Swine flu – hype or real health threat?

[Bibbyman]

I remember back in the, I think it was Johnson administration, the big Swine Flu threat.  As I remember it, it turned out to be nothing.  Yea, some people got it that lived in some kind of institutional environment or in high populated areas and a few probably died.  But it wasn't anything like they were saying it was going to be.

There appears to be a general panic about the swine flu and being able to get the shot to prevent it.  It may run its course before the vaccine is ready.  And,  do they know for sure if the vaccine they're preparing will even work?

I've heard a lot of talk on the radio about outbreaks in schools, etc.  Plans for a major part of the workforce being out due to it.  I also heard one health official say the swine flu that is coming will be no worse than any other flu.  If you're reasonably healthy,  you have little to worry about.  If you're in frail health, like any other complication, it may be too much to overcome.

[Banjo picker]

The moble society we live in today is very helpful to the flu bug.  People travel more than at any time in history.  The Spanish flu took advantage of soldiers traveling home in 1918 or so an killed about as many people as the bullets did.  I am not gona shake a lot of hands in the next few months.  Tim

[Warbird]

It recently killed a 10 year old boy here.  If a kid has a fever, they send him home and he can't go back to school for 24+ hours.

[SwampDonkey]

Schools here are making kids wash and anyone with flu symptoms have to stay home for 7 days and get checked out. No one that I know makes any big deal from it, just another flu strain. Some folks in these local senior groups are likely to get the shot.

[Bibbyman]

Lots of reads but few comments. 

I read an article last evening that basically said that the vaccines coming out would do more harm than good as the swine flu virus will mutate around it and then they'll have to come out with yet another vaccine. Also all the anti-viral medication could make an even stronger version of the flu.  There was a quote at the end that the best thing to do is what you're mother told you to do – wash your hand often, avoid contact with other people that may be infected and if you get the flu,  take chicken soup and plenty of liquids.

[zopi]

I have a developed an immunity...I eat so much pork BBQ I will never get pig flue..

[01crewcab]

I would agree that our mobile society is more apt to spread any kind of flu. I would also guess that the more time a person spends in a crowded environment the greater the chance to get it. I believe the news has reported that over at Washington State U they've had 2,000 cases reported. They also had a gammer show ( whatever that is ;D) in Seattle last weekend, and already have had over 100 cases of flu reported. So is the danger hype? I don't know. I do know I don't trust the WHO. I was at the U of W Medical Center yesterday and a lot of people there were wearing masks.

[Faron]

Well, I guess I can give you a firsthand report.  My nurses tell me about all flue cases in this area right now are considered H1N1.  I started feeling bad last Thursday.  Friday I ran the dozer most of the day, and felt pretty bad.  I had a clump of bad corn in a bin, and had moved that bin to another, then loaded it out on Wednesday and Thursday.  I thought it possible the grain dust might be responsible, even though I wore the best dust mask I could find.
I thought I was better Saturday morning, but felt really bad by noon.  From Saturday till last night it has been fever and chillls, muscle aches, sweating, and headaches.  Oh, and coughing up green junk. :(  My fever has exceeded 103 at times.  All in all, just a really lousy week.  Last evening I could feel myself turn the corner.  The headache went away and the fever and chills subsided.  This morning I told Chris all I needed was bear and a brier patch, as I felt like hunting with a brier switch. 8)  She suggested I better make it an awful small bear. :D  I am still coughing, but feel much better.  My doc says Tamaflue is only effective if given  in the first 48 hours.  If you start to feel ill, I would suggest getting to a doctor and getting a shot quickly, as this thing hits pretty hard.  I would worry about someone in poorer health getting this.

[thecfarm]

I have no idea about the hype,but it's scary that you go into the hospital with "swine flu" and with all the fancy things with do and all the medicine we have,that person still dies.

[Banjo picker]

A buddy of mine over in Al. has it right now...said he feels a lot like what Faron described...There is rummors that our middle school may shut down if it gets any worse...

Faron I like your quote from BF...Tim

[Sprucegum]

I don't want to scare anyone - in Alberta we have had 2 cases that are resistant to the vaccine 

[beenthere]

Not scared. 
And not sure how to interpret what "2 cases .. resistant to the vaccine" means either.

