Flu - anyone worried how it will affect vacation

[ILIKEWDW]

And what is "the common flu"?

Well by common flu, I meant to the human flu, that killing thousand ppl every year.

CDC says that this situation is evolving rapidly. And I know (as others have said) there is a low percentage of becoming infected, but no one would like to be that 1%, or 10% or 20%.

Most here are right: DON´T PANIC, but please, BE CAUTIOUS and don´t think: it can ´t happen to me.

 

[Crisgw]

Yes, they change rapidly: Yesterday we were about the 60's infected and today we are aroun the 90´s.

It is time to pray.

Do you know how quickly the "regular" flu spreads?? The flu that killed over 30,000 Americans alone last year? I always pray, but this is hardly the end of times that it's being made out to be

 

[jco_direwolf]

Well by common flu, I meant to the human flu, that killing thousand ppl every year.

That is still meaningless. Variants that can't live in humans don't kill people. And there are ones which can only deal with surviving in a Dog or Horse, or Rat.

Flu transmission works, and this is a super simple version. I goes from one animal in a species to another. Then it mutates, in just the right way at just the right time and some other species picks it up, and if everything is in place, that animal infects another. It does take a lot of things to align for this to happen, but with, what 4 billion people, on this planet it does happen.

There isn't a common flu, or a human flu or anything like that. If there was we would make a shot which had the right proteins in it and we would be done. Every so often it mutates, and gets a new new protein coat on it, and that causes it to not be noticed by current species and it goes on and infects more. Influenza mutates periodically so it's hard to eliminate. There are other virus which don't, polio comes to mind. Which is why we have a polio vaccine.

That is why there is a new flu shot every year. What you get a dose of the current killed viri and the idea is your body goes "oh I'm going code to kill that." So when the real live thing comes along your immune system already knows about it. It's like a firedrill for your immune system, this won't make you sick but your body learns what to do if the real thing comes along.

Swine flu comes from that fact that we believe it jumped from a Pig; Avian because we believe it came from chickens. There are also some genetic markers which they use now. Those are the two most common carriers, due to humans living in close contact with both of them.

johno

 

[5forDiz]

Last night ( or maybe it was night before last - all media reports on this are beginning to become a blur to me ) a doctor stated that why we're hearing about the positive cases NOW is because nearly every person exhibiting what may be symptoms is being tested to find out if, in fact, they are ill with swine flu and he went on to state that it's believed it's been making people ill for quite some time and in majority of cases there were no complications and no deaths resulting and he felt our immune systems have been more exposed to it ( and some of us may have even had it ) then anyone is thinking. Hope so.

 

[Chuck S]

They have closed all schools in our county, effective today until May 11th. They closed them up in Ft. Worth, too. Parents were organizing baseball games and sports to keep the kids busy while they are out of school...so what was the point in closing the schools if the parents are planning these activities?

 

[WolfpackFan]

The closing of school systems is ridiculous. The only purpose is to protect school systems from law suits. All it would take is one child to get sick and die and they would be suing the school system for not closing. So as usual the school systems overreact. My DD is a teacher and we see this type thing all the time. Sometimes I think our counties and school systems must hire some of the worse lawyers that graduate from law school. They are so scared of law suits.

 

[kimberh]

They have closed all schools in our county, effective today until May 11th. They closed them up in Ft. Worth, too. Parents were organizing baseball games and sports to keep the kids busy while they are out of school...so what was the point in closing the schools if the parents are planning these activities?

This actually made the news here tonight! Are the parents not thinking??? We have two schools closed in the upper state. One, the kids went to Mexico for Spring Break, it is Swine, the other, the Band of 70 just returned from Disneyworld, 17 are sick with the Flu , now which one is still the question... testing being done now!