Swine Flu
 

I caught it Thursday, but i feel fine now. Anybody else think it might be hyped up? Watching the news they make it sound like it can potentially be the end of humanity.

It's sweeps.

It does have the potential to be as deadly a pandemic as the 1918 flu.

The hemagglutinin gene of this virus is completely novel, and since that is the antigenic site that the human immune system responds to, there has not been any immunity built to it. This particular genetic combination of swine influenza virus segments has not been recognized previously among swine or human isolates. It contains gene segments from North American swine, bird and human flue strains as well as one gene segment from Eurasian swine.

Also, is the fact that this virus is causing deaths not among the elderly and young, who are the typical victims of the flu, but causes deaths among the young and healthy by inciting a "cytokine storm."

However, here in America we both can afford and have a stockpile of Tamiflu and Relenza, which will probably be effective.

I think it's hyped. They do know that two of the four antivirals available do work against it so those who can afford health care and are generally healthy to begin with have nothing to really worry about. On the other hand, my kids are getting a little freaked out because 4 seniors from the neighboring high school are being tested. One has the flu now so they are testing for swine because they were all in Mexico over spring break (April 10-17).

Working in health care, the system has sent out their protocols to all staff via email including the pandemic protocols. They have stockpiled the needed meds. I think the media is overhyping, but I guess I've decided that if it makes people take more precautions against spreading illnesses, it's ok that they are hyping it too much.It reminds me of the SARS scare from a few years ago.

FWISD closed until at least May 8th, thanks to this swine flu.

LaneSig -- has your district been affected by this? I have a feeling the rest of the districts will follow suit.

Yes... Most definitely hyped... And as sick and twisted as I am, I think some of this is fabricated :eek:

Feel bad for the sufferers though. That to me is NOT a joke.

7 people have died (according to the World Health Organization.) This is eerily similar to the SARS scare of a few years back.

Admittedly I am a little nervous to be flying in to JFK on Friday and spending the weekend in NY/NJ. My bf wants me to wear a mask on the plane and take a bunch of Theraflu with me.

When I was at the University of Hawaii over 30 years ago, there was a swine flu scare on the mainland and the UH students were all pressured to get the shot. I did. I wonder if any tiny little bit of the immunity is still hanging in there.

Probably not considering the hemagglutinin (the part of the virus that the immune system recognizes and responds to) of this flu virus is completely novel.

I feel as though there is very little difference between this and the normal influenza that we are use to. I realize that this strain reacts differently with our immune system, but with the weather warming up, won't the virus die? I thought virus' couldn't last long in warmer weather which is why we have the flu in the winter.

I'm a little tired of hearing about it as it seems to just be the same information and everyone is panic-ing. As CNN has pointed out quite a bit recently, 13,000 (I believe that is the correct number) people died in january from the flu.

How did you know you had it? What were your symptoms?

Dee they're making all the kids who went to Mexico for spring break stay home and sent most of them home from school today. The Woodhaven kid will have his results on Tuesday. Let's hope it's not spreading Downriver!

There are reported cases in both the city I live in and the city I work in. :eek:

Still, I think people are panicking way too easily right now.

We have a case here in TN. WI, MN, NC, SC, Nebraska, IL, MO, and Maine are all pending confirmations.

haha well its a good thing i went to vegas for spring break. oh crap. my roommate went to mexico, and he's looking a little fluish. god help me. :eek:

No, my district (Plano, on the northeast side of Dallas) is still in session. The general attitude here is that the administration wouldn't shut us down this week due to TAKS (that's the state testing for you non-Texans).

Richardson school district has closed one elementary school for the week and the Clebourne school district announced it was closing before Fort Worth did.

The state hs athletic association has asked for all athletic events to be cancelled for the near future. I am actually surprised that none of the districts along the border have closed as a precaution. Teachers are wondering if Gov. Goodhair might shut down all school districts in the state for a couple of days.

Actually, they closed Woodhaven-Brownstown District today and tomorrow. They expect the results from the one child's test either today or tomorrow and they are disinfecting the school thoroughly in the interim. My kids are in Gibraltar district though, where their only problem is a 7th grader with a hit list and a pistol obsession. He won't be coming back to my son's middle school, per the letter that came home yesterday. That's more scary than the flu if you ask me.

You guys may or may not hear about it but The World Bank building here in downtown DC just shut down because it was discovered that one of the workers just returned from Mexico and is sick.

ETA: Scratch that..here it is.

Gosh, I hope not! My son already missed 2 weeks in the fall because of Ike, and that led them to do away with fall finals. If they close this spring, finals and AP tests will be an issue. What a pain!

Here in Houston, Episcopal hs is closed because a girl who never went to Mexico or came in contact with anyone who had (that they know of) is confirmed with N1H1. 2 schools in HISD are closed, but the rest of the district, as well as all the other districts are still open for business.

there's a "real time" google map available of confirmed and potential cases.

A bunch of students who spent the last term student teaching in Mexico aren't permitted to go to Slippery Rock's graduation. Shockingly, they're not whining about it!