Other flu vaccines given over the years were not 100% successful, as people are different and the flu virus's are different. It is a crap shoot at best, from what I have heard.

So maybe 1000 or 10,000 didn't get the flu, and 2 did. 
Or if no shots had been given, only 2 would have gotten the flu.   Both maybe are extreme examples, but from what little they know - both seem possible to me.

[Modat22]

Its a real threat, its not overly dangerious at the moment but as more folks get infected the chance for virus mutation grow. Its possible for the virus to become very dangerious if it mutates.

I say get the shot, just be careful with the infants which really need it more than older folks do.

[Faron]

I think I would have had trouble today had I even met up with a teddy bear. :  Nasty headache came back for most of the day. I am better now, and suspect upping my liquids intake has helped- but who knows?

[Mooseherder]

A Pharmacist told me we can be a Carrier of the Flu all the while never experiencing any of the symptoms. :
That is why they are encouraging every one to get the shot.

[SwampDonkey]

Now they are saying anyone getting the regular fall flue shot is more likely to get H1N1.  I don't know how to interpret that, since in the next breath they said some other studies said there was no link. Sure confusing.

[WildDog]

My work mate had the day off today to attend his 44yr old friend who died last Friday in hospital from swine flue, Wednesday week they were going to put him an induced coma but he improved, the hospital staff said if it was swine flue not to get hopes up as it would get worse before it got better. I think they will be offering the vacine here in the next week, I won't hesitate in getting my family the jab.

[Warbird]

I thought I was better Saturday morning, but felt really bad by noon.  From Saturday till last night it has been fever and chillls, muscle aches, sweating, and headaches.  Oh, and coughing up green junk. :(  My fever has exceeded 103 at times.  All in all, just a really lousy week.  Last evening I could feel myself turn the corner.  The headache went away and the fever and chills subsided.  This morning I told Chris all I needed was bear and a brier patch, as I felt like hunting with a brier switch. 8)  She suggested I better make it an awful small bear. :D  I am still coughing, but feel much better.  My doc says Tamaflue is only effective if given  in the first 48 hours.  If you start to feel ill, I would suggest getting to a doctor and getting a shot quickly, as this thing hits pretty hard.  I would worry about someone in poorer health getting this.

Yeah, that's exactly what I had with two differences...  My fever never got that high.  In fact, most of the time, my temp was actually lower than normal.  I felt really bad, aches, sweat, headache, nausea, etc, but when I'd take my temp it would only be 96.5 or somewhere in there.

Also, my flu lasted longer.  When it started to hit 3 weeks ago, I had some headache and slight nausea that went away, then came back, then went away, etc.  The following week, it progressed into what I thought was going to be just a head cold.  Ended up missing most of last week at work.  I can't tell you how run down and exhausted I was feeling.

I'm still recovering.  Still coughing every now and then and I'm maybe at 85% of energy levels; however, I still get tired much more quickly.  Not sure if this was swine flu or normal flu and honestly, it really doesn't matter.  I sure wouldn't want to catch this if I was already sick, going through surgery, or something like that.  It's NASTY.

[woodsteach]

On the radio this a.m. they were talking about a Middle school student in the Topeka, KS area that the Dr's said he had the H1n1, because he tested positive for the normal flu "A"strain.  So what,  well 2-3 days later they confirm that he only had the "A" strain of the normal flu. 

The hospitals in this area don't test for h1n1 b/c it costs $400.00.  They (hospital staff) say that right now if you test positive for "A" you have the h1n1 ??? ???

I'll take my chances, .......you can take the shot,

woodsteach

[SwampDonkey]

When I was a kid around 12 I had a bad flu for 3 weeks. It came from both ends, ached in every muscle and head ache. I could hardly move, the mention of food was sickening.

Maybe that was swine and I got nothing to worry about, I'm immune now. :D :D

[Bibbyman]

I've done a little reading on the swine flu topic and got some impressions.

One is,  this flu is no more deadly or severe than any other flu. Just that it's going around earlier in the year than normal and there will be another annual flu going around too. 

