Swine flu is a pandemic Timmy. It's a specific term that relates to transmissibility, not mortality.So this pig flu beat up is nothing like that pandemic, right?
Spooly, the ordinary Influenza that occurs each winter causes hundreds of deaths in susceptible people. The last estimate I saw was 2000 each year. No one ever makes a fuss about that. So far the swine flu virus on its own is apparently a mild illness.Swine flu is a pandemic Timmy. It's a specific term that relates to transmissibility, not mortality.
Beat up? Hardly heard a whisper about the 5 dead Aussies. 2 young kids in ICU.
Ominous signs coming from Argentina. 178 new cases with 14 deaths.
If that mortality rate wasn't bad enough, I understand they have their general elections today.
Of course it's ridiculous. As has already been discussed, the mortality rate in the 20th century flu was as a result of there being no penicillin in those days to fight the bacterial infection that followed the flu virus.Spooly we are probably going to have to agree to disagree on this one.
Someone has said its on track to be as bad as the flu pandemic early in the 20th century, quoting a 1 in 5 mortality rate. Just a cursory glance at the figures shows what a ridiculous comparison this is, utterly farcical. Hence my insisting this is a beat up. There are any number of diseases, illnesses, and what have you with a much worse effect than the pig flu.
Cant see that this is a beat up, there was a lot in the press in the early stages while we didnt know what we were dealing with, however nowadays its all settled down. One of the reasons why we havent had more fatalities is because we have used the antivirals here up till now.
result in huge numbers especially in poorer countries without our medical experise.
You may be right this time round. However, the 1918 form of the virus was also quite mild but it change by 1919 to a deadly virus, and the present strain is the same as the 1918 - 20 variant.So this pig flu beat up is nothing like that pandemic, right?
You may be right this time round. However, the 1918 form of the virus was also quite mild but it change by 1919 to a deadly virus, and the present strain is the same as the 1918 - 20 variant.
Sooooo, wouldn't it therefore be a good idea for people to get this mild strain now, develop the antibodies, so that if it ever should turn nasty, people will have an immune response to it?
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25739712-5005961,00.htmlA HUGE increase in the number of people presenting to New South Wales hospitals with flu-like symptoms has forced the State Government to make hundreds of extra beds available. The number of confirmed swine flu cases in NSW has reached 1446, with western Sydney being particularly hard hit.
To cope with a 17-fold increase in people with flu symptoms - swine or seasonal - compared to the same period last year, 550 extra beds would be made available, NSW Health Minister John Della Bosca said.
NSW Health's Chief Medical Officer, Kerry Chant, said the problem was only going to get worse.
"The numbers for our Sydney southwest region are the highest," Dr Chant said.
"As time goes on, the disease will progressively spread around through the rest of metropolitan Sydney, and will also then progressively spread to our rural and regional areas."
Two people with swine flu have died in NSW this year.
Dr Chant said it was not possible to say what percentage of the population could be affected by the influenza A(H1N1) virus, but she indicated it could be as high as 40 per cent.
"We would estimate the clinical attack rate is going to be something like 20 to 40 per cent," she said.
"Because it's a new virus the population doesn't have any degree of immunity to it.
There are currently 59 people in NSW hospitals with swine flu, nine of them in intensive care."
Sometimes, no, make that frequently, I am gobsmacked by the failure of Governments to understand the consequences of their actions/warnings.
They send out the red alert panic signals to people about this flu, tell them to present to Hospital emergency and indeed, they are forced to do so because GP's have signs on their doors telling anyone with 'flu symptoms' not to come inside but to go to Hospital, and then 'out of the blue' they are inundated with patients! Duh!
In SA we are not getting any statistics about swine flu; our hospitals lost their ability to cope with swine flu weeks ago so we dont hear much about it anymore. 99.9% of people dont need hospitalisation for it anyway; those who do need hospital treatment are probably already there!
I don't think that is necessarily the case given the current deterioration in management of this outbreak.
