Flu IS NO Hoax

The flu is no hoxa,its the real deal,please stop posting non real facts and read before posting..

Of course the flu (regardless of stain) is no hoax. It kills millions every year, but so do a lot of other things like autos, ladders and bathtubs.

We live in a ocean of microorganisms, they are in the air and virtually everything we come in contact with. They are all around us. Viruses predate man by hundreds of millions of years.

They are under constant and varied evolutions pressures but these pressures can produce mutation which may or not result in a organism better suited to survive the aforementioned pressures. The ones that are better suited survive live to propagate their genetic material, the others don't.

Some viruses are genetically stable (like small pox) which greatly facilitates producing a vaccine. These tend to be DNA base viruses, the more genetically volatile type tend to be RNA based (e.g. HIV) and as a consequence, are much more difficult for which to produce a vaccine

Cold and flu viruses are very, very genetically volatile, which is why theres a new flu vaccine every winter. Even then, the vaccine is just a “best guess” by doctors as to what will be the most dangerous and dominate strain. Even then, they sometimes guess wrong

My free advice to you: Come Monday when you return to what ever reform school you're attending, stop drawing fighter planes during science class and start paying attention.

Originally posted by ElTiante
My free advice to you: Come Monday when you return to what ever reform school you're attending, stop drawing fighter planes during science class and start paying attention.

Excuse me ElTiante, this type of attack on other members in NOT tolerated here at ATS. Please find a more mature way to express yourself.

And don't forget that this thread was posted to the "H5N1 Avian Flu Issues" forum, I think we can safely assume the thread author is talking about...well...the bird flu.

Yes, I know.

H5NI is a strain of flu virus. So what I said applies to it and others.

Try to understand people, our immune system and microorganisms are constantly adapting to one another. Some viruses are more lethal in humans than in animals and vice versa. Herpes is fatal in horses, but as much as 85% of the US population will test positive to herpes 1 (that's the cold sore type) and it's nothing more than a occasional inconvenience.

A particularly fatal virus is not necessary a successful one. If a virus quickly kills its host, it can't very well propagate itself. Ebola is very, very deadly but it has difficulty spreading because people tend to die faster than it can be disseminated.

We will be dealing with infectious organisms for some time to come.

[edit on 28-1-2006 by ElTiante]

[edit on 28-1-2006 by ElTiante]

[edit on 28-1-2006 by ElTiante]

That isn't true, Ebola can be in you several days before you show symptoms. Plenty of time to spread it around.

Originally posted by JBurns
That isn't true, Ebola can be in you several days before you show symptoms. Plenty of time to spread it around.

Ebola is not air-borne. It can only be spread by coming in contact with bodily fluids, especially blood. Once symptoms present themselves, the victim is generally too sick to move around much.

[edit on 28-1-2006 by ElTiante]

[edit on 28-1-2006 by ElTiante]