Another is,  taking the swine flu shot may not protect you as it mutates in as little as two weeks time as it goes from one area of population to another.

An article said the widespread taking of the flu shot and anti flu medications may make the situation worse for the general population as it will make the strain of flu stronger.

Son Gabe has an active social life came down with a bad cold or flu.  (He's been sick all week.  Good thing for him that he's lost his job so he don't have to call in sick.)  Said the girlfriend of a buddy had the flu.  He's been crooping and coughing around the house all week.  I've told him to quarantine himself to his room or outside.  But he still comes to the kitchen about once an hour and coughs around on everything.

Today he's feeling better but I've been feeling like I'm coming down with it.  Kind of hot flashes, sweats, face fills flush, headache and so on.  He's out on the town this evening.  I can't sleep so I'm up on the Forum. The gift that just keeps giving.

[Warbird]

Yeah, that sounds like it, Bibby.  Be sure to get plenty of rest.  It knocked me on my butt for an entire week and I felt completely run down for an entire week on top of that.  Still not 100%.

[Bibbyman]

Yeah, that sounds like it, Bibby.  Be sure to get plenty of rest.  It knocked me on my butt for an entire week and I felt completely run down for an entire week on top of that.  Still not 100%.

If I could get back to 100% it'd be at least a 25% improvement over what I am normally!   :D

I feel better this morning -  so far.  I started about a week ago taking some of that AirBorn stuff.  Well, it's the Wal-Mart equivalent at half the price.  I was just taking one dose in the night for about a week but I've up the times since I started feeling this coming on.

[Gary_C]

I think the best answer to your question is a real threat and just hype too. The problem is no public health official could afford to dismiss this virus as any thing other than a real threat. Could you imagine the fallout if it was dismissed as a minor thing and turned out as much more serious?

All viruses are real threats as we cannot cure any viruses. Just lessen the severity and somewhat protect the weak with immunizations. Even bacteria are developing resistance to penicillins just as fast as the researchers can develop new forms of penicillin. In case you did not know, penicillin is still the only antibiotic we have. These new antibiotics are just variations of the basic penicillin. If we lose that antibiotic with overuse, there is nothing else to replace it.

[Modat22]

I'm more concerned about my 8 month old daughter. She Got half a dose of regular flu vac last early september and we where told to come back 30 days later for the other half dose. Now when we go back she'll get regular flu shot, H1N1, dtap, prevnar and whatever else she has to have. Other words a boat load of shots. I don't want her having that many so I'll know what one causes her problems if she has any.

[Frickman]

The local media has hyped the latest flu pandemic so much that local physicians, especially pediatricians, have been overwhelmed with phone calls. Only a limited amount of vaccine is available right now and it is being reserved for health care workers and the very young. I'll let them have the vaccine for themselves. I haven't ever had a flu shot and I don't plan on getting one this year.

[SwampDonkey]

I won't be either. The vast majority of healthy folks out of several hundred thousand reported infected recovered just fine.  8)

[Kevin_H.]

The hospitals in this area don't test for h1n1 b/c it costs $400.00.  They (hospital staff) say that right now if you test positive for "A" you have the h1n1 ??? ???

I'll take my chances, .......you can take the shot,

woodsteach

The ER here is doing the same thing, if you test pos. for the influenza "A" they are tell you that you have H1N1. The H1N1 is a strain of "A" and Bolth are treated with tamiflu, The down side is right now tamiflu is the only thing we have to combate bolth and the more we hand it out, the more resistant "A" will become.

[Faron]

I am almost midway through the fourth week of recovering from this thing. I still have an annoying cough, and really have to push to put in a day.  I have never had a flue shot, but that is fixing to change.  It seems in recent years anything respiratory gets a little worse every time I get it.  Maybe flue and pneumonia vaccines will head it off in the future.  Just can't be down this long.

[Warbird]

Sounds like what I had, Faron.  Took me about 3 weeks to kick it.  I never did get any 'plumbing problems'.  Just a bit of nausea off and on with headaches the first week.  Then the heavy duty head cold and respiratory stuff the second and third weeks.  Nasty stuff.

[James P.]

