Swine flu pandemic fears

[moXJO]

Hmmm, what the hell is going on

A MEMBER of the World Health Organisation has dismissed claims that more than 150 people have died from swine flu, saying it has officially recorded only seven deaths around the world.
Reports have put the likely death toll from the virus at 152, with Mexican officials confirming 20 deaths.

The number of cases under observation in Mexico alone has reportedly reached 1614.

But Vivienne Allan, from WHO's patient safety program, said the body had confirmed that worldwide there had been just seven deaths - all in Mexico - and 79 confirmed cases of the disease.

"Unfortunately that (150-plus deaths) is incorrect information and it does happen, but that's not information that's come from the World Health Organisation,'' Ms Allan said.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25403429-29277,00.html

 

[MrBurns]

Preventative and self defence is ok if the supply is reasonable. At the moment it isn't

Your argument is not relevant to the social justice and ethical behaviour of doctors. They should not be doing this at the moment. If you were travelling to america, or mexico yes, staying in Australia, no.

I never said it is a bad thing to have protections vs this, but to take it away from people who need it is a social justice problem, which is what I said.

We have 9M doeses of it on hand so if there's a shortage it's the Govt at work ......efficiently as uaual.

 

[MrBurns]

Hmmm, what the hell is going on



http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25403429-29277,00.html

Buy Qantas before this gets out.......

 

[Calliope]

I was surprised to hear on the news today that out of the 159 reported deaths from swine flu in Mexico, only seven cases have been confirmed as actually resulting from the A/HINI strain.

 

[shag]

tamiflu is hard to make apparently, and some dodgy natural acid/spice from china is used, and its limited in supply to further complicate matters.
plus no one wants it unless a pandemic is threatened, plus roche don't want anyone else cashing into their monopoly.
i don't think its anything to do with treatment that has helped non mexicans survive, it seems there is a second/third vector that kills presently. most who returned from mexico recovered well before the thing was exposed.
it started back in febuary according to the nz herald.

 

[Agentm]

my take on this media beat up is different to others.

right now i am not convinced this is anything like what its claimed to be.

seriously, for those concerned about this, take a look at this site before reading what people write on forums and what the media releases are saying

http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/f/flu/deaths.htm

firstly, if the cases in mexico, where ONLY 7 deaths have been confirmed as swine flu, are the only deaths so far, then surely the need to panic is premature.

sure its good to cautious, but is it really this bad, and does it warrant the massive hype its getting, it may be just like another flu!

every year in every county many thousands and 10's of thousands die from the normal flu viruses, or infact from the complications arising from the flu virus.

for instance in the usa alone:

Death rate extrapolations for USA for Flu: 63,729 per year, 5,310 per month, 1,225 per week, 174 per day, 7 per hour, 0 per minute, 0 per second. Note: this automatic extrapolation calculation uses the deaths statistic: 63,730 annual deaths for influenza and pneumonia (NVSR Sep 2001); estimated 20,000 deaths from flu (NIAID)

sorry to say this, but only 7 deaths in mexico from a flu is not a reason to have world panic.


if the hospitals in mexico were filled to overflowing with pneumonia/influenza cases, and they were making makeshift wards and the WHO was flying in and setting up emergency triages, i would be mildly concerned..

right now imho things dont add up.. people with confirmed cases of swine flu re just complaining its a bitch of a flu and get over it pretty much like any other strain.

i am questioning if this is a little too much concern and not enough thought about whether its a real bad flu..

believe me, i am hoping i am right about this as i dont think the planet is ready for a pandemic right now..

anyone else not getting this story or not seeing it the way the panic struck are?

 

[moXJO]

My interest is in why it's being pushed so much. And with so much miss-information going around. They seem to be really out to cause a panic.

 

[Calliope]

All news reports refer to the "deadly swine flu virus." This seems a bit overdone to me, view of moXJO's link above, i.e seven confirmed deaths worldwide according to WHO.

We should never underrate the power of mass hysteria. Chicken Little would be proud of our media.

 

[Julia]

Experts say that the seasonal flu vaccines, freely administered here to the young and the aged( i.e the more vulnerable) are not believed to offer any protection against the swine flu.

And yet I heard on the radio this morning that in Mexico these same age groups who received these vaccines during their winter have had few fatalities. It is very unlikely that the young healthy adults who are succumbing would ever had the vaccine.

Anna Bligh has been on the radio again this morning recommending everyone gets a flu vaccination. Given how recent the outbreak of swine flu is, it's hard to imagine much work has been done on measuring the effectiveness of the seasonal flu vaccine against swine flu.
Perhaps she's trying to be seen to be doing something.

But why are they in short supply ?

It is unethical for a doctor to prescribe relenza to a healthy individual, with no obvious risk of developing swine flu, and hence restrict the availability to people who have or are at high risk ( social justice )

I agree with you on this, and would bet most GP's are not in fact making it available to anyone who asks.

