Swine Flu - General Discussion and how it affects Disney

[Toad_Passenger]

As I am a biochemist I thought I would weight in here to give people a little reasurance. Swine ful is a different strain of the same virus that causes regular flu(influenza). Yes the disease processis a little dfeerent than normal flu, but it is no more deadly than normal flu in countries with adequate health care, and without the pollution problems present in Mexico City. The current discussion among my peers with experience with flu virus is that the increased death rate in Mexico is due in large part to poor healthcare combined with extremely high pollution levels which cause the lungs to be predisposed to pulmonary adema, or fluid buildup. The fact that ALL cases in developed countries have been relatively mild would support this theory. This particular strain of infulenza targets lung tissue moch more aggressively.

This is great information and explains a lot of the "mystery" that is surrounding this flu. So many articles were talking about why it is killing people in Mexico City, but elsewhere it seems to be so mild, even though it is the exact same strain. What you are relaying about the pollution situation makes a lot of sense, and I'm glad you took the time to stop by and share your information.

 

[neilsalop]

And for the gazillionth time..the swine flu is different from regular flu..The big kicker is that it causes an immense overreaction from the immune system and targets the lungs. Also targets a different demographic-usually the elderly, small kids. This one targets people in their 20's, 30's and 40's. Also, they usually have a pretty good grasp on how any given seasonal flu virus will act..this one is somewhat of an unknown entity.

Like I said before, if you aren't concerned fine. But at least have the proper facts. Obviously, there at least something to be concerned about according to the CDC and the WHO.

I hate to cause an argument or usually even join in, but in this case I will. Apparantly this is a strain of the H1N1 virus that comes along every year, so most of us won't be badly affected by it and those that are should be able to get anti-virals to treat it. The bird flu of a year or so ago was a strain of H5N1 which is not your run of the mill virus and therefore a lot more dangerous.

Any variant of the flu virus can kill and this one is no different. I'm not being complacent and I urge you not to be either, but a mass panic and everyone calling in sick for a sniffle will do no good whatsoever. Normal handwashing and good sanitary awareness will do you more good than buying alcohol gel and the like.

By the way I agree the majority of deaths in Mexico have been in the 20 - 50 age range, not in children, the elderly or the infirm, but this means nothing and you should ensure that all your family wash properly.

 

[anlashokna]

Its a flu bug. Its treatable. The death toll is what is in mexico because of living and treatment conditions.

Its just upsetting because I thought...wow...made it through flu season without getting anything, now have to dodge another bug!! Just remember, wash your hands, please don't cough or sneeze on other people and you'll likely be fine. The news is making this out to be more than it really is.....scare tactics, the best way to sell the story.

 

[doho95fu]

I have not read this entire thread but I have read numerous posts and I find some comments alarming. Unless anyone on here is a high-ranking CDC employee or an epidemiologist, I would strongly caution against advising others what to do in this situation. I have read numerous posts which sound (on the surface) like the person posting really knows what they are talking about when I can tell you he/she does not. Several conclusions people have made here are completely wrong and I don't like the fact that people seem to be making decisions based on them. Please call your family doctor or county health department, follow the news and by all means do not make any decisions based on posters on a disney travel forum site. I am not saying you should or should not go on your trip, just that this is the very last place to get advice on whether to do so.

 

[WaltD4Me]

It is unfortunate that the news media wants ratings and will add a lot of "fear mongering" in with their reports. If they would just put out the information and focus on that, we could reduce the number of people paralyzed with fear and increase the number of people being vigilant.

I totally agree, the media is again to blame for much of the panic. I'm a bit of a news junkie and the reporting is so different from station to station, reporter to reporter, many I've watched on this do seem to be doing some fear mongering for ratings IMHO. Usually when I want the straight story I go to Anderson Cooper, his segment on the flu last night was very even handed and they explained it well without scaring you to death.

 

[Toad_Passenger]

I totally agree, the media is again to blame for much of the panic. I'm a bit of a news junkie and the reporting is so different from station to station, reporter to reporter, many I've watched on this do seem to be doing some fear mongering for ratings IMHO. Usually when I want the straight story I go to Anderson Cooper, his segment on the flu last night was very even handed and they explained it well without scaring you to death.

It really does vary from station to station. I've found the "national" outlets to be a little less sensationalistic than my local channels.

