Swine Flu - General Discussion and how it affects Disney

[maroo]

Grace and Chuck -

How many people in your area are actually sick? Do you guys have those numbers?

Is it going down since the closures started? Or are the cases still spreading? I am just curious how it is actually moving today...The CDC seems days behind.

 

[maroo]

Cute pic!

 

[luvthemouse71]

Honestly, our county is in the middle of the outbreak here in TX. They have cancelled school until May 11th. However, other events in town are still going on as planned, including Cinco de Mayo festivities. If this were that serious an outbreak, people would be quarantined. Our rate of infection is decreasing, 6 the first week, 3 the second. And all victims had either been to Mexico for spring break, or closely associated with someone who had been.

I'm tired of the media, even the CDC is saying the DNA of this flu is not manufacturing the deadly amino acids the 1918 flu did. Of course, it could all be a plot of the gov't to control our minds. Better wear protection.

Love the picture..wonder how hard it was getting the foil hat on the cat!

 

[Chuck S]

Grace and Chuck -

How many people in your area are actually sick? Do you guys have those numbers?

Is it going down since the closures started? Or are the cases still spreading? I am just curious how it is actually moving today...The CDC seems days behind.

The problem with determining how many are sick is trying to distinguish between those that are, and those that think they are.

I have a friend that thinks she is constantly dying, has been for years.

As far as actual illnesses, there are very few out of the total population of our area. Heck, most of the kids are at Schlitterbahn (a local major water park, the people that designed the coaster at TL) And a lot of it is also allergies, we have dust and smoke in the air from open field burning in Mexico. May is smoky haze month here, and were about 175 miles from the border. Dust is everywhere, too. Those allergies often cause fevers and congestion. I was congested last night. Benedryl worked.

 

[GraceLuvsWDW]

Grace and Chuck -

How many people in your area are actually sick? Do you guys have those numbers?

Is it going down since the closures started? Or are the cases still spreading? I am just curious how it is actually moving today...The CDC seems days behind.

Headlines here today:

No new reports of swine flu

By Chris Cobb
The Herald-Zeitung

Published May 2, 2009
The number of possible Comal County swine flu cases seems to have leveled off before the weekend, with no new reports of the virus on Friday.

County health officials received confirmation of the first two local swine flu cases Thursday from the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and also sent another two highly probable samples to the CDC for swine-flu testing.

But after the number of possible cases has risen sharply to 107 local residents since Tuesday, Kari Hutchison, a spokeswoman for the county’s swine-flu response efforts, said that number had stayed the same on Friday.

She added that it would likely not change for the next two days, as the county waits to get its residents’ lab results back from the Region 8 office of the Texas Department of Health and Human Services in San Antonio.

“We’re not expecting any news over the weekend from the lab to come back down to the county,” said Hutchison, who’s also the communications manager for Comal Independent School District. “If they have any updates we will get them by Monday at the earliest.”

Like the number of possible cases, the crowds that have packed the local emergency room all week also started to dissipate Friday, said Melissa Krause, director of marketing and corporate communications for Christus Santa Rosa Hospital — New Braunfels.

“We have seen a big decrease in activity from yesterday,” she said.

The two confirmed swine flu cases were found in students from New Braunfels High School and Freiheit Elementary. The two probable cases also were students.

To curb the further spread of the virus, public and private school officials closed every campus in the county on Tuesday. Schools will remained closed until May 11.

County Health Authority Dr. Dorothy Overman also recommended that citizens avoid public gatherings. (A list of closings can be found on Page 1B.)

Most if not all churches of cancelled regular services, but at least three of the churches have arranged to webcast their services Sunday. Oakwood Baptist, Tree of Life and Grace Memorial Church will make their services available on the internet. (See page 2B for information.)

Governor Rick Perry issued a statewide disaster declaration Wednesday, which Comal County Judge Danny Scheel said gave county judges authority to ban large gatherings in the county if he so chooses — a step he said might be too drastic right now.

“I probably wouldn’t (ban public gatherings,) unless we get a large increase in the number of cases,” Scheel said. “I’m going to hold off for now and see how it goes.”

 

[Chuck S]

Love the picture..wonder how hard it was getting the foil hat on the cat!

I found the pic on the internet. That cat doesn't look too happy.

