Swine Flu - General Discussion and how it affects Disney

[GraceLuvsWDW]

I just called our school district to find out if they're going to reopen early (we've been closed since April 28). They said not at this time

I am so sick of this!!!!!!!!!

I don't know how in the world we are supposed to survive without being able to work for 2 weeks! Forget about Swine Flu affecting my Disney trip, my finances are shot!



Not happy here in TX!

 

[maroo]

I just called our school district to find out if they're going to reopen early (we've been closed since April 28). They said not at this time

I am so sick of this!!!!!!!!!

I don't know how in the world we are supposed to survive without being able to work for 2 weeks! Forget about Swine Flu affecting my Disney trip, my finances are shot!



Not happy here in TX!

I bet they will open....They are probably just having to have meetings before they decide! The CDC was pretty clear.

Hang in there!!

 

[letthewookiewin]

I just called our school district to find out if they're going to reopen early (we've been closed since April 28). They said not at this time

I am so sick of this!!!!!!!!!

I don't know how in the world we are supposed to survive without being able to work for 2 weeks! Forget about Swine Flu affecting my Disney trip, my finances are shot!



Not happy here in TX!

I was talking to my mom and she said that all the schools in the county that I grew up in, in North Texas were closed. I was looking at the CDC's website and I saw they said that schools could reopen that had closed. I then went to the web site of the school district that I graduated from and it still shows they are going to be closed until May 11th. My mom happened to call me again and I told her what I had found out and it made her mad. She said that it didn't make sense to keep them closed especially when the district won't close when the roads are icy and the buses have to get drive on iced over country roads. I read the letter they sent out to the parents and it just said there was a "suspected case". As far as my mom knew from keeping up with county news, there has not been one confirmed case in the entire county and yet they closed all the school down.

 

[GraceLuvsWDW]

I was talking to my mom and she said that all the schools in the county that I grew up in, in North Texas were closed. I was looking at the CDC's website and I saw they said that schools could reopen that had closed. I then went to the web site of the school district that I graduated from and it still shows they are going to be closed until May 11th. My mom happened to call me again and I told her what I had found out and it made her mad. She said that it didn't make sense to keep them closed especially when the district won't close when the roads are icy and the buses have to get drive on iced over country roads. I read the letter they sent out to the parents and it just said there was a "suspected case". As far as my mom knew from keeping up with county news, there has not been one confirmed case in the entire county and yet they closed all the school down.

I totally understand in the beginning when they all thought there was the possibility of a pandemic with widespread casualties but now that they know better this just seems to me to be a "vacation" for school officials!

 

[brandi~momof3]

the 6 Maryland schools that closed are all opening tomorrow
http://wjz.com/local/swine.flu.2.1001958.html

 

[Tiger926]

Thank you so much for sharing your perspective! Bless you for working with at risk teens. They really need someone fighting for them!

Stay safe and keep us posted!


One thing I learned today is that they tested some marines...I think they were in California? And that one of the men with no symptoms came back positive. So, I guess it is possible someone in Canada gave it to the infant and has no idea that they are even sick.


Hopefully this will pass over fast for you guys!

Thank you so much - what kind words! We still only have 4 confirmed cases today, but one of my hubby's staff members just returned from Mexico today and he's a young university student with a very carefree attitude. Problem is that one of my husband's colleagues has a newborn at home (not even 1 month old) and we have our baby who has asthma and just had his surgeries. Hubby and his boss called to find out that he had some kind of prescreening at airport (not sure what?) and so they are worried about it. I'll find out more when he gets home from work as he'll be home from the office momentarily.

Happy health to all, Tiger

 

[KimDis]

the 6 Maryland schools that closed are all opening tomorrow
http://wjz.com/local/swine.flu.2.1001958.html

Wow, I didn't even know we'd closed any schools in MD.

 

[letthewookiewin]

I totally understand in the beginning when they all thought there was the possibility of a pandemic with widespread casualties but now that they know better this just seems to me to be a "vacation" for school officials!

