Pandemic?

[AnnaS]

I think the poster is referring to the drug wars that are going on right now. Seems to be escalating and spilling over into the border towns here in Texas.

Yes, thank you.

 

[AmazingGrace]

So, the next town over has shut down all schools and facitlites for at least the next week. the bad thing is, i truly think my son might have had this. the week that two randolph AFB kids were diagnosed, Josh was home with severe flu symptoms, plus nausea and other stuff. i didn't take him into the doctor because we had everything to treat him with at home. He's been better for over a week. It was like a serious case of the regular flu with a few more unpleasantries added.

 

[golfgal]

So, the next town over has shut down all schools and facitlites for at least the next week. the bad thing is, i truly think my son might have had this. the week that two randolph AFB kids were diagnosed, Josh was home with severe flu symptoms, plus nausea and other stuff. i didn't take him into the doctor because we had everything to treat him with at home. He's been better for over a week. It was like a serious case of the regular flu with a few more unpleasantries added.

You might want to give your dr a call and let him know that. There is a good chance he might have exposed others but they want to track the cases anyway. I would just phone them in the morning.

The guy behind us at church was coughing all through Mass today. I wanted to ask if he had been to Mexico lately. We have some friends that are there now, hopefully they won't get sick. The thing that I am curious about is there are 1000 confirmed cases in Mexico, what are the chances that the school group from NY ran into someone that was infected. I know that there are probably many, many more cases if people are not going to the dr in Mexico though.

 

[LuvOrlando]

-

 

[D L and K's Mom]

LuvOrlando can you wait and see? Perhaps now with the US govt making statements etc...if the level is elevated perhaps the airlines will allow people to change reservations. I dont know if this has ever happened before but since you can't get anything now maybe if you wait a little bit.....I feel for you my DS is a special needs child and is so prone to illness. Even when there are no outbreaks and we go to WDW he always gets sick. We just can't keep him from putting his hands in his mouth etc....I hope it all works out for you.

 

[AnnaS]

http://news.aol.com/article/school-...//news.aol.com/article/school-flu-test/445903

Don't know if I did this right - got it straight from aol news. Mayor Bloomberg has confirmed the 8 cases here from the Queens Catholic High School are the same strain as the flu from Mexico. Some of the students came back from Cancun recently for their Spring Break.

I apologize if I messed up

 

[vellamint]

Sorry if this has been asked already but is there a specific test (blood I would think) that would indicate it is the swine flu? How long would it be in your body after you become sick....do you have immunity to it after you have it so it would show?

Hope this made sense.

 

[Cindyluwho]

Sorry if this has been asked already but is there a specific test (blood I would think) that would indicate it is the swine flu? How long would it be in your body after you become sick....do you have immunity to it after you have it so it would show?

Hope this made sense.

Don't know the answer to your second question but I understand the test for it is a nasal swab. Quick and easy

 

[Brit17]

My kids are in a high risk group for the Flu due to Asthma. My DS11, is of particular concern because his is a problem all year long and is generally hard to control on a good day. He has been on Advair for a couple of years now in varying doses even though its not advised for young kids because it is the only thing that helps him. So DH and I have been watching the news closely and the story in Queens about the illness spreading within the families got us to start to very seriously consider postponing our trip for a few months until it's safer for my 2 particularly high risk kids to be in the large crowds common in amusement parks.

So I called Continental and while they are waiving change fees for people regarding Mexico they won't for us. I even asked if they would consider it if I supplied a few Dr's letter's attesting to the fact my kids are extremely high risk. I got the response of a flat out no. The change fee is $150 per ticket and that means I'd have to be willing to double my costs or take the entire loss. Now, don't get me wrong, I will totally eat the loss if it comes to that because there is no way I will endanger my kids for a few hundred dollars. BUT, the point is, I feel special consideration should absolutely be given to individuals and families who are at a greater risk. Not cool at all

Did you purchase Trip Insurance for your trip by any chance? ... If you did, I think it would cover expenses incurred if you had to cancel your trip due to medical reasons ... so if your doctor gives you a note that your DS should not travel because of his condition, the insurance should cover things ... you just will have to submit a claim, etc. ... I had to cancel a trip to WDW because my DH got sick, (and he wasn't even coming with us on the trip), and the Trip Insurance I had covered everything, including my airline tickets ...

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

This is from the link on the OP, so maybe people who got the flu shot will have a little protection:

Epidemiologists are particularly concerned because the only people killed so far were normally less-vulnerable young people and adults. It's possible that more vulnerable populations — infants and the aged — had been vaccinated against other strains, and that those vaccines may be providing some protection.

____________________

My mom and I were talking about this last night when we saw it on the news in our hotel room. She is a microbiologist and is pretty familiar with how these things work. Basically, this is a subtype of the H1N1 strain. It was another H1N1 subtype that caused the 1918 Pandemic. There is some speculation that it may have made the jump to humans from swine, but that is only a theory. H1N1 can be found in a variety of hosts includeing swine, humans, and birds. It is important to note that while it can be found in birds this is not the same avian flu that people were concerned about a few years ago, that is an H5N1 strain.

My mother was telling me that the issue with swine flu is that it does not act the same as other strains. The vaccination you received in the fall would not cover it because it is a completely different strain. Any coverage will be minimal.

I had not heard that about it being young healthy people dying, I find that rather alarming. It was mostly young people with strong immune systems that died in 1918. That particular flu virus killed via cytokine attacks. In other words, it caused a huge overreaction on the part of the immune system, so those with the strongest immune systems because they had the strongest interraction. If it is a similar strain that would explain the reports you have read.

