Mothering Forum banner

Swine flu

31K views 480 replies 181 participants last post by  mama1803 
#1 ·
the recent outbreaks are FREAKING me out. Please either help this OCD mama calm down or better prepare.
 
#52 ·
I'm actually kind of hoping we catch it pretty soon. If its like the 1918 epidemic, it started out mild and then came back months later in a more virulent form. I'd like to get it now so that we have more antibodies against a mutation (partial immunity is better than none). I don't know if I could bring myself to deliberately expose my family, though. I'm not that brave, I guess.
 
#53 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by grahamsmom98 View Post
Geez, another slow news week. They have to use these few deaths, worldwide to generate fears?? (Or, to distract the public from other things going on in the world...)

Pandemic? Oh, please......

Geez, remember all those dire warnings about the possibility of an avian flu epidemic after the relatively few cases of same were reported in Asia not too long ago? Remember all those dire warnings about the possibility of an anthrax epidemic after the white-powder-in-envelopes terrorism not too long ago? Remember all those warnings about the possibility of a measles epidemic after the few cases of same were reported in the mid-west not too long ago? Pardon the pun, but those whole scenarios died out, didn't they (but, gosh, they made for great news, for awhile).

I am sorry for those families that have been hit by this illness, I am. But, I'm not worried one bit about this flu or any other flu (in this country or any other). We don't get flu shots. We will not get flu shots, even in the face of an actual epidemic or pandemic (uh-oh, there's that word again). Those that would desire the vaccination will be happy to know there are 5 spare doses of vaccine available, courtesy of my family!

I have more concerns about things like the common Norwalk virus that hits elder care residences (nursing and assisted living homes), causing massive vomiting, diarrhea and dehydration.

Sexually-transmitted diseases are far more common than this (or, other types of) flu. Check out the CDC monthly reported cases of these.

People die from conditions related to obesity, diabetes and heart disease. But, these are so common that they aren't news-worthy anymore.

Same goes with the dangers of cigarettes and their danger to everyone. Why not demand the cessation of their production? Oh, yeah, that would violate people's right to personal pleasure (nevermind what it does to those around them) plus the tobacco lobby wouldn't permit it.


Yet, where is are the DAILY public health warnings about those on the networks newscasts?? Not exactly the stuff CNN leads their broadcasts with, hmmm? Afterall, who wants to hear about old people with vomiting and diarrhea. Or, the mantra about cigarette smoking being bad for you (obviously, nobody reads the small print on a pack before lighting up...)


The reports on the news are all about scare mongering. Keep the public frightened and they will do as they are told.

Looks like it's working.

I was going to comment on this thread but, why bother when you pretty much covered my thoughts.

thanks for saving me time typing!
 
#55 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by zahirakids View Post
Yup scare tactics always get LARGE crowds of people to vax ! Whatever you do do not get the vaccine!

Here is a great article about beating the Flu:

http://www.naturalnews.com/023087.html
Zahira, there is no vaccine for this virus.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gossamer View Post
Please also remember that medical practices have changed dramatically in the last 90 years. We now have anti-virals, understand the dangers of dehydration and are far more likely to visit a Dr. than in 1918. ALso a huge reason the Spanish flu was so deadly is that it spread like wildfire through the trenches on the battlefields. SO even though it currently appears that we are facing the 1918 Spanish flu again, realistically, we are not.
Gossamer, air travel is even more effective at spreading disease than a crowded trench was.

Dehydration did not kill the victims of the pandemic, nor would modern medicine have saved them. That's why there's been so much concern and preparation in case bird flu becomes human to human transmissible. The only advantage we have over the people of 1918 are antivirals, provided it remains susceptible, and provided they stockpiled enough in preparation for a bird flu pandemic that they can use now.

Quote:
remember all those dire warnings about the possibility of an avian flu epidemic after the relatively few cases of same were reported in Asia not too long ago?
yes, bird flu has a nasty fatality rate, so if it makes the jump to being human-human transmissible like this virus has we'll be in deep deep trouble. Luckily it's only going animal-human at the moment.
 
#56 ·
Yes, it's rather scary.

I was in HK in 1998 when they culled all the chickens in the HKSAR to prevent the spread of H5N1 (bird flu). I was here in 2003, when SARS hit.

