Swine Flu news and updates thread

Originally posted by juan_galto


On a side note, I'm very curious about the "death due to immune system reaction" idea. I mean, if this is true, some of the Americans should've been killed by now. And a previous poster suggested that, due to the lower health standards, Mexicans have better immune systems (respectfully, I'm pretty skeptical of this notion). Wouldn't that lower the Mexico City/swine flu death rate against (in this idea) a higher American death rate?

Is it bad form to reply to one's own post? Meh, whatev.

news.yahoo.com...

"... Health experts worry about a flu that kills healthy young adults — a hallmark of the worst global flu epidemics. Deaths from most ordinary flu outbreaks occur among the very young and very old. Why the two countries are experiencing the illness differently is puzzling public health experts, who say they frankly just don't know. It may be that the bug only seems more deadly in Mexico ...

Other ideas about the difference include:

_Genetic analysis of virus samples in the two countries is continuing. The CDC says tests results show the U.S. and Mexican viruses are essentially the same, but some experts have not ruled out the possibility that the virus is changing as it leaks across the border to the north.

_Perhaps nutrition levels are worse in some Mexican communities — poor nutrition can degrade a person's immune defenses, and make them more susceptible to illness.

_Air quality in Mexico City is considered terrible. That too may have affect patients confronted with a novel respiratory disease.

_Access to medical care has been an issue in Asia, where a rare bird flu — which does not spread easily from person-to-person — has killed more than 200 over the last several years. Maybe Mexican patients have also had trouble getting medical care or antiviral drugs, some have speculated — even though the government provides health care.

All that is speculation at this point.

"The question of why the virus appears to be more virulent in Mexico is one that we are looking intensively into," the CDC's Schuchat said. "Rather than speculate, it's important for the science to lead us on this."

reply to post by Vitchilo


Good theory. I am in the race-war camp, as far as design for resentment, which is already quite thick thanks to people like Sean Hannity and Peter Boyles..

A good caller in Mexico on the Alex Jones' Radio Show...

www.youtube.com...

Originally posted by space cadet
reply to post by trig_grl

 

I posted that question, I am wondering because of the age group it is affecting, also that it is affecting students. I have a theory but it is moot if the virus cannot live outside the body for very long.

I wish I knew for sure too. My neighbor who is a nurse said 16 minutes - she told me that a long time ago but I'm wondering if the temperatures and humidity make a difference. She not around so I can't ask her at the moment.

From BBC, there's a few case in the London area.. not confirmed if it is the exact strain.

Also in NZ, but not confirmed yet.

So if those are positives, 2 more countries infected...

Also the Michoacán State in Mexico is investigating a death that could be linked to the swine flu.

[edit on 26-4-2009 by Vitchilo]

I have alot of family in New York Queens, and I was glad when they first said that it was not the Swine Flu, but then once they changed it to now people having flue symptoms, im worried.

reply to post by Vitchilo


someone from another forum has made a google map and is tracking all the reported & suspected outbreaks.

Funny how after looking at this I am wondering even more why the pandemic alert level has not been raised

World Human Novel H1N1 cases & suspect cases

reply to post by redhatty


I expect by how fast thing are going that when I wake up tomorrow (if I ever fall asleep, 1:41am here haha) that there will be alot more on that map, and probably a few in england.

Maybe a 'prelude' to the 'bigger event' so that some peeps can gain immunity...who knows...so that the population only dwindles by so may millions...

Preparation?...scaremongery...even though this does smack of suspicion and merits investigation my friends....mmmm

reply to post by toast317


As worried as this has the CDC & the WHO, I do not expect "major" changes to this map until after Monday, when the regular bigwig specialists and docs are back at work.

Also, a very strange coincidence is that the flu vaccine this year had H1N1 components in it, so I am wondering quite a lot if cases being tested here, you know 9 out of the 75 students in NY, are testing positive for antigens after having a flu vaccine earlier (last fall, start of season)

There's just so much we DON'T know and probably never will. There are too many reasons not to believe the numbers coming out of Mexico. No demographical breakdowns, no histories on the infected & dead.

