dunefreak Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 Man...after hearing about this on the news and reading about it online, it sounds like it might be more serious than everyone thought. Looks like hundreds of kids in NY have fallen ill with this flu. They even expect deaths from it. yikes. WASH your hands more than normal, people. And stay the hell out of MEXICO! (NO, that wasn't a racist remark...they even mention it below) Here are some basic Q&A's about the virus that I just read. Q: How do I protect myself and my family? A: For now, take commonsense precautions. Cover your coughs and sneezes, with a tissue that you throw away or by sneezing into your elbow rather than your hand. Wash hands frequently; if soap and water aren't available, hand gels can substitute. Stay home if you're sick and keep children home from school if they are. Q: How easy is it to catch this virus? A: Scientists don't yet know if it takes fairly close or prolonged contact with someone who's sick, or if it's more easily spread. But in general, flu viruses spread through uncovered coughs and sneezes or -- and this is important -- by touching your mouth or nose with unwashed hands. Flu viruses can live on surfaces for several hours, like a doorknob just touched by someone who sneezed into his hand. Q: In Mexico, officials are handing out face masks. Do I need one? A: The CDC says there's not good evidence that masks really help outside of health care settings. It's safer just to avoid close contact with someone who's sick and avoid crowded gatherings in places where swine flu is known to be spreading. But if you can't do that, CDC guidelines say it's OK to consider a mask -- just don't let it substitute for good precautions. Q: Is swine flu treatable? A: Yes, with the flu drugs Tamiflu or Relenza, but not with two older flu medications. Q: Is there enough? A: Yes. The federal government has stockpiled enough of the drugs to treat 50 million people, and many states have additional stocks. As a precaution, the CDC has shipped a quarter of that supply to the states to keep on hand just in case the virus starts spreading more than it has so far. Q: Should I take Tamiflu as a precaution if I'm not sick yet? A: No. "What are you going to do with it, use it when you get a sniffle?" asks Dr. Marc Siegel of New York University Langone Medical Center and author of "Bird Flu: Everything you Need To Know About The Next Pandemic." Overusing antiviral drugs can help germs become resistant to them. Q: How big is my risk? A: For most people, very low. Outside of Mexico, so far clusters of illnesses seem related to Mexican travel. New York City's cluster, for instance, consists of students and family members at one school where some students came back ill from spring break in Mexico. Q: Why are people dying in Mexico and not here? A: That's a mystery. First, understand that no one really knows just how many people in Mexico are dying of this flu strain, or how many have it. Only a fraction of the suspected deaths have been tested and confirmed as swine flu, and some initially suspected cases were caused by something else. Q: Should I cancel my planned trip to Mexico? A: The U.S. did issue a travel advisory Monday discouraging nonessential travel there. Q: What else is the U.S., or anyone else, doing to try to stop this virus? A: The U.S. is beginning limited screening of travelers from Mexico, so that the obviously sick can be sent for treatment. Other governments have issued their own travel warnings and restrictions. Mexico is taking the biggest steps, closings that limit most crowded gatherings. In the U.S., communities with clusters of illness also may limit contact -- New York closed the affected school for a few days, for example -- so stay tuned to hear if your area eventually is affected. Q: What are the symptoms? A: They're similar to regular human flu -- a fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. Some people also have diarrhea and vomiting. Q: How do I know if I should see a doctor? Maybe my symptoms are from something else -- like pollen? A: Health authorities say if you live in places where swine flu cases have been confirmed, or you recently traveled to Mexico, and you have flulike symptoms, ask your doctor if you need treatment or to be tested. Allergies won't cause a fever. And run-of-the-mill stomach bugs won't be accompanied by respiratory symptoms, notes Dr. Wayne Reynolds of Newport News, Va., spokesman for the American Academy of Family Physicians. Q: Is there a vaccine to prevent this new infection? A: No. And CDC's initial testing suggests that last winter's flu shot didn't offer any cross-protection. Q: How long would it take to produce a vaccine? A: A few months. The CDC has created what's called "seed stock" of the new virus that manufacturers would need to start production. But the government hasn't yet decided if the outbreak is bad enough to order that. Q: What is swine flu? A: Pigs spread their own strains of influenza and every so often people catch one, usually after contact with the animals. This new strain is a mix of pig viruses with some human and bird viruses. Unlike more typical swine flu, it is spreading person-to-person. A 1976 outbreak of another unusual swine flu at Fort Dix, N.J., prompted a problematic mass vaccination campaign, but that time the flu fizzled out. Q: So is it safe to eat pork? A: Yes. Swine influenza viruses don't spread through food. Q: And whatever happened to bird flu? Wasn't that supposed to be the next pandemic? A: Specialists have long warned that the issue is a never-before-seen strain that people have little if any natural immunity to, regardless of whether it seems to originate from a bird or a pig. Bird flu hasn't gone away; scientists are tracking it, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ltr450rider Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 WERE ALL GONNA DIE!!!!! :ah: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bp-guy Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 We are on the lookout here at work for the sick one's!!! I don't need no stinking porker disease Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wingnut Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 We are on the lookout here at work for the sick one's!!! I don't need no stinking porker disease To many "Porkers" back in your younger days Tim? