Swine Flu - General Discussion and how it affects Disney

[GraceLuvsWDW]

Thats EXACTLY what I am thinking happened here in Pa! The little boy who they just confirmed had it , had it amonth ago over in Philly area. And just about 2 to 6 weeks ago a LOT of people including myself and the kids had a flu.

I wonder if there is a way to test and see if you already had the swine flu?

Also once you get it can you get it again or are you safe from it? And if you do get it a second time is it more severe or weaker?

Cant find those answers anywhere.

I'm wondering the same thing? Since we're going in June maybe we should have an "A H1N1 party" like the chicken pox parties and get it now so we won't have to worry when we're in WDW!

 

[maroo]

Thats EXACTLY what I am thinking happened here in Pa! The little boy who they just confirmed had it , had it amonth ago over in Philly area. And just about 2 to 6 weeks ago a LOT of people including myself and the kids had a flu.

I wonder if there is a way to test and see if you already had the swine flu?

Also once you get it can you get it again or are you safe from it? And if you do get it a second time is it more severe or weaker?

Cant find those answers anywhere.

I don't think anyone knows the answers to those questions. But it is very interesting to think about.

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

I also wanted to add, of the 5 (or 7?) confirmed cases her in NJ, so far none have been to Mexico, one came back from Cali.

 

[GraceLuvsWDW]

From BBC News:

The vaccine will work by tricking the immune system into thinking it has been infected with the H1N1 swine flu virus so that it creates antibodies against it.

This leads me to believe that once you've had it your body will have antibodies and with therefore be immune to catching it again. Isn't that the basis for a vaccine?

 

[blurrycat]

He has been vaccinated for whooping cough but yeah they would be another thing that could put him in the hospital.
They have to monitor his blood ox levels to make sure he doesn't turn blue
Anything that can restrict his airways can put him in.

Orapred works wonders for him! I know its a steroid and I hate giving it to him but the first sign of issues and we give it to him it helps soooo much. He has been hospitalized 8 times and twice in ICU.

I'm sure your son is like me. I can be fine, literally, one second, and the next spike a fever and be ill. I can pinpoint the last time I got sick. It was by the little debbie snackcakes in Wal-Mart. haha

Anyway, since people think we're overreacting, they don't seem to know people like us pay attention to ANY outbreak.

I hope your little one is able to avoid all of it.

 

[msce2]

My 2 youngest are now sick with coughs, and runny noses. Called the pediatrician, and was told no big deal, they can go to pre-school and do everything normally. However was told by preschool that if they were coughing and sneezing to keep them home.

I like the idea of "swine flu parties". Be nice to just get it over with and not have to worry about it anymore (If it does work out that you build immunity to it after you get it of course!)

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

From BBC News:

The vaccine will work by tricking the immune system into thinking it has been infected with the H1N1 swine flu virus so that it creates antibodies against it.

This leads me to believe that once you've had it your body will have antibodies and with therefore be immune to catching it again. Isn't that the basis for a vaccine?

yeah isnt that how the chicken pox vaccine works?
Although, totally OT, my aunt's friend got the chicken pox a year after she was vaccinated....sure its totally rare but isn't that weird?

 

[SpectroMax]

Most of you know this, but the way a vaccine works is to kind of give you a weak dose of the flu (or whatever virus the vaccine is for). Your immune system kind of gets a good workout whipping up on this hobbled weaker version of the virus. Then when the real virus comes along and you come into contact it, your immune system has had a 'practice round' and is able to easily block the virus from invading your body and multiplying.

Now, sometimes that 'practice' isn't enough and you still contract the flu. However, if you were to say get swine flu, puke your brains out for 5 days, get over it and get back to normal in about 8-10 days, you would have had one heck of a 'practice round.' Your immune system would now be a lean mean swine flu whipping machine. You would have extremely low odds of getting piggy flu again. BUT, all it takes is the virus mutating enough and it could become a new strain.

This is why we don't get the flu every year. Usually we get it every 3-7 years maybe only once or twice in a lifetime. Believe it or not what doesn't kill you does make you stronger.

 

[cinderella73]

True but... What confuses me is if the virus has even slight mutations by the time it comes around again then wont you be less immune? Or not at all?

Also do we know yet why the virus was more severe Mexico? It is possible among many things that it had been passed back to some twice. Is it possible that the second time instead od being immune your immune system overreacts like they have been warning about? Or it could be as a PP mentioned that the inital jump from animal host to human causes it to be stronger at first. Who knows.

