Anyone see Oprah yesterday?

[minnie56]

With Dr Osterholm talking about the next Pandemic and bird flu?

Scary.......

 

[luvwinnie]

No! I wish I had though. What was the gist of it?

 

[worm761]

yep. i watched it. i think she should have had more than one "expert" on. you only got his view of things. there will be another pandemic. these things tend to run in cycles. something that he kept saying was about a cure for the bird flu. you cannot kill a virus. i think part of it was just sensationalism. they were trying to scare people. this is one of the reasons i don't watch too much tv anymore.

 

[luvwinnie]

Found this on her site. I find it interesting since I am on immunosuppressant drugs:

If the bird flu is anything like the 1918 pandemic, the highest death rates could actually be "those between the ages of 20 and 40."

"In the months of September and October of 1918, 7 percent of the residents of Boston between 20 and 40 years of age died," he says.

How could individuals in the prime of their health be so susceptible to a disease? "It turns out that this virus multiplies very quickly in your body," Dr. Osterholm explains. "The people who have the healthiest immune systems are the ones that succumb to the virus because the immune system goes into overdrive."

 

[KarenC]

I recently read a book about the 1918 flu pandemic. I'm not sure what the average person can do if the bird flu turns into one but it's clear to me our public health infrastructure needs to be prepared. The guy in charge of the nation's public health in 1918 (I think his name was Gray) had a lot in common with the guy in charge of FEMA when Katrina hit--a political hack without much knowledge of public health issues. I think the real value in informing people of the dangers of a flu pandemic is to get us to hold our government accountable for being ready to manage the crisis before it happens. It will take a coordinated effort that is outside the capability of the private sector to handle on its own.

Gray refused to acknowledge there was a public health crisis until it was too late. What we should learn from history is to keep people who are sick to stay at home at the first sign of illness and to be sure we keep our doctors and nurses well so they can take care of the people who get really sick. In 1918 lots of people died from treatable things like dehydration because the medical personnel were too sick to take care of them.

 

[MICKEY88]

the problem is, this news has been out there for months, too many people choose to ignore it, or write it off as sensationalism..

in reality, the whole 9-11 scenario was brought up in a government think tank a year or so before it happened,,,

the NEw Orleans flooding was mentioned prior to it's actual occurence,
now the flu pandemic..

these things are predicted based on fact and the odds of their occurence, unfortunately not enough people, or not enough of the right people with the power to set plans in motion,, take these thoughts seriously, then when they occur and the news leaks out that they could have been better prepared for, everyone wants to know why no one did anything when the info was there all along..

unfortunately this will probably happen with the flu pandemic, people who don't take it seriously now, will not do so when it happens, they will go to work, or out in public and infect others,

in reality the government should have plans in place to use the military to implement quarantines if neccessary, but the general public, is outraged at such thoughts..

 

[luvwinnie]

What worries me is that, according to this dr., you are contagious before you have symptoms.

 

[Cindy's Mom]

You don't have to even start to worry until a case has been identified in the US. So far there have been no humans infected as of yet.

 

[Cindy's Mom]

in reality the government should have plans in place to use the military to implement quarantines if neccessary, but the general public, is outraged at such thoughts..

I know for a fact that Illinois does indeed have isolation and quarantine laws set up for public health emergency preparedness.

 

[Chicago526]

You don't have to even start to worry until a case has been identified in the US. So far there have been no humans infected as of yet.

Ummm...did you watch the show? We have to be prepared before the first case shows up here, not scramble around after the fact. By then it's too late.

And even if bird flu doesn't happen, the same things we set up for a pandemic situation can easily be used in other disasters, man made or cased mother nature. It would never be wasted.

 

[Cindy's Mom]

Ummmm, no I didn't watch the show - I was at work Preparing for such diasters. This is what I do for a living. Illinois is ahead of the pack on Emergency Preparedness in any form.

 

[minnie56]

Of every virus..being contagious before you have any symptoms.

I hardly ever watch TV but caught the tail end of this show. I found it so captivating that I searched for when it was coming on again and watched the entire episode. Waiting until it hits the U.S or Canada where I live is MUCH too late! It will run in an approx 2 year cycle popping up from state to state and city to city. We have to be proactive now...as Oprah herself said "Knowledge is power" and god knows they are trying to teach us all but not everyone is listening!

It's not really if it will happen, but when

 

[luvmyfam444]

You don't have to even start to worry until a case has been identified in the US. So far there have been no humans infected as of yet.

CNN ran a show on this last night w/Dr Gupta --only saw the first 20 mins or so but they showed HUMANs infected in China...a woman that died & then her 8 yo nephew that tested positive to the flu - what they don't know is how he came to be positive they are afraid he could have gotten from her since she lived with him & when she was sick rested near him - BUT they are also looking at him being an 8 yo boy that could have picked it up from elsewhere in the city - he's healthy now - they said the virus stays alive for a bit after the birds are gone...(can't remember exactly)
I'm sure CNN will run the episode again....