As concerned as I personally am, I am not panicking but I am being pro-active and making sure that I have extra supplies should I have to go into self-quarantine mode. But even beyond all that....

There's something Hinky in all this, something is just not right about it.

I posted this possible theory in an another thread, so I thought I'd throw it out here and see what ya'll think. Could this be the reason that so many in Mexico have died and ALL of the U.S. cases have recovered? Humans have no immunity to animal Flu whatsoever.

The Mexican "Swine flu" is the deadly combination flu.

A. Human Influenza
B. Pig Flu
C. Bird Flu

The U.S. "Swine Flu" is just the regular Swine flu and/or Human Influenza.

What if this is some unspeakable way to reduce our population or get a handle on the border issue? Horrible thought!!!

"I work as a resident doctor in one of the biggest hospitals in Mexico City and sadly, the situation is far from "under control". As a doctor, I realise that the media does not report the truth. Authorities distributed vaccines among all the medical personnel with no results, because two of my partners who worked in this hospital (interns) were killed by this new virus in less than six days even though they were vaccinated as all of us were. The official number of deaths is 20, nevertheless, the true number of victims are more than 200. I understand that we must avoid to panic, but telling the truth it might be better now to prevent and avoid more deaths.
Yeny Gregorio Dávila, Mexico City "

news.bbc.co.uk...


And there are a few other posts there from Mexico City that basically say the same thing.

reply to post by misstickly


Wow...do you think that more cases appeared in the US that the media isn't reporting to prevent panic?

reply to post by toast317


My cynicism wants to say yes, and although I am sure there are more cases, they have probably not been confirmed as swine flu and therefore not reported yet.

reply to post by toast317


Considering the fact that most people do not have health care that allows them the luxury of going to the doctor when they feel ill, and have to literally wait until they are "on their death beds," I would say that YES there absolutely are more cases in the US that have not been reported, simply because they haven't been to a doctor or hospital.

Now that this is making such headlines though....

I imagine there are going to be many hospital emergency rooms overflowing with sick people, since, even if they have to wait a ridiculous time, they cannot be denied treatment, even if they can't pay.

More of a stress on the economy.

Plus sick people generally stay home from work, which is more of a stress on the economy.

But to clearly answer your question... Yes I think there are more cases in the US than we know about

Two cases of mild swine flu were confirmed Saturday in a married couple in Dickinson County after the man returned recently from Mexico, the state's health officer said. Jason Eberhart-Phillips said the man traveled to Mexico via Wichita on April 16 and spent four days there for a business conference, becoming ill after he returned home. His wife became ill a few days later. The cases bring to 11 the number of confirmed swine flu cases nationwide. Eberhart-Phillips said state officials are trying to find out how many people traveled with the man to Mexico and how many people have had contact with the couple. The new flu has killed as many as 68 people in Mexico.

"Fortunately, the man and woman understand the gravity of the situation and are very willing to isolate themselves," Eberhart-Phillips said during a news conference. "I would characterize their illness as mild." He declined to identify or give detailed information about the victims, saying the state wants to protect their privacy. However, state officials said both worked in neighboring Saline County. The World Health Organization has said the new flu has the potential to become a global epidemic, and it may have sickened more than 1,000 people in Mexico. The federal Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta have confirmed 11 mild cases in California, Kansas and Texas, and New York City officials say they have eight "probable" cases. Officials are worried because people appear to have no immunity to the virus, a combination of bird, swine and human influenza. Also, Eberhart-Phillips said, it presents itself like other swine flus, but none of the U.S. cases appears to involve direct contact with pigs. Underscoring Kansas officials' concerns, Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting, the state adjutant, attended Eberhart-Phillips' news conference. Bunting acknowledged that communication between his department and other agencies would represent a first step in executing an emergency preparedness plan for dealing with a pandemic. Eberhart-Phillips called the swine flu strain "a completely novel virus." "It appears to be able to transmit easily between humans," Eberhart-Phillips said. "It's something that could potentially become very big, and we're only seeing, potentially, the very beginning of a widespread outbreak.