 

[Prospector]

Tamiflu's principle ingredient is star anise, which is not grown in large quantities. I heard today that there have been no new cases in Mexico, and those cases in other countries have been mild ones. And that the deaths in Mexico (I think 150) have not been confirmed as being attributable to swine virus, which is called Mexico Virus in Europe because the pork industry is jacking up about the name!

The issue with the bird and swine flu is that is causes the immune system to go into overdrive; this means that young healthy people are more likely to die from it than older ones. Relenza can certainly be used preventively.

Unless there is more to this than we are being told, it seems like media hype to me. The average flu season kills more people than this.

 

[Green08]

You are confusing fluvax with tamiflu

I think that doctors have been very unethical doing prescriptions for relenza for people with no symptoms or risk.

Not confusing anything. When it comes to my health I know what I can and can't have. They weren't writing prescriptions, just informing me of what could happen if I had it. Geez wish people would read. Never had a flu shot never will.

 

[Green08]

Tamiflu's principle ingredient is star anise,

Thank you Prospector for the ingredient. I'll buy it from Herbies some wonderful receipe for anise

 

[It's Snake Pliskin]

Not confusing anything. When it comes to my health I know what I can and can't have. They weren't writting prescriptions, just informing me of what could happen if I had it. Geez wish people would read. Never had a flu shot never will.

I don't get flu shots because of the side effects that could happen as was told by a doctor.

 

[Struzball]

I thought it was a bit sus when at first i wake up in the morning, turn the tv on and there was 50 or so deaths. The next day, 150 deaths. I thought this morning I would turn the tv on to hear 1000 deaths etc. but nope.. 150 deaths.

People suddenly stopped dying? Yeah right.. sounds like they never started dying from swine flu.

 

[Agentm]

I thought it was a bit sus when at first i wake up in the morning, turn the tv on and there was 50 or so deaths. The next day, 150 deaths. I thought this morning I would turn the tv on to hear 1000 deaths etc. but nope.. 150 deaths.

People suddenly stopped dying? Yeah right.. sounds like they never started dying from swine flu.

maybe 150 did die from the flu, and imho thats probably normal, of them only 7 from the swine flu.. the rest from all the other strains..

so its just a flu.. and imho the hype on this needs to ebb off a little.

rationality is needed right now.. and to say there is a level 69 pandemic swine flu attack of the deadly tomatoes, is just going too far..

i wish i could have the swine flu right now, i could be the only survivor and get harry m miller to sell my story to 60 minutes for the news thirsty panic stuck Australian audience to fell at ease, a survivor.. wow,, miracle..

storm in a tea cup and i think they will struggle to keep this hype up much longer..

sold a few newspapers and got the audience for their 6 oclock media slots,, but its way too much of a hyped up story right now in my view..

the other day a guy in the states said this was a manufactured flu..

he's right... its totally manufactured based on what i can see..

 

[Prospector]

This isnt exactly, just the flu. It does have some of the characteristics of the H5N1 (bird flu) in that it influences the immune system so much. That is why the young get ill and suffer the side effects - it is their immune system reaction that kills them.

Having said that, it appears that this strain is not particuarly virulent. It does give our emergency services a chance to test out their systems though, so that is an excellent side-effect.

 

[moXJO]

This isnt exactly, just the flu. It does have some of the characteristics of the H5N1 (bird flu) in that it influences the immune system so much. That is why the young get ill and suffer the side effects - it is their immune system reaction that kills them.

Having said that, it appears that this strain is not particuarly virulent. It does give our emergency services a chance to test out their systems though, so that is an excellent side-effect.

I thought it was the pneumonia that killed them?

 

[Soft Dough]

Not confusing anything. When it comes to my health I know what I can and can't have. They weren't writing prescriptions, just informing me of what could happen if I had it. Geez wish people would read. Never had a flu shot never will.

Um yes you are.

fluvax is the influenza injection for immunisation.

Tamiflu is the anti-viral tablet for treatment of influenza.

Geez I wish you would research your own posts.

 

[Aussiejeff]

Buy Qantas before this gets out.......

Or, alternatively, SELL Biota before it plunges any further... down 12% today - and that's before any official "easing" of the "swine flu crisis" gets out. Those that specced and jumped before it rolled over the top of Everest made heaps, but a lot of sheep-peeps are prolly gonna get burnt with that one in the next few days on its plummet down from the overshoot.

What a beat-up....

 

[Prospector]

I thought it was the pneumonia that killed them?

This is for Bird Flu, but the same principles have been applied to Swine flu:
http://www.scidev.net/en/news/bird-flu-may-kill-by-making-immune-system-overreac.html

Bird flu might cause such severe disease and kill so many people because it makes the immune system 'overreact', say researchers.

They say that suppressing the immune response could be a way to treat infection by the H5N1 virus, which has killed 64 people in Asia ”” about half of all confirmed cases. ....
These chemical messengers alert the immune system to send white blood cells to attack the source of infection.

The production of so many messenger molecules could explain why H5N1-infected people's lungs are "full" of a kind of white blood cell called macrophages, says lead researcher Malik Peiris of the University of Hong Kong.

His team previously showed that white blood cells release a chemical that, if present in abundance, can damage lung tissue.