Swine Flu Health Emergency - Will it affect your behavior?

[freebird5825]

I have the flu. I don't care what kind, every bone in my body hurts. I just coughed on the screen so you might want to rub it down with Purell.

Hmmmm...did you create a nice gooey Rorshacht pattern?
What do you see ?

Hope you're feeling better soon.

 

[Rustic23]

Martha,
I had the flew several years ago. I hope you feel better soon. It is one of the worse things I have ever had. Take it easy, and don't try to come back too soon.

 

[W2R]

Martha, take care and I hope you recover quickly!

 

[Bestwifeever]

Hang in there, Martha--drink some oj if you can keep it down. Hope you feel better soon.

Small comfort to you, but I was glad to see this story that the H1N1 flu (new name--perhaps pronounced "heiny"?) may be on the milder side of flus:

Swine flu may be less potent than first feared

 

[haha]

I have the flu. I don't care what kind, every bone in my body hurts. I just coughed on the screen so you might want to rub it down with Purell.

Sorry Martha. Get better fast!

Ha

 

[misanman]

Welcome Misanman!

That's a sad into, who raised your mom? My family somehow survived that outbreak, lived in Chicago. When you get a chance, introduced yourself more fully in the "Hi, I Am" section; let us know your retirement/work status, plans, etc.

Stay well.

Thanks for the welcome. I will introduce myself soon - sorry for lurking so far - lots of good information here.

My mother was passed around among relatives for a while but nothing worked out. Finally an aunt knew a family that had lost a daughter to the flu and they took her in and raised her.

 

[Zoocat]

I'm sorry you're sick, Martha. I hope you feel better soon. It is true though if you have the swine variety that if it comes roaring back in the fall, as many believe it will, you will have built up some immunity. Although, from what I've read, the virus mutates cannot be predicted. So who knows what we may get in the fall/winter?

 

[LOL!]

In December/January in our area, the flu went around all the schools. Lots of people were out sick. Youth sports teams were decimated. No deaths that I can recall though. It was a strain of flu that this year's vaccine was not helpful for. My kids were sick, my spouse was sick. For some reason, I did not get sick. At the time, no one was talking about H1N1 or H5N1 or H4N3 or whatever. They were just sick and up to 10% of the students were out of school at any one time. They did not close the schools though. Now, someone has a fever and coughing and the school gets closed. What's up with that? If they didn't close before, they should not close now. Or should they?

PS: Martha, hope you get well soon!

 

[samclem]

I put in a lot of nonperishable foods today. If I don't need them for a pandemic, they can double for this summer's hurricane supplies.

I finally did the same thing. I've been meaning to set aside a bin or two of food, and this little influenza wakeup call finally got me off my butt. We have snow and ice storms here, I can imagine being without power or without an operable grocery store for a week, then some disruptions as things get re-started, so it's prudent to have some chow put away (and some bottles of propane). We'll eat it next year and buy some more, so the cost is very small. We probably won't use up all the OTC meds, but that's cheap insurance.

 

[brewer12345]

I finally did the same thing. I've been meaning to set aside a bin or two of food, and this little influenza wakeup call finally got me off my butt. We have snow and ice storms here, I can imagine being without power or without an operable grocery store for a week, then some disruptions as things get re-started, so it's prudent to have some chow put away (and some bottles of propane). We'll eat it next year and buy some more, so the cost is very small. We probably won't use up all the OTC meds, but that's cheap insurance.

Did something similar recently. I already have 200# of grain in the basement as base stock fo brewing, but I laid in some other odds & ends and a water filter that would carry us for quite a long time if necessary, regardless of the circumstances. Having the camper in the driveway helps as well, since it has full facilities plus a few days' worth of MREs in a real pinch, plus it is mobile.

 

[Bimmerbill]

I am still waiting to see the lethality of swine flu vs regular flu. Not sure they have enough data yet.

I bought some canned stuff too. I'd buy some MREs but DD has a peanut/treenut allergy and I don't think I can get safely.

 

[dex]

I bought some canned stuff too. I'd buy some MREs but DD has a peanut/treenut allergy and I don't think I can get safely.

Research the study where they gave children with peanut allergies smalll amounts of peanuts and cured them of the allergy.