I totally agree. I have someone that I was friends with in school and have caught back up with them through facebook. She is a teacher and pregnant with her first child. She is actually upset that her district is going back on Thursday. She said "they shouldn't give us a break and then take it away."

 

[marcbelt]

Watch out everybody.....I'm a healthy Mexican (living in Cancun) and my family of 2 healthy kids and 1 healthy wife are going to Dis in summer......oh yeah, I forgot to mention that absolutely no one around here has this stupid flu which has been massively overrated by Mexican authorities, WHO and quite a few governments around the world.

Quarantine us !!!!!!!!!!!

 

[SuperTink]

Sadly, it happens every year, but we don't hear about because it's not news for people to die of treatable illnesses in countries with sub-standard health care systems. Stuff like this only makes the US news when there's a fear that WE may be at risk.

Sad, that.

But Mexico was Mexico last year and for whatever reason they did not experience such a drastic reaction to a flu virus. So, I still wonder if this flu is different somehow and whether it might morph into something more dangerous.

Anyhoo, all seems relatively well so for now we will worry about it if/when it happens. I'm glad people can relax a bit and enjoy their vacations!

I do hope people have learned a bit more about germ transmission and will hopefully adopt better habits as a result. We could all afford to be better protected against whatever lurks out there.

 

[M-I-C-K-E-Y]

Watch out everybody.....I'm a healthy Mexican (living in Cancun) and my family of 2 healthy kids and 1 healthy wife are going to Dis in summer......oh yeah, I forgot to mention that absolutely no one around here has this stupid flu which has been massively overrated by Mexican authorities, WHO and quite a few governments around the world.

Quarantine us !!!!!!!!!!!

Oogie Boogie?

 

[Pennykay]

I found this interesting.

United States has 896 cases of new flu, CDC says
Thu May 7, 2009 2:04pm EDT Email | Print | Share| Reprints | Single Page[-] Text [+]

1 of 3Full SizeBy Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Outbreaks of the new H1N1 swine flu continue to spread across the United States, with 896 confirmed cases and more to come, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Thursday.

U.S. officials have said they expect the swine influenza virus to spread to all 50 states and to cause many infections ranging from mild to severe.

Acting CDC Director Dr Richard Besser said the actual numbers matter less than the pattern of disease. "So far we are not seeing any signs of this petering out," Besser told reporters. "We are on the upswing."

And even though Mexican officials said they were over the worst, Besser said there was still significant transmission there, too.

"We are reporting 1,823 probable and confirmed cases in 44 states," Besser said. He has said that 99 percent of probable cases later turn out to be the new flu, so this is a good indication of how many true cases there are.

On Wednesday, the CDC had confirmed 642 U.S. cases of H1N1.

"Only about 10 percent of confirmed cases have a travel history for Mexico," he said. This suggests the virus is still passing very easily from one person to another.

The new virus looks very much like seasonal flu and it takes two rounds of tests to confirm a patient has the new H1N1 swine variety. Besser said the CDC was sending test kits out as quickly as possible and had filled requests for 78 countries, out of 131 who want them.

So far the influenza strain remains mild, with 5 percent of cases sick enough to be hospitalized and two U.S. deaths. Besser cautioned that the sickest patients are likely to be tested first, which could make an outbreak look more severe than it really is.
CDC scientists are trying to answer many questions about the new strain, including how long a person sheds the virus, meaning how long a patient is infectious after recovering.

 

[loveysbydesign]

They just closed a school here in PA due to the swine flu...and unfortunately it's not too far from where we live!

 

[Moonstorm]

They just closed a school here in PA due to the swine flu...and unfortunately it's not too far from where we live!

I saw! I'm in Northampton!

 

[loveysbydesign]

We leave in less than 2 weeks for our 1st Disney cruise and I'm praying we don't get it. My youngest and I have been fighting off sinus infections for the past week so our immune systems aren't in the best of shape right now.

 

[cinderella73]

I saw! I'm in Northampton!