 

[maroo]

Thank you, Grace! Very helpful!

So, it seems like the numbers are leveling off, then. So that sounds like a good sign...like maybe this is not so easily spread? Do you think? Because you would think the cases would rise just with the students giving it to their parents and so on, if it was easy to infect others?

 

[GraceLuvsWDW]

Thank you, Grace! Very helpful!

So, it seems like the numbers are leveling off, then. So that sounds like a good sign...like maybe this is not so easily spread? Do you think? Because you would think the cases would rise just with the students giving it to their parents and so on, if it was easy to infect others?

I think closing our schools seems to be a good move. It probably slowed/stopped the spread pretty effectively here!

 

[maroo]

Ok! Now THIS makes no sense.

I am watching CNN and Dr. Gupta, who DAYS ago was talking to Patient zero without a mask, is now touring the CDC? Walking around the office and talking to people. They did take his temp before he went in...but I thought this had an incubation period of 7 days? And that you can pass it before you show symptoms?

That does not seem wise.

 

[maroo]

I think closing our schools seems to be a good move. It probably slowed/stopped the spread pretty effectively here!

Are they going to follow the new CDC guidelines that say they should close for a full 14 days? Or go back on Monday? It has only been a week there, right? (I am sure it feels like a month!)

 

[Chuck S]

Are they going to follow the new CDC guidelines that say they should close for a full 14 days? Or go back on Monday? It has only been a week there, right? (I am sure it feels like a month!)

Guadalupe Co. (Seguin) and Comal County (New Braunfels) schools are closed until May 11th - 2 weeks, almost, since they closed earlier during last week.

 

[luvthemouse71]

OT alert(kind of):I do have to make an observation here...I know I'll get flamed but hey, I've ticked off quite a few people here on the boards long before swine flu came.

Seems like there's a good percentage of people on the DIS who are very paranoid just in general..The government is out to get them, the media is out to get them, the medical establishment is out to poison their kids with vaccinations. The drug companies and the drugstores only want to sell more supplies and drugs...so they're in cahoots with the government and the medical establishment..

Before swine flu, we had the people that were afraid to use the fingerprint scanners...and people that flipped out if other people were taking pictures, and their kid might have just happened to be in the shot..

Where do such types get their info/news or do they completely disregard what they hear? I'm honestly curious about this..

 

[ntsammy5]

Venusians are definitely responsible!

 

[kadesha]

Very easy to explain ...

The WHO are trying to get the word out and stop this flu BEFORE it adapts to its new human host. Right now its not a big deal BUT if it learns to adapt to humans then we are in trouble. If you look at the history of the 1918 pandemic with this flu, it first hit in the spring and it wasn't all that bad. The SECOND wave in the fall was the real killer.
In the 70's they had an outbreak and that particular virus fizzled out. Nobody knows if this virus is going to adapt or fizzle out. Any expert/non expert can shout to the roof tops what they think it will do ... but until it actually does fizzle out or adapt NOBODY knows for sure.

If IT DOES adapt chances are in the US we will still be fine. We have great drugs and hospitals BUT the WHO is a global organization and has to really concern itself with 3rd world countries. If this flu adapts it could wipe out half a country in the poor areas.

The leaders are ahead of the game instead of not saying anything UNTIL it adapts... people would be outraged if we didn't hear anything about this flu until WHO came on and said "The swine flu we knew about last spring has adapted and currently has killed 4 million people" I for one would be ticked off for them keeping that info from me until they thought I needed to know, kwim?

There are reports out now that indicate that this strain of H1N1 doesn't have the same worrisome markers as the 1918 strain.

 

[maroo]

There are reports out now that indicate that this strain of H1N1 doesn't have the same worrisome markers as the 1918 strain.

I know! It's great news!

I think we have posted a link to at least 5 articles from good sources that support that this is a weaker strain that they originally thought. We started posting those early yesterday. I think I even have a link to one on the first post of this thread, if anyone is interested in reading one.

 

[GraceLuvsWDW]

Guadalupe Co. (Seguin) and Comal County (New Braunfels) schools are closed until May 11th - 2 weeks, almost, since they closed earlier during last week.