Unfortunately, I suspect some patients who really DO need urgent hospital admission are going to suffer the consequences of a system that is rapidly becoming bogged down - probably to a crawl.
Spooly, the ordinary Influenza that occurs each winter causes hundreds of deaths in susceptible people. The last estimate I saw was 2000 each year. No one ever makes a fuss about that. So far the swine flu virus on its own is apparently a mild illness.
The deaths in Australia have occurred in people who have an underlying health problem.
As far as I can see so far, the hysteria generated is more of a problem than the virus.
Of course it's ridiculous. As has already been discussed, the mortality rate in the 20th century flu was as a result of there being no penicillin in those days to fight the bacterial infection that followed the flu virus.
No, it is not mild, and your attitude is very worrying. The swine flu has a mortality rate of 0.5%; i.e. 1 in 200 people with the virus will die. While that's "mild" compared to the Spanish Flu (2.5%, 1 in 40) it's much worse than the common flu (0.1%, 1 in 1000).
And the reason it's so serious is because it is now a pandemic. That means the virus is widespread with confirmed cases for over 100,000 people, and realistically will affect millions of people.
And that is simply not true. I've seen many people repeat that myth, maybe for comfort, but it's not supported by the facts. Young healthy adults are spending weeks on breathing machines... they are the ones who *don't* die.
Google for swine-flu-hits-young-healthy-adults-hard. I can't post links or I'd link directly.
Really? Because if anything I'd say the opposite is true. People are entirely laxidasical about the swine flu. I see very few people taking precautions. I see far more people saying "it's not that serious" or "it only affects old and sick people" or "I know somebody who got it and they're fine".
Your attitude is the real danger. Especially so when someone catches swine flu and plays the "soldier-on" card by going to work, sniffling and sneezing, and making everyone else sick. Imagine you are in an office block and 1 in 200 people died. There are 3000 people in my office block; now imagine 15 of them dead. I'm not sure that would be viewed as just "hysteria".
The death rate from the 1918 pandemic was actually 20%; far higher than the mortality rate from the virus itself.
You should treat the swine flu with appropriate seriousness. Pretending it's simply a windup, or hysteria, is how you can make the problem worse. At the moment it's entirely treatable if people take caution (e.g. stay home if you're sick, cover your mouth when you sneeze, wash your hands). But it people start believing it's not serious, that's when people start dying.
No, it is not mild, and your attitude is very worrying. The swine flu has a mortality rate of 0.5%; i.e. 1 in 200 people with the virus will die. While that's "mild" compared to the Spanish Flu (2.5%, 1 in 40) it's much worse than the common flu (0.1%, 1 in 1000).
And the reason it's so serious is because it is now a pandemic. That means the virus is widespread with confirmed cases for over 100,000 people, and realistically will affect millions of people.
And that is simply not true. I've seen many people repeat that myth, maybe for comfort, but it's not supported by the facts. Young healthy adults are spending weeks on breathing machines... they are the ones who *don't* die.
Google for swine-flu-hits-young-healthy-adults-hard. I can't post links or I'd link directly.
Really? Because if anything I'd say the opposite is true. People are entirely laxidasical about the swine flu. I see very few people taking precautions. I see far more people saying "it's not that serious" or "it only affects old and sick people" or "I know somebody who got it and they're fine".
Your attitude is the real danger. Especially so when someone catches swine flu and plays the "soldier-on" card by going to work, sniffling and sneezing, and making everyone else sick. Imagine you are in an office block and 1 in 200 people died. There are 3000 people in my office block; now imagine 15 of them dead. I'm not sure that would be viewed as just "hysteria".
The death rate from the 1918 pandemic was actually 20%; far higher than the mortality rate from the virus itself.
You should treat the swine flu with appropriate seriousness. Pretending it's simply a windup, or hysteria, is how you can make the problem worse. At the moment it's entirely treatable if people take caution (e.g. stay home if you're sick, cover your mouth when you sneeze, wash your hands). But it people start believing it's not serious, that's when people start dying.
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