You guys are right near me. I kinda figured we might have already had this thing a month ago before anyone knew it was swine flu. I hope it wasnt something different . Seems strange to me that the areas of PA that border NJ and NY that had tons of cases seemed to not be to affected.

But then everyone here in the area was sick with flu a month ago... I dunno what the deal was but I have my eyes wide open. Flu stinks , swine or not! And my immune system is shot.

 

[maroo]

Since this thread has been brought back up...I have a question...

For those of you guys living in Chicago. We are going there next week. From what I can tell you guys have over 450 cases in Chicago and suburbs alone, not counting the rest of Illinois.

Can you tell? Is it obvious that people are sick?

We are going on a mission trip and will be in jails, detention centers and lower income areas of town.

Our only real concern is Lauren, who is susceptible...but her Dr said she could go. And my other concern is that we will have 3 big buses full of kids that are driving half of a day to get there and back. Yuck if someone gets sick.

MS has ZERO cases. We are the last to do EVERYTHING! Even get sick.

Anyway...I would love some info from some people living in Chicago. I know it is a big city...but over 450 cases in one city is a lot, if you ask me.

 

[Manda]

Since this thread has been brought back up...I have a question...

For those of you guys living in Chicago. We are going there next week. From what I can tell you guys have over 450 cases in Chicago and suburbs alone, not counting the rest of Illinois.

Can you tell? Is it obvious that people are sick?

We are going on a mission trip and will be in jails, detention centers and lower income areas of town.

Our only real concern is Lauren, who is susceptible...but her Dr said she could go. And my other concern is that we will have 3 big buses full of kids that are driving half of a day to get there and back. Yuck if someone gets sick.

MS has ZERO cases. We are the last to do EVERYTHING! Even get sick.

Anyway...I would love some info from some people living in Chicago. I know it is a big city...but over 450 cases in one city is a lot, if you ask me.

I work in Chicago at a major employer in a huge office building downtown and live in a near west suburb and take CTA every day to and from work. I also have a child in public school. I haven't seen or heard anyone who actually had it. From what I understand, Illinois is one of the few states still actively testing and reporting every potential case - and that's the reason our numbers are so high compared to some other states.

 

[1stWDW]

I work in a school district in the Chicago area and we closed our middle school and high school for a week due to some suspected cases. One case was later confirmed. Any children who had signs of flu were sent home immediately and required to stay home for a set amount of time. We really have been vigilant in keeping the kids hands washed and sanitizing door handles and drinking fountains. Our schools are open now, and attendance rates look normal again. I think if we all practice and preach good hygiene and stay home if we are sick, we can beat this swine flu.

Part of the reason I worry more about Disney is that there may be some people that drag their kids along even if they are not feeling well because they have paid so much for the trip.

 

[famsen]

Since this thread has been brought back up...I have a question...

For those of you guys living in Chicago. We are going there next week. From what I can tell you guys have over 450 cases in Chicago and suburbs alone, not counting the rest of Illinois.

Can you tell? Is it obvious that people are sick?

We are going on a mission trip and will be in jails, detention centers and lower income areas of town.

Our only real concern is Lauren, who is susceptible...but her Dr said she could go. And my other concern is that we will have 3 big buses full of kids that are driving half of a day to get there and back. Yuck if someone gets sick.

MS has ZERO cases. We are the last to do EVERYTHING! Even get sick.

Anyway...I would love some info from some people living in Chicago. I know it is a big city...but over 450 cases in one city is a lot, if you ask me.

I live in the Chicago area. I have not run into anyone who was visibly sick or even talks about knowing anyone who is sick. I work for a well known Chicago entity and there have been no excessive absences. No one wears masks. I don't even hear people talking about the flu anymore.
We just came back from WDW on Sunday and I can tell you there was no evidence of any worry about it there either. There were more people washing their hands and covering their mouths when they coughed but I also ran into people who just didn't care what germs they were spreading and just sneezed and coughed how ever they wanted.
Anyway neither my husband nor I came back sick or have gotten sick. :