It is also imoprtant to note that so far the only confirmed/suspected deaths have been in Mexico which in many places has a lower level of hygiene/medical care than the United States. It is also important to note that this particular strain responds well to antivirals, so that is encouraging- as long as people don't stock pile and use them inappopriately!

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

Dawn: Does your DH know what the risk is for hospital laboratory workers? My mom is a hospital microbiologist so all this stuff gets sent to her. I know that everybody in her lab is always very cautious when working with specimen samples, but this kind of thing does worry me.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

Sorry if this has been asked already but is there a specific test (blood I would think) that would indicate it is the swine flu? How long would it be in your body after you become sick....do you have immunity to it after you have it so it would show?

Hope this made sense.

Yes there is a specific test that will identify the genetic markers that indicate swine flu. I don't know what form the test takes or how long after you are exposed it will be positive.

While your immune system would offer some protection, I would not count on it. It is always possible for the virus to mutate after you have been infected, in which case it would not be the same exact strain that you had originally.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

Sorry if this has been asked already but is there a specific test (blood I would think) that would indicate it is the swine flu? How long would it be in your body after you become sick....do you have immunity to it after you have it so it would show?

Hope this made sense.

Yes there is a specific test that will identify the genetic markers that indicate swine flu. I don't know what form the test takes or how long after you are exposed it will be positive.

While your immune system would offer some protection, I would not count on it. It is always possible for the virus to mutate after you have been infected, in which case it would not be the same exact strain that you had originally.

JUST IN: US DECLARES PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/04/26/swine.flu/index.html

The article does state that this sounds more serious than it really is, but it sounds like they are taking it seriously. I'm going to call my mom and find out what this means.

 

[sherry7]

I just heard about this a couple of days ago, but I suppose I'm not too worried...I just booked a 9 day Mexican cruise for next January. Hopefully, it will all be over by then.

 

[got2luvtink]

I don't know if this has been added to this thread or not, but Ohio now has a confirmed case of swine flu. Updated at 11:30am today on the CBC's website.

I went out and got a few items today just incase. I stocked up on Gatorade that was $.35 for a 20oz bottle at my local Big Lots. Yes, it expires in 2 months, but we just might need it before then. If not, well, my kids love Gatorade, and we'll drink it before then.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

I don't know if this has been added to this thread or not, but Ohio now has a confirmed case of swine flu. Updated at 11:30am today on the CBC's website.

I went out and got a few items today just incase. I stocked up on Gatorade that was $.35 for a 20oz bottle at my local Big Lots. Yes, it expires in 2 months, but we just might need it before then. If not, well, my kids love Gatorade, and we'll drink it before then.

There are now 20 confirmed cases in the U.S. with the highest concentration being 8 at the aforementioned school in New York. Off the top of my head the affected states are California, Kansas, Ohio, Texas, and New York.

 

[daisax]

But the 8 cases in NYC weren't even hospitalized, so while they had "it" it was hardly a life and death situation. So... so far, so good.

 

[mumom95]

My dh and I were discussing this today.

We were wondering if the cruise ships that start in the US but have stops in Mexico are going to alter their plans. Anyone hear anything on this? We don't have a cruise planned, we were just wondering.

 

[JimFitz]

Was reading about the Spanish Flu on Wikipedia....this was the plague that killed 5% of the worlds population in 1918-19. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_flu

They believe this came from swine (pig) as well.

I cut out this excerpt which is concerning....

"The influenza strain was unusual in that this pandemic killed many young adults and otherwise healthy victims; typical influenzas kill mostly infants (aged 0–2 years), the elderly, and the immunocompromised. Another oddity was that this influenza outbreak was widespread in summer and fall (in the Northern Hemisphere). Typically, influenza is worse in the winter months.

People without symptoms could be stricken suddenly and within hours be too weak to walk; many died the next day. Symptoms included a blue tint to the face and coughing up blood caused by severe obstruction of the lungs. In some cases, the virus caused an uncontrollable hemorrhaging that filled the lungs, and patients drowned in their body fluids (pneumonia). In others, the flu caused frequent loss of bowel control and the victim would die from losing critical intestinal lining and blood loss.[citation needed]

In fast-progressing cases, mortality was primarily from pneumonia, by virus-induced consolidation. Slower-progressing cases featured secondary bacterial pneumonias, and there may have been neural involvement that led to mental disorders in a minority of cases. Some deaths resulted from malnourishment and even animal attacks in overwhelmed communities."

 

[SeaSpray]

Was reading about the Spanish Flu on Wikipedia....this was the plague that killed 5% of the worlds population in 1918-19. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_flu

They believe this came from swine (pig) as well.

I cut out this excerpt which is concerning....

"The influenza strain was unusual in that this pandemic killed many young adults and otherwise healthy victims; typical influenzas kill mostly infants (aged 0–2 years), the elderly, and the immunocompromised. Another oddity was that this influenza outbreak was widespread in summer and fall (in the Northern Hemisphere). Typically, influenza is worse in the winter months.

People without symptoms could be stricken suddenly and within hours be too weak to walk; many died the next day. Symptoms included a blue tint to the face and coughing up blood caused by severe obstruction of the lungs. In some cases, the virus caused an uncontrollable hemorrhaging that filled the lungs, and patients drowned in their body fluids (pneumonia). In others, the flu caused frequent loss of bowel control and the victim would die from losing critical intestinal lining and blood loss.[citation needed]

In fast-progressing cases, mortality was primarily from pneumonia, by virus-induced consolidation. Slower-progressing cases featured secondary bacterial pneumonias, and there may have been neural involvement that led to mental disorders in a minority of cases. Some deaths resulted from malnourishment and even animal attacks in overwhelmed communities."

Thanks....but I think I could've slept better tonight NOT knowing that....