Hope you that are ill get better quickly and your family and friends. I hope my in person anti social ways will keep me safe. last time I got sick, I went to the hospital for stitches. Left with the worst cold I ever had. sat by the woodstove for a week. I suspect the hype IMO is good. The flu is serious . Most of us do fine but there are thousands that don't. Best to learn how to have safer practices now even if the strain isn't all they build it up to be. I imagine some day there fears will come to pass. lets hope or pray it doesn't.

[Frickman]

Many of the local churches are discouraging parishoners from shaking hands, hugging, kissing, sharing a communion cup, etc. This is of course to try to slow the spread of swine flu.

[Patty]

Actually the H1N1 flu is not a swine flu. The pork producers have tried to get the general public informed on this, but with very little success. Consequently, the pork industry has been devastated, due to folks not eating pork in hopes that they won't catch this flu.  :

I have read that this H1N1 is especially harmful to folks with lung problems or who already are ill and have a lowered immune system.

They say handwashing is one of the biggest preventative measures that you can take to keep yourself from getting this virus. That and (in my opinion), avoiding people in general as much as possible.

[Warbird]

Well, I'm sick again.  Started in the lungs this time, being really itchy at the top of my lungs.  Have been running a fever, temp got up to 101 at one point.  I've been nauseous off and on but I think that is just from the amount of gunk I'm swallowing.

The Mrs had a 24 - 48 hour bug about a week ago.  I'm hoping that is all this is.

[Sprucegum]

Some birds at a turkey farm have been diagnosed with H1N1, watch that market take a tumble  :(  :

[Bibbyman]

I've got the impression it's pretty nigh-on improbable to get the swine flu from eating inspected pork that has been cooked right.  So are the pigs more in danger of getting it from people?  I know when I've seen Mike Rowe do dirty jobs in the pig houses, they have to go through a decontamination process just to get into where the pigs are.  This,  I assume, it to protect the pig population from getting anything from the human.

Patty's advice to stay away from crowds is probably the best answer.  I would like to have done that but...  The first weekend in October Mary and I went to a big farm show in Springfield, MO.  Thousands upon thousands of people there.   I felt safe enough outside in the sunshine and high wind where there was room to stay a bit back from people.  But we had to tour the three big indoor auditoriums that were packed with people.  As it was on Friday,  a majority of the folks there were retirees or FFA high school kids. I thought, "This is really smart."

Then son Chris wanted me to go with him on a trip to east Tennessee.  We were on the road four days and three nights.  We ate at cafes, slept in motels, used restrooms at the gas stations,  toured a couple of tourist traps and visited with hundreds of people along the way.

So far so good.  My biggest threat is likely to be the girls bringing something home from school.  Alex was feeling low one morning.  Mary said she felt a little warm.  She sacked out on the futon and slept most of the morning.  Watched movies in the afternoon and was up and playing with Brooke when she got home from school.

[Gary_C]

Apparently turkeys and pigs can get the flu strains from humans and vice versa but you cannot get it from properly cooked meat from any animal. No flu strain can survive the cooking process. From what I see, H1N1 in turkeys and swine is not a serious problem and they will recover with little to no treatment.

While any flu outbreak can be serious to some, this H1N1/2009 is apparently no more severe than any other flu strain. The initial outbreak in Mexico was perhaps some mutation and what we are now seeing is not as serious as first thought. The real threat is that H1N1 will mutate with the Influenza A type H5N1 virus better known as the "bird flu" and that could be severe problem as humans have no immunity to the H5N1 virus. So the reason for the major push to limit the outbreak is to limit the exposure of H1N1 to other strains so the chances of a mutation is minimized.

The best advice for avoiding any flu and colds is frequent hand washing, never touch your mouth or nose with unwashed hands, stay away from crowds, cover your mouth when you cough, and stay from others that are coughing.

[Warbird]

I am STILL battling the second bout of this DanG thing.  Woke up this morning with the sheets drenched and feeling better.  No nausea until I had a coughing attack that about wiped me out.  Definitely getting better but very slowly.  Still having some gastrointestinal distress and my lungs feel a bit itchy again, which is extremely discouraging.