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jr1208 Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 :ah: :ah: :ah: :ah: :ah: :ah: :ah: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Cheese Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 of course...half our student population traveled to mexico over easter vacation too :ah: 4 or 5 kids hackin up phlem n shait...i made them call their parents and go home yesterday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quicksilver Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 The first US fatality has been reported: a 23 month old child in Texas. Supposedly this new strain is related to the H1N1 strain that killed millions in 1918. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sand chick Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 And I get laughed at cause flu/plague related movies scare the crap out of me!!! I just hope they get it under contol soon. I thought it was interesting what they say about the mask not reallt being protective outside of the health care facitlities..... yeah right... why not say the truth... people start panicing when they begin to see people going around wearing the masks in public!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Cheese Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 and...........im sick as a dog today....101 body temp...tossin my cookies.....got the sh*t river syndrome too no bueno....and.... im at fuggin work because when i finally quit chitin and tossin...it was past the time to call in sick :thumbdown: effe i hope i dont have that chit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vegas style Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 and...........im sick as a dog today....101 body temp...tossin my cookies.....got the sh*t river syndrome too no bueno....and.... im at fuggin work because when i finally quit chitin and tossin...it was past the time to call in sick :thumbdown: effe i hope i dont have that chit so are your students going to call your parents and send you home? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fctryblack84 Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 so are your students going to call your parents and send you home? but i hope no one gets this, as serious as it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jorgeloco Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 and...........im sick as a dog today....101 body temp...tossin my cookies.....got the sh*t river syndrome too no bueno....and.... im at fuggin work because when i finally quit chitin and tossin...it was past the time to call in sick :thumbdown: effe i hope i dont have that chit you better take care of your self man this chit is bad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~JILL~ Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 (edited) I just got a news alert from one of the T.V. stations. It has now hit in Reno, Nevada. The case has been confirmed but the patient seems to be recovering well. Edited April 29, 2009 by ~JILL~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUn2it Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 and...........im sick as a dog today....101 body temp...tossin my cookies.....got the sh*t river syndrome too no bueno....and.... im at fuggin work because when i finally quit chitin and tossin...it was past the time to call in sick :thumbdown: effe i hope i dont have that chit I'm not an alarmist but you say half your students were in Mexico and some had symptoms and now you have the symptoms you say but too late to call in sick? Either you have a great sense of humor or you have H1N1 and CNN written all over it. Keep this in perspective, the average death toll in US every year from influenza is 35,000. Cheese, post a retraction and say "just kidding" before they runny shiat hits the fan and parents form a 21st century lynch mob. Sorry, just my opinion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bp-guy Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 This isn't something to take lightly. The sysptoms are the same as the flu. So if your even the slightest bit worried you have it you NEED to go to the doctors. They will take a throat culture and send it off to get verified. I still have my job to do but I try to keep at a distance and up wind from them if at all possible for precautionary measures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WHIZ Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 This sux, I'm supposed to be in Ensenada on the 10th....... Maybe I'll just stay on the cruise ship if they even let it sail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sand chick Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 Just raised to pandemic alert Not good at all.... WHO raise to Pandemic Alert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warrior07 Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 I'm ready Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quicksilver Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 This is some scary schit. So far the disease seems to be affecting people of Mexican decent the worst, but no one is sure why. Many people have only reported a scratchy throat and have recovered just fine. The child that died in Texas was Mexican. So where can I buy some quality masks while they are still available? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fctryblack84 Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 well at therapy my therapist told me that one of the ppl that go. his/her mom has it. and lives in vegas im like fkn great Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SandBurro Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 It was once said that there would be a black president when pigs fly......100 days into Obama presidency.....the swine flu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barefoot bob Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 amd obama wont close the f*cking boarder. if it was an outbreak of sickle cell he would shut it down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wingnut Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 amd obama wont close the f*cking boarder. if it was an outbreak of sickle cell he would shut it down. Effin funny but true!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kens Colors Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 I heard they found a cure for the swine flu..................................... They call it Oinkment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don29palms Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 The first confirmed case of swine flu in San Bernardino county is right here on the marine base. NICE! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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