They closed the schools for a total of 12 days-8 school days. This supposedly spanned 2 incubation periods. It seems to be helping here. They also closed our major park0Landa Park, churches, the festival planned here, community meetings, the Visitor Center and several other things. However, commercial businesses still have the option of staying open and are-Schlitterbahn is open.

It does seem like a long time already, I am stressing about a whole other week we are basically home bound with our children. I do know people who are sick but no one with a "confirmed" case of H1N1 A.

 

[maroo]

Guadalupe Co. (Seguin) and Comal County (New Braunfels) schools are closed until May 11th - 2 weeks, almost, since they closed earlier during last week.

For some reason I was thinking May 11 was THIS Monday...obviously it is not! Thanks for the info!

 

[maroo]

They closed the schools for a total of 12 days-8 school days. This supposedly spanned 2 incubation periods. It seems to be helping here. They also closed our major park0Landa Park, churches, the festival planned here, community meetings, the Visitor Center and several other things. However, commercial businesses still have the option of staying open and are-Schlitterbahn is open.

It does seem like a long time already, I am stressing about a whole other week we are basically home bound with our children. I do know people who are sick but no one with a "confirmed" case of H1N1 A.

The CDC and several states have said that they are not going to send all of the cases to the CDC to be "confirmed"...so "confirmed" doesn't really make much of a difference in my head.

New York has said they have over 1,000 sick with FLI and are not testing unless they get a new outbreak area or they have a case that is more severe.

I just wonder if it seems to be slowing down in these places that have seen larger numbers (the 1 and 2 isolated cases in single states don't interest me as much as the community acquired cases)?

Anyone lurking on this thread from New York? We have heard from Texas...you guys seem to be slowing down, right? Maryland has had some community acquired, too... just wondering from you guys that have community acquired states...is it slowing down where you are?

I am also interested in Spain and Germany, too...to see if the cases there will spark a community acquired outbreak or if it will just die off.

 

[GraceLuvsWDW]

OT alert(kind of):I do have to make an observation here...I know I'll get flamed but hey, I've ticked off quite a few people here on the boards long before swine flu came.

Seems like there's a good percentage of people on the DIS who are very paranoid just in general..The government is out to get them, the media is out to get them, the medical establishment is out to poison their kids with vaccinations. The drug companies and the drugstores only want to sell more supplies and drugs...so they're in cahoots with the government and the medical establishment..

Before swine flu, we had the people that were afraid to use the fingerprint scanners...and people that flipped out if other people were taking pictures, and their kid might have just happened to be in the shot..

Where do such types get their info/news or do they completely disregard what they hear? I'm honestly curious about this..

IMO questioning the "status quo" or government, media, medical establishment does not make you "paraniod". It shows you do not just take for fact everything that you read, hear, etc. but make an independent decision based on all factors. I respect everyone's right to their own opinions without casting judgment on them.

There will come a time when everyone will need to "buck the system" at some point or another, and that is a good thing, that's the principle our Constitution is based on. I've heard of people unwilling to want to have biometric scans of their fingerprints at Disney and I don't necessarily think that's a "bad" opinion-germs, not to mention possible storing of information are things we should all be concerned about.

I know this is bordering on politics-as banned by our Mods-but I respect those who have the courage to stand up against what they feel is wrong!
And everyone deserves to have their own opinions.

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

The CDC and several states have said that they are not going to send all of the cases to the CDC to be "confirmed"...so "confirmed" doesn't really make much of a difference in my head.

New York has said they have over 1,000 sick with FLI and are not testing unless they get a new outbreak area or they have a case that is more severe.

I just wonder if it seems to be slowing down in these places that have seen larger numbers (the 1 and 2 isolated cases in single states don't interest me as much as the community acquired cases)?

Anyone lurking on this thread from New York? We have heard from Texas...you guys seem to be slowing down, right? Maryland has had some community acquired, too... just wondering from you guys that have community acquired states...is it slowing down where you are?

I am also interested in Spain and Germany, too...to see if the cases there will spark a community acquired outbreak or if it will just die off.

My aunt and uncle were in the city wed-thursday...today is Sat and no flu like symptoms (knock on wood). We are in Jersey where there have been 7 confirmed cases. The 2 newest were of a 12 year old and a 22 yr old.....don't know if they closed schools though?