The fever has agitated my back muscles and leg muscles, and the arthritis around my spine.  Most of the time, I can't get comfortable sitting, laying down, nor standing.  For 2 days straight, I could barely walk.  This is absolutely MISERABLE.

It started Monday night and I'm praying it will be done today.  This thing has completely wiped me out.  To the extent that I think next year, I'll be in line for whatever flu vaccines they'll give me.  Not sure I could handle this again.  And I'm not even quite 40, yet.  Sad.

[Bibbyman]

Warbird. 

Your post leads me to ask two questions. 

1) Have you been tested and diagnosed with H1N1 "Swin Flu" or do you have some form of flu or other epizooty and think its swine flu because it has the same symptoms? 

2) If you had it before, wouldn't you have built up immunity to it and thus unlikely to get it again?

[Warbird]

Hey bibby.

1)  No, I do not know for sure this is H1N1 but yes, I am certain it is "a" flu.  Classic symptoms.  I believe it is the H1N1 flu because we have had an outbreak of it here in Fairbanks.  It has been here for quite some time, actually.  Also, it isn't even 'regular' flu season, yet.  :(

2) Not necessarily.  From what I have read so far, they are not certain if a person who has contracted H1N1 builds up a permanent immunity once they've battled it off, a temporary immunity, or no immunity at all.  I do know that a person who has had the flu can relapse.  Usually, relapses are worse than the original infection.  This might be what happened to me but I really don't know for sure.

[Bibbyman]

Here is a handy site I found that has some data on this flu season.

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/

Kind of says the quick test they may perform in the DR office or clinic is not very accurate.  But the treatment is the same so...

Also said about 2/3 of those tested in a lab test proved to be H1N1.  So the odds are, it is swine flu.

Son Chris is a nurse in the Kansas City, Kansas area and he said when they come in with flu symptoms they give them a $200 Tylenol and an I.V. if they look dehydrated and then send them home.

[Warbird]

Thanks for the info.  I hadn't planned on going to the doctor for this but if I am still feverish tomorrow morning, I'll have the Mrs drive me in.  Missed 4 days of work last week and I expect the boss will be wanting a doctor's note if it is going to be more.

Thing is, I'm continually feeling better but the top of my lungs got itchy again this morning and I've started coughing up gunk again.  Can't tell if this is just 'clean up' or if it is developing into pneumonia.  The fact I'm still feverish is bad.  :(

[Patty]

I spoke to my friend yesterday. She is the nurse at our local clinic. She said they test every single patient that comes in with flu-like symptoms. Only 1 has tested positive for the H1N1, all the rest have been another flu virus that is going around, and it is indeed NASTY. In fact the patient with the mildest symptoms was the one that had tested positive for the H1N1!

I do not for the life of me understand the hype around the H1N1, what's up with that? I thought maybe because it is so deadly, but from what I am hearing, fewer folks are dieing from it, than from the normal flu we get every year. I am not much for conspiracies, and I do not think this is one either. But one would have to wonder if all the hype is in conjunction with Obama trying to pass his government run healthcare, and all the news hype is to scare folks into thinking it would be better than the status quo.    I don't know.

[Tom]

Patty, I've wondered that too, over the years, and have decided that the hype is directly proportional to the available news stories.  The news media seems to operate on hysteria.   First page news is built around being able to alarm citizens, rather than denote status.   There are so many stories that would make better news than H1N1 flu.  Have you heard about what your local Forestry Division is doing for training, building campsites, fighting fires (now that the big ones are out), trying to advance Forestry in the schools, control forest diseases, etc.?  How about the status of terrorism?  Are we under a green light, a yellow light, a red light?  It wasn't long ago that this was news.   How about the Droughts in Australia?  If it weren't for this forum, I wouldn't have even looked into it. Where is the money being spent that the Feds turned over to the States for jobs? What is the job lookout in Georgia and South Carolina, once the textile leaders in the country?  Is a Cadillac really more important than a pair of underwear, or is it honestly about jobs?

I got no help making the decision to get a flu shot from my GP.  "Just say yes or no", he said.  So, I used the info I had garnered from the TV that the young were the most vulnerable, the vaccine unavailable, and I said, "no".

