Anybody else nervous about going to WDW with the Swine Flu scare?

[Muhlenberg]

It's all a matter of perspective. There's currently 66 cases in the US...and that is....brace yourselves...

a whopping .000022% of the population!

 

[AnnaS]

My sister also had a trip planned to Cancun this July and my oldest son was going with her and her family. She asked me what I thought whether they should go or not, I told her to wait a little longer and see how things pan out before cancelling since their trip isn't until July. While last night I spoke with her and they cancelled their trip. Now they are trying to figure out where to go and how to use the airline tickets, they have until May 12th to change the tickets without any fees attached, they can travel up to a year from the purchase date. I guess my son will lose his airline ticket since there's no where he needs to travel to in the next year, our trips are all planned and tickets purchased.

Same here - trip is in July but worried about plane more than Mexico.

I just spoke to Continental - they will waive fees (til 5/15 as of now) and can rebook flight to anywhere by 9/29 and travel within a year. Will also issue a credit certificate if flight is lower.

Back to discussion and see where I might want to go with my points before Dec. or somewhere else cash in the very near future.

 

[dianeschlicht]

It's all a matter of perspective. There's currently 66 cases in the US...and that is....brace yourselves...

a whopping .000022% of the population!

RIGHT! I don't know why we are panicing when this flu has killed only one person in the U.S. Last year about 36,000 people in the U.S died from influenza, and that didn't cause a panic. Why are we panicing now???

 

[ead79]

I think it's important to try to keep the current situation in perspective. So far, the swine flu has caused 1 death in the US. The "regular" flu caused 36,000 deaths in the US. So far, the regular flu seems much more serious, yet people aren't panicking about it. I think a lot of this is hype, and that we should all just practice good hygiene (like hand washing, sneezing into your arm or a tissue, etc.) and not worry too much.

 

[AnnaS]

I think it's important to try to keep the current situation in perspective. So far, the swine flu has caused 1 death in the US. The "regular" flu caused 36,000 deaths in the US. So far, the regular flu seems much more serious, yet people aren't panicking about it. I think a lot of this is hype, and that we should all just practice good hygiene (like hand washing, sneezing into your arm or a tissue, etc.) and not worry too much.

Even though I am thinking of canceling our upcoming trip to Cancun, I agree and understand completely what you, myself and others are saying.

Why are they making such a big issue out of this - does anyone know? Is it only because it's a new strain?

 

[twinklebug]

Why are they making such a big issue out of this - does anyone know? Is it only because it's a new strain?

I wondered this too, but I think it has to do with the fact that this virus is entirely new to humans (verses the normal flus we have had about that are mutations of previous ones) and so NOBODY has even partial immunity to it. In other words, if you come into contact with it, you will catch it.

Also of concern is that the death toll from this in Mexico is extremely high in proportion to the number of cases reported when compared to typical flus. This may however be because the Mexican government wasn't monitoring the situation until deaths stared occurring.

Possibly another concern: This virus is spreading in the heat. Typical flu germs dye off as the weather gets warmer. Not this one.

Unless the government (not the media) states otherwise, just ride this out it as though it's a typical flu season - wash your hands and if you do catch something, take very good care of yourself. All the usual advise.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Zero fear. If anyone is afraid of getting this, you should be more afraid of getting in your car to head to work, more people die from car accidents a day then have died from this. I always find it funny how many people have irrational fears. Fears of flying, snakes, pig flu, etc.

 

[Crisgw]

Also of concern is that the death toll from this in Mexico is extremely high in proportion to the number of cases reported when compared to typical flus. This may however be because the Mexican government wasn't monitoring the situation until deaths stared occurring.

Many Mexican citizens (most I'd say) do not have access to the same types of health care we have here in the US. Often, they don't even get to the Dr, clinic, hospital to be checked out and when/if they do it's too late. That's the main reason.

My sister is a Sr level researcher at the PHD here in our state (she has her MPH) and she says this is being blown out of proportion by the media (per usual!). The advice she gave me is to be aware of any symptoms (highly unlikely by the way) and to stay on top of hand washing which we should all do anyways.

I'm excited to be in the single digit dance tomorrow!