In fact last night one of my local stations ran the same teaser all through primetime, "Swine flu scare hits our local airport, report at 11." Turns out that 2 people were checked in the afternoon and were cleared some 8 hours prior to the news report, yet you had to tune in at 11 to find that out, and yet they still used the word "scare" and "local" to get you to watch. It was wholly irresponsible.

 

[hpymomof3]

I agree that we shouldn't be panicking about this but I think it is realistic to not ignore it either.

My 13 year old dd had influenza last month (not swine flu) and that was bad enough. She had a 104 fever and even with Tamiflu she was sick for several days. The first few days are a blur for her. I had to literally hold her head up to give her her medicine or for her to take a drink of water. She was very sick.

Hopefully the swine flu will just fade away but if it doesn't we all need to keep aware of what is going on and be prepared for the worst.

 

[mookie]

We leave on Friday for WDW, and while I am concerned, I'm not goign to let it stop my trip. We just have to be careful...wash hands, cover mouth....all things we should be practicing anyway. If we get sick, we know enough to go to the dr and get treatment early. Not much else we can do. DH even left today for a quick business trip to Canada...again, not much we can do.

I just wish that everyEVERYONE would practice the same health precautions as those being diligent...it would probably help contain it a bit if everyone would wash their hands and cover their mouths...especially at WDW!

 

[DisneyNewbiie]

I have not read this entire thread but I have read numerous posts and I find some comments alarming. Unless anyone on here is a high-ranking CDC employee or an epidemiologist, I would strongly caution against advising others what to do in this situation. I have read numerous posts which sound (on the surface) like the person posting really knows what they are talking about when I can tell you he/she does not. Several conclusions people have made here are completely wrong and I don't like the fact that people seem to be making decisions based on them. Please call your family doctor or county health department, follow the news and by all means do not make any decisions based on posters on a disney travel forum site. I am not saying you should or should not go on your trip, just that this is the very last place to get advice on whether to do so.

This is a forum everybody is going to say there opinions are how they feal right or wrong!!!everybody is intitled to there opinion

 

[maroo]

As I am a biochemist I thought I would weight in here to give people a little reasurance. Swine ful is a different strain of the same virus that causes regular flu(influenza). Yes the disease processis a little dfeerent than normal flu, but it is no more deadly than normal flu in countries with adequate health care, and without the pollution problems present in Mexico City. The current discussion among my peers with experience with flu virus is that the increased death rate in Mexico is due in large part to poor healthcare combined with extremely high pollution levels which cause the lungs to be predisposed to pulmonary adema, or fluid buildup. The fact that ALL cases in developed countries have been relatively mild would support this theory. This particular strain of infulenza targets lung tissue moch more aggressively.

This is very interesting and certainly makes sense. Although I personally know nothing about it. It just makes sense.

I have not read this entire thread but I have read numerous posts and I find some comments alarming. Unless anyone on here is a high-ranking CDC employee or an epidemiologist, I would strongly caution against advising others what to do in this situation. I have read numerous posts which sound (on the surface) like the person posting really knows what they are talking about when I can tell you he/she does not. Several conclusions people have made here are completely wrong and I don't like the fact that people seem to be making decisions based on them. Please call your family doctor or county health department, follow the news and by all means do not make any decisions based on posters on a disney travel forum site. I am not saying you should or should not go on your trip, just that this is the very last place to get advice on whether to do so.

This is very true. I could not help but notice you have posted only 2 times and have been a member since 2007. This was a great time to post and I appreciate what you have said here. Without slamming anyone for an opinion, you have advised people to rely on the experts and not people on an internet forum. Seems like good advice to me.

Having said that, I do think this is an interesting topic to discuss and share thoughts and ideas and completely speculate on how this will affect our trips to Disney!

 

[ntsammy5]

Ludicrous at best but it's a very entertaining thread!

 

[doho95fu]

This is a forum everybody is going to say there opinions are how they feal right or wrong!!!everybody is intitled to there opinion

Listen please - Read my post again. I am not referring to opinions. People are citing facts that are incorrect and I feel that is dangerous. Not sure what part of my post angered you to be honest. My post was, in fact, an opinion as well. Am I not "intitled" to mine?

 

[DisneyNewbiie]

Listen please - Read my post again. I am not referring to opinions. People are citing facts that are incorrect and I feel that is dangerous. Not sure what part of my post angered you to be honest. My post was, in fact, an opinion as well. Am I not "intitled" to mine?