I would love to think we could find a way to see if we had it and also know if we were safe from getting it again. But I am not sure they know enough yet to be sure.

Just wish they would get the facts on this soon. To much confusion and misinformation out there.

It would also be nice if the CDC would inform us of what products are best for killing the virus. Since some types of virus are more effected by certain products and so on. Short of cover your mouth and wash your hands they havent exactly armed us with any type of constructive knowledge.

Its bad enough just trying to go about your business but I really feel for everyone with a trip in the next 30 days.. What a stress to have on your mind.

 

[brandi~momof3]

Maryland is closing 4 schools under directive of the CDC, for up to 14 days. One student at each of the 4 schools has a probably case of the swine flu.
If tests come back negative though I guess they will reopen the schools immediately

 

[SpectroMax]

True but... Wjat confuses me is if the virus has even slight mutations by the time it comes around again then wont you be less immune? Or not at all?

Also do we know yet why the virus was more severe Mexico? It is possible among many things that it had been passed back to some twice. Is it possible that the second time instead od being immune your immune system overreacts like they have been warning about? Or it could be as a PP mentioned that the inital jump from animal host to human causes it to be stronger at first. Who knows.

I would love to think we could find a way to see if we had it and also know if we were safe from getting it again. But I am not sure they know enough yet to be sure.

Just wish they would get the facts on this soon. To much confusion and misinformation out there.

It would also be nice if the CDC would inform us of what products are best for killing the virus. Since some types of virus are more effected by certain products and so on. Short of cover your mouth and wash your hands they havent exactly armed us with any type of constructive knowledge.

Its bad enough just trying to go about your business but I really feel for everyone with a trip in the next 30 days.. What a stress to have on your mind.

I'm no doctor, but from what I understand a slight genetic mutation would not cause the immune system to no longer recognize that strain of flu.

Think about it this way. If white blood cells kill every red virus they see and a pink virus creeps in they wipe it out too. But if a blue virus comes in they don't know what to do and have to regroup and plan a new strategy. So, the question is now how fast can the virus mutate from red to pink to blue. . . odds are that would take years. Pardon my analogy

 

[cinderella73]

yeah isnt that how the chicken pox vaccine works?
Although, totally OT, my aunt's friend got the chicken pox a year after she was vaccinated....sure its totally rare but isn't that weird?

Yeah it is weird. When you get chicken pox again it is usually called shingles. But it is the Chicken pox virus.

I dont know if this is true but someone told me a long time ago that once you get a virus it never really leaves you and it can become active again if your immune system gets run down.

I doubt it applies to every virus but I know its true with Epstein Barr , Chicken pox , and some others.

I just saw the post ahead of me and I agree that as long as the virus doesnt mutate those of us that had it should be safe. They should however make it so that those of us who suspected we had it could test to see if we did .

With that little boy in Philly I wonder when they tested him because the results just came back and he was sick a month ago. I wonder if they tested him when he was sick and the results took a while OR if they tested after he was better because they suspected it. Interesting...

 

[maroo]

Maryland is closing 4 schools under directive of the CDC, for up to 14 days. One student at each of the 4 schools has a probably case of the swine flu.
If tests come back negative though I guess they will reopen the schools immediately

Sounds like they have sort of had their hands tied....that it has to be 14 days...not sure if they can open if it is confirmed to NOT be the swine flu. I would imagine so. But Maryland has had community transmission...so I would guess they would be positive? And it will take so long to really "know" anyway...?

 

[brandi~momof3]

Sounds like they have sort of had their hands tied....that it has to be 14 days...not sure if they can open if it is confirmed to NOT be the swine flu. I would imagine so. But Maryland has had community transmission...so I would guess they would be positive? And it will take so long to really "know" anyway...?

well it is up to 14 days so, 3 of the schools are closing for 5 days for now and the 1 school in PG County is closing for 14 - that is what the news is reporting.

 

[pennymom]

It would also be nice if the CDC would inform us of what products are best for killing the virus. Since some types of virus are more effected by certain products and so on. Short of cover your mouth and wash your hands they havent exactly armed us with any type of constructive knowledge.

There's a website where you can sign up for daily updates from the CDC and DHHS and other agencies. One of the emails sent out today was from the EPA:

More than 500 antimicrobial products (http://www.epa.gov/oppad001/influenza-a-product-list.pdf) are registered by EPA specifically for use against influenza A virus. This is not a complete list since some products may have different distributor or product names and may not be referenced. We will continue to update this list as more information becomes available. Approved products specifically have label information which states they provide effectiveness against “Influenza A virus.”