As a result, I take the news with a grain of salt, at best.  They aren't news reporting, they are barely news stories, and fall more into the realm of editorializing.  Do you feel comfortable making your political, health or social decisions based on the News reader's additional comments about the story they just read to you?  I don't. 

It's enough to say that Joe killed Bill, without adding that Bill had a long record and deserved the bullet.   I don't believe any of the News as much as I once did.

[Warbird]

Well, it's official per the Doc...  I'm sick.  Definitely the flu.  Because they have only seen H1N1 up here and no other strains, that is what I was diagnosed with.

I was very dehydrated from the puking last night between midnight and 3am.  They checked me out, put me on an IV, x-rayed my lungs, etc.  Gave me some anti-nausea medicine and a cough suppressant/pain killer.

Good news is, no pneumonia.  They can't tell how much longer I'll be sick but she thinks I'm in the final stages.  Oh, I also described the other sickness to her that I had 2 or 3 weeks ago.  She thinks that was completely unrelated and not a flu.  Some other type of viral infection.

[moonhill]

I do not know who Gary Null is but check him out on the web.  You will either love him or hate him.  The second video ends short just as he is getting into it.   Take your vit. D , it is suppose to do wonders, it is not mentioned in this video but I have had it reported in others.  In stead of vaccines take a gamble with vitamin  D.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dE17U-UI2o

Tim

[Warbird]

"For it is impossible for anyone to begin to learn that which he thinks he already knows."  - Epictetus

[Warbird]

I had my first 24+ hour day with no fever today.  This flu wrung me out, good.  I had a fever for 8 days straight and I've lost at least 10 pounds.  :(  Finally recovering, for which I am thankful.

Getting back to the main question Bibby asked...  "hype or real?"  Based on my experience, I have to say 'real'.  I never, ever want to be that sick again.  This was officially the worst I've ever been ill.

[SwampDonkey]

I think schools around the St George area in SE New Brunswick have over 300 students and staff sick from swine. Closed the schools up for 5 days, not enough staff support to run the schools. First schools to close in Canada for swine.

[zopi]

yeah..health threat..this stuff sucks..

I ought to be immune, as much BBQ as I eat...

[moonhill]

Warbird, did others in your household come down with it as well?

My wife may have it, she has only conferred with the Doc via phone due to the weekend and has an appointment Monday for a check over.  She usually handles these things very well, this one has knock her down, a fever for the second day, very tired. 

She has been attending some classes at the local University, it is going around there and some of the lower schools as well.  I have heard of closing but for only a day or two, which does not make sense to me, I would imagine the closing would be longer. 

Tim

[pineywoods]

I got a regular flu shot last week, no problem. Monday I got a swine flu shot, been sick ever since. I have a history of reactions from flu shots, but haven't had any problems for several years. I don't think it's an allergic reaction, I feel like I got a mild case of the real stuff, aches, pains, tired, runny nose, sore throat, but no fever. Definitely no fun.... :(

[Warbird]

Tim,

No, my wife didn't get it.  Thank God.  She took care of me but I always coughed away from her.  I also slept on the sofa or in my recliner the entire time.

Piney, sorry to hear that.  You definitely do not want the full version of it.

[SwampDonkey]

Monday I got a swine flu shot, been sick ever since. I have a history of reactions from flu shots, but haven't had any problems for several years.

Might depend on whether or not you got the adjuvant version of the swine shot. There is a version without it they are giving to pregnant women up here.

The Washington post had an article in 2002 on the 1976 swine flu vaccination program. It caused Guillain-Barre paralysis at a rate of 7 times higher than the chances of catching swine flu. The US government paid out $90M in claims and the vaccination program was ended at a total cost of $400M.

http://www.vaccinationnews.com/DailyNews/May2002/SwineFlusVaxLessons.htm

[Bibbyman]

Does anyone know how long it takes from exposure unit you come down with the flu?

Last fall a flu went around in our household.  First it was Alex,  then Brooke and then son Gabe and then Mary and then me.  I had it the longest and worst.  Alex and Brooke were only a couple of days apart so they probably picked it up at school or school bus.  Son was a week or so later and then Mary about a week after that then me the next.