 

[Bimmerbill]

I just heard about that dex. It's not ready for mainstream use yet, but it is very promising. I think they are doing more studies.

 

[calmloki]

Hmm. Big biz/Big pharma to the rescue:
Google Image Result for http://www.theonion.com/content/files/images/KFC-Introduces-C.jpg

 

[simple girl]

Well, our 5 day cruise that was scheduled to leave May 16 and go to Mexico has been re-routed...

We now have a 7 day cruise (at the protected 5 day rate we paid) which goes to Key West and overnights in Nassau. Woo-hoo! I've always wanted to go to Key West, and we get 2 extra days free, so I'm thrilled with this change in itinerary. I am really loving Carnival right about now.

 

[Westernskies]

This swine flu pandemic has gone on longer than expected; there is now a dangerous shortage of surgical masks, forcing people to look to other means of protection.

Here are a couple of low-cost suggestions:

 

[Meadbh]

They have sequenced the genome....

Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg First in World To Decode Genetic Makeup of H1N1 Flu Viruss - Public Health Agency of Canada

which means they can now start making the vaccine. However, manufacturing for the "regular" flu vaccine has already commenced. They will have to decide whether there is time to incorporate H1N1 into it and protect us all when this comes back in the Fall.

 

[haha]

Congratulations to the Canadian virologists! Great work!

Ha

 

[freebird5825]

Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg First in World To Decode Genetic Makeup of H1N1 Flu Viruss - Public Health Agency of Canada

which means they can now start making the vaccine. However, manufacturing for the "regular" flu vaccine has already commenced. They will have to decide whether there is time to incorporate H1N1 into it and protect us all when this comes back in the Fall.

Way to go, neighbours!
Is the long plan-ahead timing for the vaccine due to growing things in a Petri dish and testing for purity and packaging?
I was asleep in Biology that day.

 

[audreyh1]

Well, we did get the h@ll out of Texas!

We already had the trip planned, but decided not to delay the trip to wait out the endless days of bad weather (thunderstorms) headed our way.

And we bought some of that alcohol hand wash stuff and have a tube in the car and one in the RV and use it whenever we go to public places - grocery store, truck stop, etc.

Our RV is always well stocked. We usually stay out in the boonies. In Arkansas right now (also planned). No cases here yet.

Hopefully this strain stays mild. Finger's crossed.

Audrey

 

[Meadbh]

Is the long plan-ahead timing for the vaccine due to growing things in a Petri dish and testing for purity and packaging?
I was asleep in Biology that day.

I'm not an expert, but yeah, that's about it. The pharmaceutical companies will crank up the assembly lines now (they need to grow lots of virus as a first step, but with the genome, that's fairly straightforward). Usually the vaccine is actually manufactured and safety tested by September and is then distributed far and wide before we begin rolling up our sleeves in October. The problem is, if they mothball it waiting for H1N1, the "regular" flu may arrive in town before the vaccine.

 

[FinanceDude]

I'm not an expert, but yeah, that's about it. The pharmaceutical companies will crank up the assembly lines now (they need to grow lots of virus as a first step, but with the genome, that's fairly straightforward). Usually the vaccine is actually manufactured and safety tested by September and is then distributed far and wide before we begin rolling up our sleeves in October. The problem is, if they mothball it waiting for H1N1, the "regular" flu may arrive in town before the vaccine.

I heard the vaccine will take until late summer to manufacture, due to how it is made with chicken eggs or something

 

[Khan]

I heard the vaccine will take until late summer to manufacture, due to how it is made with chicken eggs or something

We're still cultivating it in chicken eggs, a 50 year old technology. There is work being done on better and faster methods; no way will the new methods be ready by this year's flu season.

 

[samclem]

We're still cultivating it in chicken eggs, a 50 year old technology. There is work being done on better and faster methods; no way will the new methods be ready by this year's flu season.

And, we're lucky this is swine flu. I've read that a bird flu vaccine cannot be cultivated using the chicken egg incubation method, so we'll have virtually no chance to produce millions of doses of a bird flu vaccine in a few months (until we develop and field a technology that doesn't depend on chicken eggs).

 

[Meadbh]

It's not clear how long the vaccine will take.....

BBC NEWS | Health | How to make a swine flu vaccine

Experimental swine flu vaccine expected in weeks