I'll try to find where you sign up for info via email.

 

[disneyfreak7]

Well, it hit my son's school yesterday. I got the call last night that our entire school district is closed because of a confirmed case of the swine flu. The student, who has not travelled to Mexico, is in some of my son's classes. Now i am WORRIED.

 

[brandi~momof3]

Well, it hit my son's school yesterday. I got the call last night that our entire school district is closed because of a confirmed case of the swine flu. The student, who has not travelled to Mexico, is in some of my son's classes. Now i am WORRIED.

 

[GraceLuvsWDW]

True but... What confuses me is if the virus has even slight mutations by the time it comes around again then wont you be less immune? Or not at all?

Also do we know yet why the virus was more severe Mexico? It is possible among many things that it had been passed back to some twice. Is it possible that the second time instead od being immune your immune system overreacts like they have been warning about? Or it could be as a PP mentioned that the inital jump from animal host to human causes it to be stronger at first. Who knows.

Well, I was going to say I don't think this is true but in researching it I found this article on the mutations on the Bird Flu which would probably apply to the Swine Flu also: http://www.avianinfluenza.org/mutated-avian-influenza-virus-h5n1.php

Avian Influenza Mutation, H5N1
H5N1 is a type of avian influenza virus (bird flu virus) that has mutated through antigenic drift into dozens of highly pathogenic varieties. The first of these appeared in China in 1996 in birds and in Hong Kong in 1997 in Humans.

This infection of humans coincided with an epizootic (an epidemic in nonhumans) of H5N1 influenza in Hong Kong's poultry population. This panzootic (a disease affecting animals of many species esp. over a wide area outbreak was stopped by the killing of the entire domestic poultry population within the territory. The name H5N1 refers to the subtypes of surface antigens present on the virus: hemagglutinin type 5 and neuraminidase type 1.


As of November 1, 2005, 122 cases of infections in humans, resulting in 62 deaths, have been confirmed outside of China (see Human cases). Thirteen countries across Asia and Europe have been affected. Additionally, more than 120 million birds have died from infection or been killed to prevent further infections.

Transmission and infection

Infected birds pass on H5N1 through their saliva, nasal secretions, and feces. Other birds may pick up the virus through direct contact with these excretions or when they have contact with surfaces contaminated with this material. Because migratory birds are among the carriers of the H5N1 virus it may spread to all parts of the world. Past outbreaks of avian flu have often originated in crowded conditions in southeast and east Asia, where humans, pigs, and poultry live in close quarters. In these conditions a virus can mutate into a form that more easily infects humans.

The majority of H5N1 flu cases have been reported in southeast and east Asia. Once an outbreak is detected, local authorities often order a mass slaughter of birds or animals affected. If this is done promptly, an outbreak of avian flu may be prevented. However, the United Nations (UN) World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed concern that not all countries are reporting outbreaks as completely as they should. China, for example, is known to have officially denied past outbreaks of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and HIV.

H5N1 infections in humans are generally caused by bird to human transmission of the virus. A few isolated cases of suspected human to human transmission exist, but there is no proof either way in those cases.

Prevention

The current method of prevention in animal populations is to destroy infected animals as well as animals suspected of being infected. In southeast Asia, millions of domestic birds have been slaughtered to prevent the spread of the virus.

The probability of a "humanized" form of H5N1 emerging through recombination in the body of a human co-infected with H5N1 and another influenza could be reduced by influenza vaccination of at-risk workers. It is not clear at this point whether vaccine production could be stepped up sufficiently to meet this demand.

If an outbreak of pandemic flu does occur, its spread might be slowed by increasing hygiene in aircraft, and by examining airline cabin air filters for presence of H5N1 virus.

The American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises travelers to areas of Asia where outbreaks of H5N1 have occurred to avoid poultry farms and animals in live food markets[2]. Travelers should also avoid surfaces that appear to be contaminated by feces from any kind of animal, especially poultry.

There are several H5N1 vaccines for several of the H5N1 varieties. H5N1 continually mutates rendering them, so far for humans, of little use.

Symptoms

Since H5N1 is an influenza virus, symptoms similar to those of the common flu, such as fever, cough, sore throat, and sore muscles, can develop in infected humans. However, in more severe cases, pneumonia and respiratory failure can develop and eventually cause death. Patients with H5N1 avian influenza have rarely had conjunctivitis[3], unlike human cases of infection by the H7 virus.

