mongering and panic the media produces.

The Flu is now, and has always been, a potentially fatal disease. H1N1 doesn't change that. It doesn't even change the overall likeliness of severe and potentially fatal complications compared to seasonal flu. What it does do is change the risk categories. This is something people need to be aware of, but it's not new. If you listened to the media, you'd think we were on the verge of an "Outbreak" style airborn ebola disaster. H1N1 is merely a new source for the same medical issues we've been dealing with for decades.

_________________
Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

Funny you should mention Ebola....didn't we have an Ebola Reston outbreak in some monkeys in Texas a few years ago? No one freaked out about that from what I remember...it was just a small blip on the radar. Granted, the virus was limited just to monkeys, but it was airborne and "could have" mutated.
Seems to me if that were to happen today instead of 10 years ago then it would be blown out of proportion.
Is it just me or is the media hype stuff steadily getting worse?

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

Everything I have seen has not been the panic report, but the more moderate messages. News agencies have been very good about relaying the messages and (mostly) keeping them in the same context they were given.

I have yet to see any of the cable news channels trying to spin up the stories, instead they have been reporting what needs to be reported, i.e. what the public needs to know. Talya is accurate in one of the important messages about this current outbreak, and that is people need to understand that different people are at risk.

Everyone needs to understand that with a little care (covering coughs and sneezes, washing your hands frequently, not touching eyes, nose or mouth after touching (possibly) contaminated surfaces, sterilizing commonly touched surfaces, staying home if you do not feel well and getting vaccinated annually for the flu) we could prevent a vast majority of influenza cases.

LK, I explained in my previous post about why this version is getting a lot of attention. Post SARS and given how deadly these pandemic viruses can be, the public health community cannot ignore what is happening. The primary source of distributing information to the public is through mass media, and thus we (the CDC) uses it as a primary means of getting information to the public.

If you want to learn about what the proper messages are, follow the links on to http://www.cdc.gov or http://www.flu.gov and get some information there. You might be surprised how well the mass media is doing about getting the message right.

If you want to see an informative internally recorded video message, try this one here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKK2QwgwT3E (P.S. Dr. Schuchat is ont of the folks I typically directly support, normally Dr. Redd, but we sometimes shift around, that press room is located here on campus in the adjacent building and I've been there a number of times i nthe past six months). As you can tell from the report, the dangers are real for certain categories. Can you imagine the backlash to the public health community if this type of information was known about, but not shared with the public?


Bottom line, while the risks are similar to seasonal influenza, this is a new threat running concurrently (with the just starting seasonal flu season) and it is a real threat to people's health and people are dying. This is not a scare tactic, this is a fact and our (the public health community, including the CDC) responsibility to spread the news to warn people so they can make informed decisions.

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Gorse

It's like this, Gorse...

Some guy in ****, Idaho dies with H1N1 complications, it's all over the news nationally. But 13,000 people in the USA died from seasonal flu complications in 2009 alone. Normally that's not even news at all. But when it's H1N1, they make it sound like we're on the virge of some terrible outbreak by the way it's reported. It's not even the innaccurate details, it's the sensationalizing of things that are not news in order to make them an issue, thereby inciting panic.

_________________
Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

Ebola Reston only affects monkeys. Ebola in general isn't airborne, but sputum-borne. In other words, you would need to get blood or other body fluids on your skin for it to affect you. With Ebola, this isn't hard at all since, if infected, you cough up blood and body fluids in the later stages. If Ebola ever truly went airborne, I would be incredibly frightened. As it is now, it's still a powerful virus, but it's limited due to it's high mortality rate and the short period it does it in. Ebola Reston could potentially mutate, but it's not the primary fear of Ebola watchers. I would be more frightened of Ebola Sudan or Ebola Zaire being used in a potentially harmful way or someone traveling from Africa bringing it to a major metropolitan area in the world. But there are a host of other viruses that are just as dangerous and have come much closer to larger populations (i.e. Marburg virus).

As for the swine flu, it's a bit more virulent than the common strains of flu, but not much more. I would say some of the media is certainly hyping the severity of it. It's a hot story right now. As Gorse could probably share, public health is all about creating probabilities and public health officials need to create worst and best guesses about what pandemic illnesses can do. So when you see incredibly high rates of death, it's most likely a worst case estimate. As of now, swine flu isn't that much different from traditional influenza viruses, except for the time of the year it struck and the possibility of a more severe mutation occurring. Much like the Spanish influenza of 1918, it's affecting healthy people with the teens to 30's with more severe symptoms than truly young or old. Nevertheless, there's more of a risk of death in young and old due to weaker immune systems. It just adds another 25,000-50,000 deaths per year at best, just as the seasonal influenzas do. That's not something to take lightly, but it also shouldn't be panic-inducing.

Drinking alcohol doesn't help with any infections, the metabolic path of the alcohol you drink takes a different path than your infection. Nice try, though! In fact, drinking alcohol when you are infected can lead to serious dehydration and worsen the disease. Alcohol is antiseptic, which means it stops sepsis of microbes through your skin and limits transfer of the microbes to other people. It's highly effective at doing that. By the way, soap and water can be almost as effective when used properly and it removes dirt and debris. Alcohol is also a great surface sanitizer, meaning it kills germs on surfaces, such as the chair you sat on, etc. But it's effectiveness is limited to that.