From RSOE EDIS.

And OMG about the NZ possible case, I thought we'd be safe here!

holy crap. thought NZ would be one of the last places to be hit. hopefully none of these people are coming to the south island. glad all the main flights are in to auckland. why are the government not shutting down transport.

this is a joke. flights are taking this thing all over the globe and nothing is being done.

Australia on alert over swine flu

"A DEADLY swine flu that's potentially caused more than 80 deaths in Mexico will hit Australia, says Greens Senator Bob Brown.

"The only way of not having that would be to close Australia to flights," Senator Brown said.

"We should also be looking to see how we can help neighbouring countries if it does become a pandemic."

The Senator's comments come as New Zealand health officials reveal they are investigating an influenza-like illness amongst a group of 25 people from Rangitoto College, on Auckland's North Shore, following the group's return from a school trip to Mexico.

Senator Brown called for airports to be on alert for people coming into Australia from the Americas.

But a health department official said the country's airports weren't on alert, but were aware of the situation."

www.news.com.au...

reply to post by grantbeed


I know what you mean, but you can't just shut down all flights at once. Think about how many planes are in the air, then to have them all try to land at once. The airports would be overwhelmed.

Now for launching new planes, I agree that is pretty dumb.

reply to post by grantbeed


they arn't closing down the airports because they learnt their lessons from SARS.
The ecenomic climate is bad and travel is really bad, so the last thing they want to do is close the borders.
One problem at a time and the flu is easier to treat than the economy.
Even in Far North Queensland we have a dengue fever problem with close to 950 confirmed cases but only 1 death so far.

Originally posted by toast317
reply to post by grantbeed

 

I know what you mean, but you can't just shut down all flights at once. Think about how many planes are in the air, then to have them all try to land at once. The airports would be overwhelmed.

Now for launching new planes, I agree that is pretty dumb.

you are right, the airports would be overwhelmed

it would be very hard to accomplish

but i need only to point to 9/11 to prove the fact it can be done

during extreme times we are forced to take extreme measures

with some of the unofficial numbers i have heard and seen

if i was president, id take those extreme measures and shut down the airports until we get a handle on things, even if we find out it was done when it didnt need to be done, in a case like this, you are much better off being safe then sorry

it is interesting that mexico seems to be hit the hardest

if when all is said and done, mexico stays the only area that gets hit with severity, i think it is our duty as humanity to investigate potential genocide and who may be behind it all

the most fishy thing to me is that this is happening now, when so many people have been shouting that this is whats going to happen for a very long time now, and for years, many have said it is around this time that this event would take place

for a long time many on this board have been shouting about a coming pandemic, and outbreak

there was recently an audio with 2 women talking about how some trucker was transporting some kind of virus or something across the US from ny (i cant remember all the details but it was a thread on here)

there have been countless threads on this topic over the years

and i for one was always the doubter, never thought anything like that would really happen, man made or natural and i would normally dismiss the posts without fully reading them

but that was the past, and now its today, and its happening today and i feel naive in the fact this was one of the last things i thought would really happen as far as all the conspiracies go

i mean you see these zombie movies where some group started it all, and you think, theres no way anyone would be that stupid to unleash a virus as no one can control such a widespread thing, but with this taking place, i know its no zombie outbreak, but similar ideas as far as virus' go. i mean maybe someone really is/was that stupid

i think for us to take this for what its worth would be ignorant, i think its very important we investigate this matter fully and very seriously

whether this is man made to generate money for some vaccine
whether its a form of genocide
or some sort of population cull
or whether its something nature has handed us

we need to get to the bottom of it and find the source

for either way, we are going to have to change the way we do things

if nature did this, we have to find out what contributed to it happening, obviously man had a hand in it through our actions one way or another

once this is over, we need to know how it started so we can do our best to prevent it from happening again, or something worse happening

if a vaccine does come, and it comes soon, we damn well better do a thorough check into whichever companies are involved