"The H5N1 virus causes an exaggerated response of cytokines (such as TNF-a), and this could result in a toxic-shock-like syndrome (including fever, chills, vomiting and headache), which ultimately results in death "In many diseases (including H5N1 in humans), a 'cytokine storm' [also called hypercytokinemia (sometimes spelled hypercytokinaemia)] is triggered by the infection. Cytokines are hormones that regulate the immune sytem. When released at the right time in the proper amounts, cytokines can help fight infections and regulate processes through out the body. But many cytokines are inflammatory and are damaging to the body if present in too high levels, or for too long. [...] But whatever it is called, this phenomenon is a type of inflammatory cascade. [...] Many inflammatory cascades have self limiting components - the release of an inflammatory agent often leads to the production of both anti-inflammatory and inflammatory compounds. But as microbes evolve, they sometimes begin producing a mix of toxins that interfere with the control mechanisms of the immune system. This seems to be the case for the deadly strains of avian influenza. The H5N1 virus is not only partially resistant to the cytokines that are involved in fighting viruses, but it also reduces the production of anti-inflammatory cytokines - in essence, it enhances the accelerator while impairing the brakes, and the immune system goes out of control and crashes."

Treatment

"The 3 viral envelope proteins of influenza A virus are most medically relevant. The hemagglutinin (HA), neuraminidase (NA), and M2 are essential viral proteins targeted by host antibodies or antiviral drugs such as oseltamivir and rimantadine (4�6). The HA glycoprotein forms spikes at the surface of virions, mediating attachment to host cell sialoside receptors and subsequent entry by membrane fusion. The NA forms knoblike structures on the surface of virus particles and catalyzes their release from infected cells, allowing virus spread. The M2 is a transmembrane protein that forms an ion channel required for the uncoating process that precedes viral gene expression."

Neuraminidase inhibitors are a class of drugs which act on a protein conserved in all influenza A viruses. Drugs of this type include zanamivir and oseltamivir, the latter being licensed for prophylaxis treatment in the United Kingdom. Oseltamivir, which "attacks the influenza virus and stops it from spreading" inside the user's body [7], is marketed by Roche as Tamiflu, and this brand has become the drug of choice for governments and organizations in their preparations for a possible H5N1 pandemic. In August 2005, Roche agreed to donate three million courses of Tamiflu to the World Health Organization, to be deployed by the WHO to contain a pandemic in its region of origin. Although Tamiflu is patented, international law gives governments wide freedom to issue compulsory licenses for life-saving drugs.

A further class of drugs, which include amantadine and rimantadine, target M2 protein, a proton channel found in the viral membrane. Unlike zanamivir and oseltamivir, these drugs are inexpensive and widely available and the WHO had initially planned to use them in efforts to combat a H5N1 pandemic. However, the potential of these drugs was considerably lessened when it was discovered that farmers in China has been administering amantadine to poultry with government encouragement and support since the early 1990s, against international livestock regulations; the result has been that the strain of the virus now circulating in South East Asia is largely resistant to the medication and hence significantly more dangerous to humans[8]. However, the strain of H5N1 spread throughout Northern China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Russia and Europe by wild birds in the summer of 2005 is not amantadine resistant.

Mutations and strains

"The influenza virus genome has remarkable plasticity because of a high mutation rate and its segmentation into 8 separate RNA molecules. This segmentation allows frequent genetic exchange by segment reassortment in hosts co-infected with 2 different influenza viruses."

In July 2004, researchers led by H. Deng of the Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Harbin, China and Professor Robert Webster of the St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, reported results of experiments in which mice had been exposed to 21 isolates of confirmed H5N1 strains obtained from ducks in China between 1999 and 2002. They found "a clear temporal pattern of progressively increasing pathogenicity" Results reported by Dr. Webster in July 2005 reveal further progression toward pathogenicity in mice and longer virus shedding by ducks.

In May 2005, the occurrence of avian influenza in pigs ("swine flu") in Indonesia was reported. Along with the continuing pattern of virus circulation in poultry, the occurrence in swine raises the level of concern about the possible evolution of the virus into a strain capable of causing a global human influenza pandemic. Health experts say pigs can carry human influenza viruses, which can combine (i.e. exchange homologous genome sub-units by genetic reassortment.) with the avian virus, swap genes and mutate into a form which can pass easily among humans.

In July 2005, a death in Jakarta was the first confirmed human fatality in Indonesia. The deaths of two children, neither of whom were reported to have had close contact with poultry, further raised concerns of human-to-human transmission. [11] As of July 2005, most human cases of avian influenza in East Asia have been attributed to consumption of diseased poultry. Person-to-person transmission has not been unequivocally confirmed in the outbreaks in East Asia.

