Pandemic?

[LuvOrlando]

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[DawnCt1]

WHO is meeting this weekend to determine if they need to raise the "pandemic alert level for WHO". We have been at level three for three years which means that there is novel flu virus which has occurred but with limited person to person spread. Level four is clusters of human to human transmission of a "novel" flu virus. He thinks that they may raise it to level four this weekend.



What does "novel flu virus" mean? How is a cluster determined versus just a person to person (it isn't the same thing?), a person to person being for example 10 cases in a school or 50 in a school being a cluster?

A novel flu virus is something not seen before. There is not a fixed number for a cluster, but it means a group of people not in one family; ten people in a neighborhood, etc. The main area of concern here is that we don't have clusters that are tightly defined. Among the 8 cases in the USA that occurred, a family of 2 and six other individual cases. None of them knew each other or had contact with each other. That means its not tightly contained and that there are other people spreading that haven't been identified yet. There could be more than one source among those people. If you and I had dinner and I gave it to you, then you would know where it came from but if we never met and we both got it, then there is something else or someone else spreading it, "other infected people".

 

[december]

Thanks for the kind wishes. We are all doing fine down here, but let me tell you, it is rather interesting to see all that is going on.
The Government has requested (insisted) that pretty much all public gathering places be shut down until further notice. That includes Movie theaters, discos, bars, meetings, churches, etc... In fact they have said that the Government itself will be meeting outside while the main Government buildings are thoroughly disinfected. All the shcools and universities are also closed until further notice. It's really pretty eerie right now driving around here, there are almost no cars on the road. The main grocery stores are still open, but besides that, most other places are closed. About 1 out of every 5 people are wearing a mask over their mouths when they do go out.
They have also requested avoiding the hospitals unless you really need to go.
In a city of 25 - 30 million people, a few hundred is such a small drop in the bucket, but I do appreciate what the city is doing to try and keep this from becoming something serious.
As for us, we will be spending most of the day tomorrow disinfecting our own house (Bleach, Lysol, cleaning agents, etc...), and we will be canceling our own church service on Sunday in compliance with the Government's request (we were planning on having a special Children's day service on Sunday, but we'll just have to post-pone that until a later day).
From what I understand from the media down here, the 60 or so people who have died were all people who waited far too long before going to the doctor. They seem to think that if you start getting some of the systems of this disease, that if you get medical treatment soon enough, it is quite treatable.
I'll try and keep you updated as to what is happening down here. In the 10 years we've been here, this is one of the most unusual things we've ever seen.

Thank you so much for the 1st hand report!

Could meat be infected and carry the illness?

This was covered on the news last night as well, and the answer given was no. All the infections were thought to be from human to human contact.

 

[crazyme5kids]

Thanks Dawn and thank your husband for me . I work in early childcare so I want to be armed with as much info as possible to keep not only myself and my family safe and hopefully healthy, but the babies that I am directly responible for taking care of.

 

[dumboiu]

My DH works for a large Fourtune 500 Pharma and a few years ago they gave out a sheet on Pandemic Flu Preparedness AND instituted guidelines about employee protocols in such an event. Ahhh, I just found it. Title "How You Can Prepare for a Pandemic Flu". Guess what I am doing today?

What information is in the pamphlet? What does it advise people to do?

 

[DawnCt1]

WOW, I just got up and am actually relieved to know that other people have this on their minds. I have been glued to the news since this first broke y
Dawn I have a question for your DH.. the flu shot we just got this year- I understand it does not last very long but what I don't understand is: When they say it doesn't last too long do they mean the individual shot's effects on the immune system wane or just that after a few months the strains the shot is geared towards simply evolve and render the vaccine ineffective.

He said that its both. The immunity is good enough to last for a year but it is not very effective, unless there is crossover immunity in some of the strains, and its what you said, in the bolded part.

 

[LuvOrlando]

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[LuvOrlando]

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[Brit17]

Thank you DawnCT1 and your DH for all the info ... please keep it coming ...

 

[D L and K's Mom]

I hate this...I am sure everyone does. I go into panic mode...DH and I are both teachers so we have contact with 100's of kids. DS is a special needs child and it is hard to keep things out of his mouth. DD has asthma pretty bad so she is at risk!!! ARggggggg. Oh well, the only thing we can do it e prepared. We have masks and gloves for DS. We have all gotten our flu shots. It is hard to get perscriptions for an extra month. Doctors do not do that easily. I remember trying to get him to write them for when we went on vacation. The insurance company would not let us do it since they are for seizures. Oh well. We will just be prepared and weather the storm...hopefully if is for nothing.

 

[TheGoofster]

None that we know of, but he said that if they really had 1000 cases in Mexico, its a good possibility that it will spread. The southern hemisphere will be entering their winter/flu season in the next few weeks.