And there's a case in Philly. I hope like anything that it doesn't hit over in Western PA, with my horrible immune system. :(

That's right -- AP test season is coming up. What are they going to do? They'll either have to reschedule AP tests for the whole country, or create two tests, one to administer at the normal time and one to administer at some future date for people in affected areas. What a PITA for everyone involved, including the teachers and professors who gather to grade the AP tests. It's that, or tell the students in affected areas that they're SOL and can't take their AP tests.

That's how the 1918 flu went. The first wave wasn't as deadly as the second wave that came back in the fall.

Which makes me think that maybe it would be better to get the swine flu now than to wait for it to become more deadly this fall?

I have a great-uncle who died of the flu in 1918. My grandma used to tell stories of how they didn't even have much of a funeral for him becuase eveyone was so scared.

Yes, they start next Monday, May 4th and end Friday, May 15th. So, the kids in Fort Worth and San Antonio are already screwed if they don't go back until the 11th. I don't know what they'll do, but it hardly seems fair to tell those kids, "Too bad, you can't take the test." Besides the fact that they've been taking the hard class all year to prepare, most are hoping for credit which equates to time and money!!!

I am hoping that by the fall, they will have vaccines for this strain developed!!

I assume they have some built-in mechanism for that issue. If I remember correctly, there was at least one case in high school when one of my classmates couldn't take a couple of the AP exams (I think it was the death of an immediate family member), and they worked out a seperate time for him to take them.

We have an unconfirmed case here in my town in central WI - the guy was visiting San Diego. But according to the news today, the man was doing well after being quarantined in his own home. And because of this, I talked to a woman that was truly scared. Personally, I think it is all a hype right now. Influenza causes more deaths every year than this alleged 'pandemic'. People are panicking, rushing to get the flu vaccine (which will do NOTHING with this strain), etc. If I get sick with something (which I haven't gotten much more than a VERY slight cold in the past 5 or 6 years - even after spending the weekend with someone that had an actual case of influenza), so be it. No need to run around like Chicken Little - take basic precautions as with any illness but no need to blow it out of proportion!

Tarrant County (Fort Worth) Health Department: In the interest of public health and safety, has declared all outdoor public gatherings must be cancelled.

:rolleyes:

About 70+ cases have been sent to the Florida Department of Health lab for testings. There are several possible cases in Tampa Bay and Orlando. I am actually surprised Florida was one of the first to have cases considering all the tourism.

I had to recommend sending one of my students home yesterday, she looked as pale as death....turns out she has to stay in bed until Monday.

Being a teacher, I see a lot of people get sick, kids and faculty. We have a lot out this week to a stomach virus (me included), but it has nothing to do with the swine flu. There are some people who just over react.

Ahhh everyone I know has been talking about this and how they are so freaked out.

I just look at them like :eek: then you should be freaked out about the regular flu too cause it's just as "deadly" as the swine flu. There is medicine that does cover the swine flu, it's not like its this virus that can't be controlled. Grrrrr

I'm on the fence about it. I think that it's partly overhyped by the media - On a radio morning show, the main guy was FREAKING OUT about how for every confirmed case there are 10 others that haven't been made 'official' yet because they wait 3 days after getting the results. And how they are running out of Tamiflu, etc. That makes it sound like scary shizz.

On the other hand though, there are other news outlets that are just being reasonable about it - telling ppl to take precautions - wash your hands, don't pick your nose, sneeze into a tissue or your sleeve, etc.

I'm definitely washing my hands way more often than I normally do... just in case. I'm flying home tomorrow and do plan to wear a mask - not to be super paranoid, but being in a tiny space like that for over an hour with 100 other people can be scary when something like this is happening. I don't plan to rock out that mask every where I go though.... just the airplane :)

I have a friend with family in El Paso -- she said that there are hordes of ppl crossing the border from Mexico over there b/c of the swine flu scare

What do you call it when pigs fly?

Swine flew.

(ducks)

<chucks a rotten tomato toward SWTXBelle>

I've picked up some Tamiflu as a precautionary measure (thanks for the prescription, Dad ;) ). This way, I'll have it on hand in case DH or I exhibit flu symptoms -- whether it's a result of swine flu now or "normal" flu next fall/winter. I'd rather have the Tamiflu and not need it than need it and be unable to get it because there's been a run on the pharmacy.

(BTW, I inquired about what Tamiflu would cost without insurance. Answer: bloody expensive.)

LOL

A sister asked if she could get swine flu from kissing her husband who is a cop. . . .

Watching the news - apparently flights are packed coming into DFW from Mexico, and AA flight crews are calling in sick and refusing to work those routes.

I heard on the news that it's a little over $100 for one vial... idk if that is without insurance though. I would guess so because if you had insurance normally you just pay the copay.

They determined that the kid from the school down the road did NOT have swine flu. High schoolers are funny because my daughter said all day everybody was saying it was confirmed and those schools were closed for a week. I kept scouring news sites and that school district's web site for some concrete evidence that the rumor was true and couldn't find any. Then on the 11 o'clock news they said the kid tested negative for it.