SARS was very scary because in the beginning, no one knew how it was transmitted and there was no known treatment. We pulled our dd out of kindie about 2 days before all the kindies were closed down. It spread all over the world. OK, only about 8,000 people came down w/ it - but over 770 people died, almost 10% fatality rate.

Last year, there was another outbreak of "flu-like illness" that closed down schools 1 week before the Spring break.

Because of the SARS, and the ever-present threat of avian flu, in Hong Kong all points of entry have scans for people's temperatures during outbreaks. They've set that up again & anyone entering HK w/ a fever will be brought to hospital and isolated while they check for various flus.

People wash their hands a lot & now here it's often like in Japan, if you have a URTI, it's considered polite to wear a face mask to prevent your germs from infecting others. People w/ URTI symptoms are asked to wear face masks while waiting to see a GP. During even regular flu season, GPs will wear face masks as well.

So, don't panic, but be careful. Mind your hygiene.
 
#57 ·
I find it quite bold of the people that come to this thread (probably for some fearful reasoning, somewhere in them) and want to send out their opinions of higher humanitarianism and potent wisdom that we , who might be a lil worried are, part of the sheep whom will be led to the herd by the big Fear or vaccine use...or whatever...are really reassuring themselves , which is great or just out to prove THEIR point. I think most who come to this one are just looking to vent.
Isnt it a bit early to be judging ... at least we should or could be grateful that the powers that be , might be looking out for the common good? even if that is the hopeful soul in me? an early response is better than none or far too late, no? ie ~Katrina ...
i don't tend to be on the paranoid side , but this strikes something in me.
Or maybe its cause my personal weekend has been quite extreme! ya never know!
Send out the good love
<3
 
#60 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by christifav View Post
I live in the TX county that closed all schools for the week thanks to 3 high school kids being diagnosed. I'm not real excited about the idea of DH or I missing a week of work, but I'm not sure I want my kids in daycare right now. We just got over week 3 of the stomach bug (absolutely brought home from day care) and we're sick of being sick.

Still not sure what to do...came here looking for non-scare-tactic info.
up until last year i worked at one of the junior highs in that district. must say i've never been more glad to be out of the teaching profession. i just saw on the news that they've shut down the city parks now too?

i work in retail right now and we have had a lot of customers from mexico lately because of holy shopping week, so i am somewhat concerned. moreso than i probably would be if i wasn't pregnant. add that to sudden onset of allergies (no headache, fever or coughing so i'm trying to keep the paranoia at bay) and it has given me cause for concern.

i'll definitely be asking my dr about it at my 35 week checkup on wednesday.
 
#61 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by grahamsmom98 View Post
http://www.cnn.com/

"The U.S. declared a public health emergency as the number of identified cases of swine flu in the nation rose to 20."

A public health emergency for 20 cases NATIONWIDE?????????

How, on earth can 20 cases out of the US population be deemed a public health emergency?

Like I said, scare mongering (and, apparently, no other news of interest to report...).

i know right? the cases in the US and Canada were mild. no one died and only like one person was hospitalized. fear mongering as a scam to get ratings indeed!
 
#62 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by leafwood View Post
Actually, I was really sick 2 weeks ago (Easter weekend). I had a chest cold with a fever that got pretty high for me (102-103). I went right into the dr who said he had been seeing a lot of "stubborn" respiratory issues. He prescribed me a z-pac and had me start on asmanex (inhaled powdered steroid) b/c the previous 2 times I've had a chest cold it's progressed to wheezing and gotten pretty bad. I was quite sick for a good 4-5 days. The following weekend Dd ran a very high fever for 24 hours and then was fine. This week the same happened with ds. FWIW, a child I worked with the previous week was sick and had recently returned from a spring break family vaca in Mexico/FL.

When this swine situation came about dh joked that he hoped I had it, and that the kids had mild cases and now we can all carry on. That, in some strange way, was comforting to me. We can all bunker down and hide away....but there is a chance that each and every one of us is currently harboring immunity.
I was really sick starting around Easter weekend, with terrible flu-like symptoms. I'm glad there was nothing about this swine flu then, though I like your DH's idea.
My "flu" ended up being bacterial (not sure if it started that way or I developed secondary infections), and after 10+ days, I only started feeling better after starting abx. It's strange to have something so virulent "out there" and yet be something with symptoms so common that in general we'd barely pay attention to them.