I don't know if it matters, but Mexico actually has the same seasons as the states. Our winter is over, and we are in Spring right now. True our rainy season is about to start, but our biggest flu season is already over.
Much further South the seasons are different, but here it's just like the states.
Hopefully that will help keep the flu from spreading any faster.

 

[MsDisney23]

"Its a matter of deep concern at the CDC, there is no call for activating emergency responses right now. That could change. It will take about a week to get a better picture on it. All the cases in the US are sensitive to Tamiflu."

those are quotes while he is flipping hamburgers.

Hamburgers... Dawn, did you say hamburgers, like in hamburgers on the grill... . I'll take one please. lettuce, tom & onions, oh and cheese please...

 

[TheZue]

I don't know if it matters, but Mexico actually has the same seasons as the states.

I read it that way the first time too, but I think she might have meant that it will spread out of Mexico and into South America and the Southern Hemisphere is going into their flu season.

And how wonderful is it that it has extra diarhea! If I'm going to die of the flu I'd rather not spend my final time on earth with diarhea. Anyways I guess I'm buying some extra lysol next time I go shopping.

 

[DVCLiz]

I don't know if it matters, but Mexico actually has the same seasons as the states. Our winter is over, and we are in Spring right now. True our rainy season is about to start, but our biggest flu season is already over.
Much further South the seasons are different, but here it's just like the states.
Hopefully that will help keep the flu from spreading any faster.

Hi, Goofster - Dawn was responding to my question about Ecuador - DD20 is in Quito for the semester and still has 6 weeks to go, so I was curious about any other Latin or South American countries or cities being at risk. Your update is good news for Northerners but I was still concerned about my daughter. I Skyped her last night and it has not been on any news - she hadn't head about it. I told her to start monitoring it online and keep up with it so she could be prepared - she is going to be doing a lot of traveling these last six weeks arund the country so naturally I am a little nervous!

 

[Planogirl]

This is all quite interesting but I think that it's WAY too early to panic or even react unless you're right there where it's all happening. I plan to keep an eye on things and then we'll see.

It's a little daunting though because I feel like I have some kind of bug today. It feels like my usual springtime stuff and the symptoms are different but it's still tempting to worry.

 

[TheGoofster]

I read it that way the first time too, but I think she might have meant that it will spread out of Mexico and into South America and the Southern Hemisphere is going into their flu season.

And how wonderful is it that it has extra diarhea! If I'm going to die of the flu I'd rather not spend my final time on earth with diarhea. Anyways I guess I'm buying some extra lysol next time I go shopping.

Hi, Goofster - Dawn was responding to my question about Ecuador - DD20 is in Quito for the semester and still has 6 weeks to go, so I was curious about any other Latin or South American countries or cities being at risk. Your update is good news for Northerners but I was still concerned about my daughter. I Skyped her last night and it has not been on any news - she hadn't head about it. I told her to start monitoring it online and keep up with it so she could be prepared - she is going to be doing a lot of traveling these last six weeks arund the country so naturally I am a little nervous!

Yup, I did read it wrong. Sorry Dawn! But at least it is good to know that here in Mexico (which is getting all the attention) that at least our worst flu season time is over.

BTW, I just read that everything here will be closed for 10 days. No school, no movie theaters, no soccer games, no discos or bars (at least this one doesn't affect me), no church services, no basketball practice for my son, no gymnastics classes for my daughter, no public gatherings of any kind for the next 10 days.
This should be a very interesting time to say the least.

 

[Planogirl]

Yup, I did read it wrong. Sorry Dawn! But at least it is good to know that here in Mexico (which is getting all the attention) that at least our worst flu season time is over.

BTW, I just read that everything here will be closed for 10 days. No school, no movie theaters, no soccer games, no discos or bars (at least this one doesn't affect me), no church services, no basketball practice for my son, no gymnastics classes for my daughter, no public gatherings of any kind for the next 10 days.
This should be a very interesting time to say the least.

What about grocery stores and drug stores? How will they handle those? Transit?

Wow, what a mess.

 

[TheGoofster]

What about grocery stores and drug stores? How will they handle those? Transit?

Wow, what a mess.

Grocery stores and drug stores are still open, and there are still some public buses running (but because so many people are staying home, there aren't nearly as many as normal).

 

[DawnCt1]

Hamburgers... Dawn, did you say hamburgers, like in hamburgers on the grill... . I'll take one please. lettuce, tom & onions, oh and cheese please...

Yup, we grill all winter long!

 

[DawnCt1]

Yup, I did read it wrong. Sorry Dawn! But at least it is good to know that here in Mexico (which is getting all the attention) that at least our worst flu season time is over.

BTW, I just read that everything here will be closed for 10 days. No school, no movie theaters, no soccer games, no discos or bars (at least this one doesn't affect me), no church services, no basketball practice for my son, no gymnastics classes for my daughter, no public gatherings of any kind for the next 10 days.
This should be a very interesting time to say the least.

Thanks for keeping us posted!