[Warbird]

I've seen various claims but for the H1N1, most often they claim a 24 - 48 hour incubation time.  Typical flu incubation period can be from 1 - 5 days but again, they are saying for H1N1, it is shorter than normal.

[Bibbyman]

Looks like H1N1 cases are on the decline.

"During week 45 (November 8-14, 2009), influenza activity decreased slightly in the U.S."

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/

[geohayes7]

Don't know about swine flu but , I've had 4 outbreaks of mrsa in 2 months!I'll take swine flu any day over mrsa !!! >:(

[Bibbyman]

It looks like the H1N1 deal is about over. 

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/

The numbers for the 50'th week are very small.  The graph in the above like looks like a very steep ski slope.

I've noted something in their comments I've not seen before - a label of ILI or "influenza-like illness".  It's down to 2.3% and that is at national baseline.  Whatever that tells us.

I've been hearing on the radio that they have plenty of vaccines now.  I wonder how many billions were spent on unneeded vaccines that didn't get there on time or were ineffective in anyway? 

I also heard on the radio that 4/5 of the reported cases of H1N1 were miss-diagnosed.  But I couldn't find a reference in print to where that came from.

[SwampDonkey]

They said the majority of young males (20's-40's) never bothered to get it in these parts.

It's pretty much blown over in the wind as far as the media, never a word about it for at least 2 weeks now.

[beenthere]

They said the majority of young males (20's-40's) never bothered to get it in these parts.

It's pretty much blown over in the wind as far as the media, never a word about it for at least 2 weeks now.

SD
I didn't bother to get the swine flu either. But I'm over 40.

[Mr Mom]

There were like 6 total cases in Ashtabula County.
The only person that gets a shot is my wife and she only got the reg flu shot.
She thought really hard about getting the swine flu shot.
One of the nurses that she works with said that you should wash your hands alot.
Thanks alot Mr Mom

[BcWoodWorks]

Last I knew...

More people die a year from regular flu, than from Unicorn flu...or was that Flying monkey flu? I can never remember.  ;D

Like George Carlin said..."I don't shy away from people who cough, I don't wipe down the phone after I use it, and if I drop food on the floor...I pick it up and eat it! What do you think you've got an immune system for? It's there to kill germs, but it needs practice."

[SwampDonkey]

Beenthere, it was a case of most older men getting the shot and they were trying to get the younger males in to get the shot but they were not having any luck. The statistics may be different elsewhere, but I tend to think it's a young male thing. Made of steel ya know. ;D At the time they reported this, they were concerned I guess. I never had the shot either, but my brother did because he's always running to a doctor anyway. He told the doc to give him the shot right then when in for meds, he wasn't waiting in no line. Otherwise he wouldn't have got one either.

[Radar67]

Heard on the radio this morning that there were only 11,000 deaths from this flu...only 14 in MS. I think it is in the hype pile.

[Warbird]

I will never again refer to a flu scare as hype.  People are right to fear these things.  Maybe the media/gov't uses this fear to manipulate us but I do not know where to draw the line.  Do you?  I am not trying to play up the whole pandemic thing but saying "only" 11,000 "deaths" seems pretty callous to me.  I got very, very sick from this thing and am very, very glad I wasn't one of the "only's".  :-\ 

[BcWoodWorks]

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.

It's wrong to say 11,000 like it's nothing but...Compared to these CDC stats, it looks like the seasonal flu is deadlier than H1N1.

[Radar67]

Compared to the Epidemic of 1918, this "swine" flu was nothing.

The influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 killed more people than the Great War, known today as World War I (WWI), at somewhere between 20 and 40 million people. It has been cited as the most devastating epidemic in recorded world history. More people died of influenza in a single year than in four-years of the Black Death Bubonic Plague from 1347 to 1351. Known as "Spanish Flu" or "La Grippe" the influenza of 1918-1919 was a global disaster.

With 304 million people living in the USA, that rate is just over .00001 percent of the population. A fact of life is that we were born to die. I may be callous, but that doesn't bother me   ...there are many more important concerns to concentrate on. More people die each year of the regular flu than they did from this "pandemic" we heard so much about, in the neighborhood of 36,000 per year according to the CDC.