I've been seriously considering a trip from the Houston area to Monterrey, MX, for a birth conference next weekend, and while there are various factors going against my trip, the swine flu outbreak seems to be the final nail in the coffin.
I was hoping to go with my MW, but I doubt she'd be willing to risk exposure when she's got births to attend.
 
#63 ·
Well, if it makes people feel better to say that it's fear mongering and a media ploy for ratings, then more power to you.

However this has me worried because it is a brand new, never-seen-before strain of flu that is killing HEALTHY people in the prime of their lives. The regular flu tends to kill the already-ill, the young, and the elderly. Because it is new, it is completely unpredictable, and it can mutate and affect different people a different way. At this point, they also don't know how infectious it is - it could be as infectious as the flu pandemic of 1918. Statistically, we are also overdue for a pandemic. All of these factors combine to make me worried, but certainly not to panic, as I've already had a general emergency plan in place.

I suppose the other factor that has me worried is that my dd attends a private language immersion school (Spanish-French-Mandarin) and she has dozens of teachers that went back to Mexico over spring break to visit family. Plus we have possible cases in my area (samples are at the CDC right now, as they do not match any strains our state has ever seen, but no confirmation yet). Plus dd is sick right now (just a cold, but still, she has a compromised immune system right now).

I think that everyone should be at least putting together a plan of what you would do if the WHO raised the level to a 4 or 5 and/or if your area is shut down like the areas in Texas and California (where I've read that even the local parks are closed). If the local governments, even as a precaution, tell people to stay home, how long can you stay at home without having to go out? If you do go out, how can you protect yourself? These are questions people at least need to ask themselves. Not just for the swine flu, but for any emergency situation. Just my two cents.
 
#65 ·
Velochic, I totally agree. I went out yesterday and bought groceries and diapers, not stockpiles of them, but the stuff we were a little low on-oatmeal, rice, fruit, etc. I'm making a little list for myself of rainy day games to play with the kids indoors. We could stay in for the week pretty comfortably (other than the fact that it's gorgeous outside!)

I'm going to keep DD home from school today, and we're not going to the playground, library, or grocery store. There needs to be more info before I'm comfortable going about our regular routine.

DH on the other hand doesn't think its a big deal and is still going to work. At least he walks to work and works in a very small office! He took the kids to the playground and shopping yesterday, which I'm not thrilled about though.

I am kind of glad that this seems to have a short incubation-they're saying 24-48 hours-so I think we'll know more and more every day. We're in NYC, so no mass school closings or park closings or anything.

DS's cough is worse and phlemgier today, but he doesn't have a fever, and he's had this cough for like a week and a half now. I suppose it's far more likely to be a regular cold turned into something bacterial than to be swine flu atop a cold even if a fever does start up. He's also totally happy and eating like mad.
 
#66 ·
I recently read a novel about the Spanish flu...I cannot for the life of me find it, either on my shelf or on amazon.com, but it talked about how they were just beginning to learn that microorganisms caused diseases. Prior to that time (early 1900s) it was believed that bad blood caused disease, which is why they did bloodletting.

Since we know this now, and because we have things like indoor plumbing, bottled water (don't have to walk to a well to get water), (many of us have) air conditioning (can keep windows closed), even a really bad outbreak would not be as bad as 1918.
 
#67 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by velochic View Post
Well, if it makes people feel better to say that it's fear mongering and a media ploy for ratings, then more power to you.

However this has me worried because it is a brand new, never-seen-before strain of flu that is killing HEALTHY people in the prime of their lives.
Not so the world has seen swine flu outbreaks before.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swine_flu

Quote:
1976 U.S. outbreak
On February 5, 1976, an army recruit at Fort Dix said he felt tired and weak. He died the next day and four of his fellow soldiers were later hospitalized. Two weeks after his death, health officials announced that swine flu was the cause of death and that this strain of flu appeared to be closely related to the strain involved in the 1918 flu pandemic. Alarmed public-health officials decided that action must be taken to head off another major pandemic, and they urged President Gerald Ford that every person in the U.S. be vaccinated for the disease. The vaccination program was plagued by delays and public relations problems, but about 24% of the population had been vaccinated by the time the program was canceled.