 

[mouse]

I was watching a Dr. Oz report and if I understood correctly, what is scary about this virus is that it has a combination of human, bird, and animal(pig) DNA. The other interesting thing he said was that it was young, seemingly healthy people who were dying in Mexico. The body's normal reaction to invasive bacteria is to produce white blood cells to fight off the disease. The healthier you are, the more white blood cells you can produce. Therefore, this flu does not seem to be following the usual rules of being harder on the elderly and those with compromised immune systems. That is one of the things that has them puzzled. Are white blood cells actually finding a way to "invigorate" this virus? I saw this report yesterday, so sorry if this is old news. I haven't read all of the posts about this subject. However, how will we ever know if the "hype" actually helps to save lives, or if it is just "hype"? How do you keep track of those that don't get this because of the precautions they have taken?

 

[ead79]

I wondered this too, but I think it has to do with the fact that this virus is entirely new to humans (verses the normal flus we have had about that are mutations of previous ones) and so NOBODY has even partial immunity to it. In other words, if you come into contact with it, you will catch it.

From what I understand, this isn't true. Even super-bugs like ebola don't have a 100% transmission rate. But of course like you said it's a good idea to take all the usual precautions like hand washing, avoiding those who are sick, etc.

 

[bama106]

We leave for WDW next week and we have no fears at all about going. Yeah, we will probably take extra precaution with sanitizing hands, etc. but other than that are not concerned at all.

 

[kgc07]

People are getting a lot of false information from the media. This isnt a new flu. In 1988 a pregnant woman in Wisconsin died from swine flu. Yes, that is here in the US. 1 person in the US has died from swine flu and this toddler was not a US citizen, the child was from Mexico. Over 36,000 people in the US die from the flu each year. The reason people don't always know this is becuase the cause of these deaths are not listed as the flu, but more often as pnuemonia or something else.

 

[JimC]

I recommend that if you want the best information about this that you go to the CDC site. It will have the most up to date and accurate information that is publicly available. Realize that during any disease outbreak conditions evolve and can change rapidly. Be vigilant about following the basic everyday actions to stay healthy.

 

[Disneymom2266]

I would certainly stay out of the Mexico pavillion at Epcot. Also,there are still people going to and from Mexico, even knowing where it came from. I don`t understand why they havent stopped travels to and from there before now.

 

[Lynne M]

I would certainly stay out of the Mexico pavillion at Epcot.

Why?

 

[jlewisinsyr]

I would certainly stay out of the Mexico pavillion at Epcot.

Please tell me this is a joke, right?

 

[WilsonFlyer]

 

[disneyfan2kids]

I would certainly stay out of the Mexico pavillion at Epcot.

 

[Maliki2]

Stolen from one of the other forums I visit...

"With all the scare talk about Coughing Pig Death, plenty of people are calling up the horrors of the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918. And to be sure, the 1918 flu was a tragic, awful calamity. But just how bad was it, statistically speaking?

It's estimated that about 28 per cent of Canadians and Americans contracted the Spanish flu. Worldwide, an estimated 2.5 per cent of the sick died of complications, which made the pandemic one of the most lethal flu outbreaks in recorded history. Certainly it was one that imprinted itself upon human consciousness for several generations.

But there's another way to look at those statistics. You might observe, for example, that they mean that even during the worst ravages of the 1918 flu, 97.5 per cent of those infected survived and recovered. Or that 72 per cent of the population -- even in the absence of the sophisticated public health planning and infrastructure that Canada and the U.S. have since built -- was not infected during the pandemic.

So, even if we had a repeat of the 1918 flu, the chances were seven out of 10 that you wouldn't catch it and if you did, the odds were better than nine out of 10 that you'd survive.

That was during the worst pandemic of the modern era and one which occurred in the days before the instantaneous communications of radio, television and the Web enabled quick public health responses.

Deal with it, you paranoid puppets of the media."

 

[Eeyore's-tail-tack]

I am not worried at all, to me it is like the "disease of the day" similar to the panic they caused a few years ago in NY (where I live) with the West Nile Virus. The media is doing there best at scaring people, for example the school here in NY where the kids got sick, the media is reporting "hundreds of kids" have been sickened when the actual number of confirmed cases is a fraction of that. I am not saying they don't have the swine flu but the media makes it seem like there are hundreds of confirmed cases when the real number according to the latest reports is 45 and I believe that is the total number here in NYC not just at that high school. Another thing the media is not reporting is that a bunch of the kids from the High School went to Mexico for spring break.

They have said the kids went to Mexico the whole time.