I have to agree with BCWoodWorks, you have to exercise your immune system for it to work. The law of nature says only the strong survive.

Now Warbird, don't take this post the wrong way, it was not meant to upset you. I'm not a fan of death and dying, but it is a part of our everyday life, so you (meaning people in general) have to learn to accept it.

[Gary_C]

Can you even imagine the repercussions if our government had told us this "Swine Flu" is nothing to worry about and ONLY 11,000 people died. And since many of the deaths were children, how would you feel if this pandemic had been labeled as hype and your child died.

Even if the numbers do end up showing this was "hype" it was necessary for the government to create this crisis. And who can say that the vaccine that is now available did not avert a much more severe outbreak in the spring or next year. And we do not know if this fast reaction has prevented the swine flu from mutating into a more severe flu strain.

It's certainly not hype as far as I'm concerned.

[beenthere]

If not hype, it borders on hype, as I see it. Was very distracting and misguided Gov't stumbling and bumbling, but it kept the media busy so they could easily ignore more important "goings on" (can't say, or this will be in the restricted area  ).

[Warbird]

You guys make good points.  I wasn't aware of the numbers for the 'general' flu.  So yeah, there was a lot of hype but I still hesitate to play down the 11,000 people who died from it.  Especially when I could have been one of them.

Radar67, sorry if I seemed thin skinned about this topic but during the week and a half I battled this thing, there were 2 days I was telling the Good Lord that if He didn't help me kick being sick, then He just needed to take me right then.  Cause I was ready to be done.  No joke.  I was that sick.  And normally, I am in decent health.  Anyway, I hear you and you're right.  I'm still going to be kind of sensitive on this one, though. 

[moonhill]

I heard on the radio today that they were going to remind folks that N1H1 was still out there and to be on the ball, get your shots.  This is during the commercials during the big football game tomorrow.  I won't be watching maybe someone will see it.  It is still in the news etc.   

Tim

[moonhill]

Did anyone watch the football game?  Did they advertise swine flu shots?

Tim

[moonhill]

Word just in, it is almost over.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100205/ap_on_he_me/us_med_swine_flu

Tim

[SwampDonkey]

Next year you won't here a word, other than "get your flu shots" as they do every fall.  Wait, it is next year. ;)

[stonebroke]

So I guess the world didn't come to a end like they were predicting.

Stonebroke

[Magicman]

I hope that I'm one of the folks that didn't get the swine flu shot and slips by.

[Black_Bear]

The big pharmaceutical companies have a lot of clout. They grease the lobbyists and politicians to spread the word and to make things happen. Not to belittle the mutation of a gene, we wouldn't be here if genes didn't mutate and it's serious stuff, but I have a hard time buying into anything our Federal Govt. supports, or worse, promotes.

How much did the pharm. companies profit from H1N1 vaccines?

I like that quote from Carlin...he knew what was up and he told ya so!! No one was more of a straight shooter than George Carlin.

[Warbird]

Heh.  I think George would readily admit that sometimes, he was as full of crap as anyone else.

[Magicman]

I have a Daughter that was diagnosed with flu today.  Don't know if it is "swine" or not.....but she's sickkkk.... :'(

[Bibbyman]

Maybe the last word on Swine flu..

"Reports accuse WHO of exaggerating H1N1 threat, possible ties to drug makers"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/04/AR2010060403034.html

[Warbird]

Wow.  I doubt this will be the last word...

[Samuel]

Its an interesting conspiracy theory...  and I love conspiracy theories... :D

[Gary_C]

That claim is just total BS in my opinion and based on not facts, just WONDERMENT. Here is the sum total of the facts against the WHO:

"We are left wondering whether major public health organizations are able to effectively manage the conflicts of interest that are inherent in medical science," the report states.


People died and many got very sick from that H1N1 virus. Who can say now how many more would have died or been hospitalized had they not brought that vaccine up quickly. And H1N1 is not gone, it's still out there.

So I don't believe the facts, even in hindsight support their claims. The only fact that is true is they spent a bunch of money getting the vaccine to market quickly. So do they think protecting people against threats should be done for nothing?