Your right Im sorry I take it back.Either way sine flu or Not Im going to Disneyworld for the 1st time this may and nothing will stop me!!!!!!!u here nothing!!!!!!!!

 

[doho95fu]

This is very interesting and certainly makes sense. Although I personally know nothing about it. It just makes sense.



This is very true. I could not help but notice you have posted only 2 times and have been a member since 2007. This was a great time to post and I appreciate what you have said here. Without slamming anyone for an opinion, you have advised people to rely on the experts and not people on an internet forum. Seems like good advice to me.

Having said that, I do think this is an interesting topic to discuss and share thoughts and ideas and completely speculate on how this will affect our trips to Disney!

I agree. I am long time lurker that has been planning a trip that is scheduled for May 2 - May 9. My comment is not aimed to sever all discussion, in fact the reason I am on here is to see what other people are considering and how they are responding to the situation. I value the opinions on this board and that is why I have been lurking for years... gathering advice. My only point, and now I may regret making it, is that people should be careful about being both alarmist in response to OR dismissive of the actual facts.

 

[rotlex]

Ludicrous at best but it's a very entertaining thread!

Yes it is!

I my usual light hearted, really hope no one every gets sick of course way, I'm hoping people panic, and decide to cancel all travel WDW for the last few weeks of June. It'll help keep the crowds down, and allow my family to ride more, eat more, and well, get around more quickly!

 

[hockeymomNS]

I am a middle of the road person here.
I think that you need to educate yourself from several sources and decide what is best for you. Of course it doesn't make any sense to go on a vacation and spend money when you are so nervous about germs that it will ruin it. On the other hand, if the government hasn't closed borders etc and you won't be worried - go have fun.

I live 20 minutes from the school that has 4 cases in Nova Scotia. I think there are 27 people involved in testing right now. Needless to say, there are media everywhere. Of course I look outside my local news for info, while listening to some of it as it may affect us. I posted yesterday about working in a doctors office and what policy was being followed. Some people just back from Mexico are in full fledged panic, I guess maybe I would be too.

Nontheless, my family is at school/work today.

 

[MercyMe]

Per WFTV:

Swine Flu Case Confirmed In Orlando
Posted: 10:41 am EDT April 28, 2009
Updated: 10:56 am EDT April 28, 2009

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Eyewitness News has learned of Orlando's first confirmed case of swine flu. According to the chief medical officer at Florida Hospital, Loran Hauck, the case was diagnosed Tuesday morning.

"A case was diagnosed here in Orlando today on a tourist from Mexico who came to Disney attractions two days ago to visit," Hauck wrote in an email obtained by Eyewitness News.

No further details have been released, but Eyewitness News is working to learn specifically what days the tourist was at the parks and which park the tourist went to.

Details about the tourist, beyond being from Mexico, have not been released.

 

[mmmears]

Per WFTV:

Swine Flu Case Confirmed In Orlando
Posted: 10:41 am EDT April 28, 2009
Updated: 10:56 am EDT April 28, 2009

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Eyewitness News has learned of Orlando's first confirmed case of swine flu. According to the chief medical officer at Florida Hospital, Loran Hauck, the case was diagnosed Tuesday morning.

"A case was diagnosed here in Orlando today on a tourist from Mexico who came to Disney attractions two days ago to visit," Hauck wrote in an email obtained by Eyewitness News.

No further details have been released, but Eyewitness News is working to learn specifically what days the tourist was at the parks and which park the tourist went to.

Details about the tourist, beyond being from Mexico, have not been released.

This was just reported on Fox News, too.

Glad we left WDW last week! This is really scary...

 

[MissionMouse]

Well Orlando now has its first case of swine flu from a Mexican tourist who reportly spent the last two days at Disney World

 

[Tampa Mousekeeter]

Per WFTV:

Swine Flu Case Confirmed In Orlando
Posted: 10:41 am EDT April 28, 2009
Updated: 10:56 am EDT April 28, 2009

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Eyewitness News has learned of Orlando's first confirmed case of swine flu. According to the chief medical officer at Florida Hospital, Loran Hauck, the case was diagnosed Tuesday morning.

"A case was diagnosed here in Orlando today on a tourist from Mexico who came to Disney attractions two days ago to visit," Hauck wrote in an email obtained by Eyewitness News.

No further details have been released, but Eyewitness News is working to learn specifically what days the tourist was at the parks and which park the tourist went to.

Details about the tourist, beyond being from Mexico, have not been released.

I just heard the same on Fox News.