About 500 cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome, resulting in death from severe pulmonary complications for 25 people, were probably caused by an immunopathological reaction to the 1976 vaccine. Other influenza vaccines have not been linked to Guillain-Barré syndrome, though caution is advised for certain individuals, particularly those with a history of GBS.

The following rant is not directed at you Velochic.


Modern News Media is terrible they are constantly putting words into headlines that cause people to worry. Have you ever noticed we never have just a thunderstorm anymore? They are always Severe Thunderstorms. In the winter every snowstorm warrents the Storm Center Team on high alert. It's Crisis this and Danger that ALL. THE. TIME! "Something in your home right now could be killing you! We will tell you about it after the commercial break."

Does anyone remember the story called the Boy who Cried Wolf? We are all sick to death of every news article and show calling wolf and guess what? Some of us don't believe them at all anymore! That's what happens.

Is this thing real? Only time will tell but like I said in my PP 4000 Canadians die each and every year from flu's.
 
#68 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by ParisApril View Post
Not so the world has seen swine flu outbreaks before.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swine_flu

The following rant is not directed at you Velochic.


Modern News Media is terrible they are constantly putting words into headlines that cause people to worry. Have you ever noticed we never have just a thunderstorm anymore? They are always Severe Thunderstorms. In the winter every snowstorm warrents the Storm Center Team on high alert. It's Crisis this and Danger that ALL. THE. TIME! "Something in your home right now could be killing you! We will tell you about it after the commercial break."

Does anyone remember the story called the Boy who Cried Wolf? We are all sick to death of every news article and show calling wolf and guess what? Some of us don't believe them at all anymore! That's what happens.

Is this thing real? Only time will tell but like I said in my PP 4000 Canadians die each and every year from flu's.

PA I was just watching Donald Lowe on CBC and he says that the signs are there that this could be the pandemic that they have been planning for. I trust him and I don't think this is something to be taken lightly.

My understanding is that while this is swine flu there are strains of other flus at work as well - human and bird - which means that this could be something more difficult for the human immune system to fight.
 
#69 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Karenwith4 View Post
PA I was just watching Donald Lowe on CBC and he says that the signs are there that this could be the pandemic that they have been planning for. I trust him and I don't think this is something to be taken lightly.

My understanding is that while this is swine flu there are strains of other flus at work as well - human and bird - which means that this could be something more difficult for the human immune system to fight.
CBC also told us last night to vaccinate ourselves with the flu vaccine even though it is ineffective against the swine flu and any flu's that have been going around this year!
 
#71 ·
I don't watch a lot of tv so last night was the first i heard about the swine flu on the news, and I was interested that the news reported all of the statistics about deaths in mexico, and where they've found the flu in the US and Canada, and it showed so much footage of people wearing masks in public venues, and then it just said "for more information on the swine flu, such as symptoms to look for or ways to prevent transmission, please visit our website.." Really? I would think that if this really was a flu of pandemic proportions, wouldn't they *focus* on information about how to tell if you had it and what to do about it? They did say a few times that while there wasn't a vaccine yet, scientists are working one now, and I'm certain that after hearing those statistics and seeing that footage, as soon as one is released people will be lining up for it! I'd also be interested to know what has caused so many deaths in mexico, but not as many (comparatively) in the rest of the world.
 
#72 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by ParisApril View Post
CBC also told us last night to vaccinate ourselves with the flu vaccine even though it is ineffective against the swine flu and any flu's that have been going around this year!
It's Donald Lowe I trust just to clarify.
 
#73 ·
I have to admit that living in the Phoenix area, this has me concerned. There is such a flow of people to and from Mexico in my area and it does scare me. I admit that if there is a local outbreak, my kids will be staying home from school and other activities.

My husband is also a pilot and it terrifies that me he'll bring something home with him
 
#75 ·
Dh & I agreed that for the next few days at least, we'll keep the kids home & watch for news updates. This thing does seem to be traveling extremely fast & I fear we'll see many more "confirmed" case in the coming days. So, we'll just lay low until we decide whether we've reached "freak out" stage or not.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top