On August 3, 2005, the WHO said it was following closely reports from China that at least 38 people have died and more than 200 others have been made ill by a swine-borne virus in Sichuan Province. Sichuan Province, where infections with Streptococcus suis have been detected in pigs in a concurrent outbreak, has one of the largest pig populations in China. The outbreak in humans has some unusual features and is being closely followed by the WHO. At that time, Chinese authorities say they have found no evidence of human-to-human transmission . On September 29, 2005, David Nabarro, the newly appointed Senior United Nations System Coordinator for Avian and Human Influenza, warned the world that an outbreak of avian influenza could kill 5 to 150 million people. Also, due to a bipartisan effort of the United States Senate, $4 billion dollars was appropriated to develop vaccines and treatments for Avian influenza.

In 2004 and 2005, 118 people are known to have been infected with the H5N1 virus and 61 of them died. The mortality rate of this virus is as high as that of the virus H1N1 that caused the Spanish Flu of 1918, which killed over 20 million people world wide. One of the major differences between H1N1 of 1918 and the current H5N1 is the fact that the latter is not (yet) transmissible between humans. Until recently, that prevented the H5N1 virus from becoming a pandemic. Recent research of Taubenberger et al {Taubenberger JK, Reid AH, Lourens RM, Wang R, Jin G, Fanning TG. Characterization of the 1918 influenza virus polymerase genes. Nature. 2005 Oct 6;437(7060):889-893} showed that the 1918 virus like H5N1 was an avian virus. Furthermore, Tumpey and colleagues {Tumpey TM, Basler CF, Aguilar PV, Zeng H, Solorzano A, Swayne DE, Cox NJ, Katz JM, Taubenberger JK, Palese P, Garcia-Sastre A. Characterization of the reconstructed 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic virus. Science. 2005 Oct 7;310(5745):77-80} who reconstructed the H1N1 virus of 1918 come to the conclusion that it is especially the polymerase genes and the HA and NA genes that caused the extreme virulence of this virus. The sequences of the polymerase proteins (PA, PB1, and PB2) of the 1918 virus and subsequent human viruses differ by only 10 amino acids from the avian influenza viruses. Human forms of seven of the ten amino acids have already been identified in currently circulating H5N1. It is not unlikely that also the other mutations eventually will surface and make the H5N1 virus better suited for human-to-human transmission. Another important factor is the change of the HA protein to a binding preference for alpha 2,6 sialic acid (the major form in the human respiratory tract). In avian virus the HA protein preferentially binds to alpha 2,3 sialic acid, which is the major form in the avian enteric tract. It has been shown that only a single amino acid change can result in the change of this binding preference. Altogether it seems that only a few mutations are needed to make the H5N1 avian influenza virus a pandemic virus like the one of 1918.

"In Vietnam, scientists at the Ho Chi Minh Pasteur Institute who have been studying the genetic make up of H5N1 samples taken from people and poultry said it had undergone several mutations. 'There has been a mutation allowing the virus to (replicate) effectively in mammal tissue and become highly virulent,' the institute said on its Web site at www.pasteur-hcm.org.vn."

 

[praline3001]

I'm sure your son is like me. I can be fine, literally, one second, and the next spike a fever and be ill. I can pinpoint the last time I got sick. It was by the little debbie snackcakes in Wal-Mart. haha

Anyway, since people think we're overreacting, they don't seem to know people like us pay attention to ANY outbreak.

I hope your little one is able to avoid all of it.

He is washing his hands until now they are dried out and peeling

I try not to be a worry wart as he is a teenage boy ~ but its hard to find that middle ground. I am watching it close BUT not worried ...just watchful. I will yank him out of school if there are any confirmed cases in our area. We already talked about it and the entire family is in agreement. Until then he can be a normal teen

 

[praline3001]

Well, it hit my son's school yesterday. I got the call last night that our entire school district is closed because of a confirmed case of the swine flu. The student, who has not travelled to Mexico, is in some of my son's classes. Now i am WORRIED.

Well make sure to wash his school bag in hot water and let it sit out in the sun (the sun is a GREAT sanitizer for books and stuff too!)

Then make him wash wash wash those hands! Do not let him put hands to face (or anyone in the house...)
Make sure the clothes he wore to school the past few days are all washed in hot water and dried on high heat.

I know it seems like a lot but honestly if you don't want this crap sticking in your house you need to think about those things.

If he gets it ~ no biggie its just the flu but honestly who wants the flu