I agree I think we should have the knowledege - I can sure tell you as soon as I hear of any sort of virus going around my dd's school she will be homw with me! I don't care what it is...I know we have RSV going around church in the babies right now & I've seen a couple cases of strep (in kids)that aren't reacting to antibiotics---so I'm VERY cautious of it all & want to know what's out there- not to be paranoid but just to be prepared if I can....

 

[LightBurnsBlue]

You don't have to even start to worry until a case has been identified in the US. So far there have been no humans infected as of yet.

As others have said, there have been many human cases in Asia, and now humans are starting to get in in Eastern Europe. While it's true that not many people (relatively) have gotten sick (~140-150), it is rare that a bird flu is infecting people in those numbers, and worse yet, the mortality rate is nearly 50 percent.

If this current strain of bird flu becomes capable of sustained human-to-human transmission (which most health experts think is quite likely--the strain has mutated in very troubling ways already) the entire world has a reason to worry. Let's say this human-to-human transmission occurs in Thailand. Although that's a thousand miles away, the physical distance doesn't really matter. With the state of global air traffic, a virus could spread around the world in a matter of weeks.

There is a tiny, tiny chance that the virus could be contained with a mass dispersal of Tamiflu at the site of the contamination, but this is very unlikely b/c most Asian healthcare facilities are not capable of monitoring the virus well, and there is not yet a stockpile of Tamiflu large enough.

So...if this pandemic flu occurs somewhere in the world, I highly doubt it will take long at all for it to get here...and unless rapid changes are made in this country, we will not be prepared. I'll just give you one example. There are roughly 100,000 mechanical ventilators in the US. On any given day, about 70,000 are in use. During the seasonal flu season, that number jumps to 95,000. Do you think that an extra 5,000 would cover us should cover the 25% of our population that would get sick?

 

[Chicago526]

Ummmm, no I didn't watch the show - I was at work Preparing for such diasters. This is what I do for a living. Illinois is ahead of the pack on Emergency Preparedness in any form.

Then thank you for your efforts, and it's great that IL is being proactive about this and other potential disasters. But if the other 49 states and the Federal Government doesn't get on board and do the same, then it won't do the residents of IL much good.

We don't need to panic before the first case hits the US, but I think we should be worried about it, and make sure our congressmen are worried too.

 

[OhMari]

Right now in Wisconsin we just hit our peak flu season. I hate going anywhere, why? When I go to church on Sunday, I try to sit near the front. I cannot believe the people that are sick and coughing and blowing their noses.

My sister works as a waitress-she tells me all the time how people come into the resturant - very sick. Most of them tell her they don't have anything to eat at home or they are to sick to cook so they go out to eat. She asks them why they just don't order take-out. One person got so upset with her and told her to not expect a tip that day. She said she wasn't being sarcastic or rude-she was just making a suggestion.

Right now, I have two co--workers very sick. Today is Thursday and she is going to wait until Tuesday to go to the Dr.-because she has an appointment that day anyhow. They other one didn't need to be here, she could have worked at home, but I think she wanted us all to see how sick she was. What is with some people-why do they loose their common sense when they get sick.

 

[mickeysgal]

What is with some people-why do they loose their common sense when they get sick.

People don't stay home because some don't get paid if they don't show up, some don't have sick days, some save their days in the event their kids get sick, some employers just aren't reasonable about being sick, and some people just plain fear that they'll loose their jobs if they stay home. It doesn't make it right, but these are some of the reasons.

 

[minnie56]

The ones that are already sick are really not as much the problem as the ones who will get sick tonight! They are the most contagious.

As for the ventilator issue mentioned earlier...there will be a severe shortage and all over the country, every day Dr's will have to make choices they normally don't have to. There will not be enough for everyone....there also will not be enough Tamiflu even if it kicks into high production today.

This Dr said once the first case of human to human is diagnosed..it will take 24 hrs to spread.. and will take 2 years to run it's course globally

 

[Christine]

Right now in Wisconsin we just hit our peak flu season. I hate going anywhere, why? When I go to church on Sunday, I try to sit near the front. I cannot believe the people that are sick and coughing and blowing their noses.

My sister works as a waitress-she tells me all the time how people come into the resturant - very sick. Most of them tell her they don't have anything to eat at home or they are to sick to cook so they go out to eat. She asks them why they just don't order take-out. One person got so upset with her and told her to not expect a tip that day. She said she wasn't being sarcastic or rude-she was just making a suggestion.

Right now, I have two co--workers very sick. Today is Thursday and she is going to wait until Tuesday to go to the Dr.-because she has an appointment that day anyhow. They other one didn't need to be here, she could have worked at home, but I think she wanted us all to see how sick she was. What is with some people-why do they loose their common sense when they get sick.

If they are still able to come to work, then they don't have the flu. Sorry, if you've got the "true flu" you ain't gettin' out of bed!

A lot of people have very, very nasty terrible colds and cannot stay home the 7 days for the worst symptoms to disappear.