Oh, that’s been brought up on this thread at least a half dozen times now. Yes, get flu shots (I’m sure most here are in agreement on that) but this is about coronavirus. A few reasons why this is getting focus: more unknowns, a shot isn’t available to help prevent this, the mortality rate and transmission rate both appear to be higher (although that could change as more info becomes available), it’s really interesting in many different ways (epidemiology, politics, economic impact, etc.) which shouldn’t be confused with undue concern on this thread. Getting a flu shot gets plenty of its own concern.
In Germany, they have had quite a different story which seems it is easy to transmit. Still a lot of unknowns.
IBenice I always carry my own pen! At the store pin pads I either press the buttons with my pen or put my finger inside my sleeve before I touch. The I pad that the doctor’s office is just ridiculous when a large percentage of people using it are sick! What were they thinking?
@doschicos, I figured it had been brought up but wasn’t willing to read through the entire thread. Just wanted to give the perspective from a physician.
Last year I got my flu shot late (February). The NP said, “It’s up to you if you want to get it (the shot) or not. I’ll be honest with you, I’ve had 4 cases of the flu in here and all 4 had the shot.” So…the flu shot does not necessarily protect one from the flu.
“In Germany, they have had quite a different story which seems it is easy to transmit. Still a lot of unknowns.”
What happens in business meetings stays in business meetings. Put a sneezing dude in a closed room with a bunch of others and see what happens. (Let me recount the story of how Mr’s boss brought some infamous flu from a medical conference and then showed up sneezing and coughing at their regularly scheduled all-day managerial meeting…)
There are many different types of flu circulating around. A vaccine is only effective against the types that were predicted to be circulating… it does cut down on your chances of getting the flu from at least a few strains. Take a look at this year’s flu in my state:
My understanding (maybe I’m wrong) is that the animal is slaughtered at purchase. Like picking your own lobsters out from the tank, you pick your chicken or whatever animal live and then it is slaughtered.
@BarbaraCruz , I think they mean freshly slaughtered. In a shop, or a traditional Chinese wet market. Pick your goose and they snap its neck right there in front of you. ? There may be elements consumed raw, but I’m not familiar with those…and don’t really want to know.
Good question about the immunity of the Chinese. I don’t know. Just the little I’ve read suggests how bats (the source of this coronavirus) are incubators for so many different viruses. The link I posted in #583 was written in Wuhan a year ago, so they predicted this outbreak.
We toured a wet market in Viet Nam. Cultural differences aside, I couldn’t get our of there fast enough. And the shoes went into the garbage.
Yes, the birds get slaughtered right there - and sometimes the heads get cut off and the blood trails being the purchaser. And sometimes it drops into the buckets holding the ‘live’ fish.
1,921 new confirmed cases in Hubei province in the past 24 hours with a total of 13,801 in China.
45 new deaths in Hubei province bringing total to 304 in China
Likely more will be reported from other provinces.
13,983 worldwide
Also a deadly bird flu has broken out near the coronavirus epicenter. No human cases, just thousands of birds that needed to be killed.
In addition to March AFB in CA, the U.S. designated 4 other military bases in California, Colorado and Texas as sites for travelers who will be subject to a 14-day quarantine after arriving from Hubei in China, the Pentagon said.
The Defense Department said as many as 1,000 people can be housed at the 168th Regiment, Regional Training Institute in Fort Carson, Colorado; the Marine Corps Air Station in Miramar, California; Travis Air Force Base in California; and Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.
““DOD personnel will not be directly in contact with any potential evacuees and evacuees will not have access to any base location other than their assigned housing,” Jonathan Rath Hoffman, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, said in tweets. The Department of Health and Human Services sought access to the facilities, he said.” (Bloomberg)
Since this is not a virus that has been seen in the general Chinese population, they do not have immunity. If you read one of the articles, antibodies were found in people living near one of the bat caves that were studied but since those are probably isolated smaller communities with sporadic infections, the virus did not spread until now. The infection will follow the normal course, affecting a percentage of the population until enough people become immune, the weaker ones die and then it slows down. Mortality in other countries will be probably much lower than in China. In the US, it will be most worrisome for the elderly with coexisting medical conditions and the immunocompromised, same as the influenza. An antiviral is being studied but it is too soon to tell if it will be practical for mass treatment in the US in the near future.
I’m unreasonably annoyed at the number of people who have asked me if I’m afraid of nCoV (me specifically because pregnancy).
No. I’m annoyed at all the people around me who don’t get their damn flu shot.
I will say that at my last appointment at U of Mich hospital, I was asked if I had recently traveled to china or had contact with people who recently traveled. You have to go through screening before going in the childrens hospital (which is where the maternal health clinic is too) and normally the screening questions are “any cough, sneezing, fever, or other flu like symptoms? Any travel outside of the country in the last three weeks?” The latter question was still asked along with the China specific question.
@doschicos A couple of local news outlets said that he lives in the Hub, and it was also reported online. I just checked and that information has been deleted. Since they are now reporting that he’s quarantined at home, I hope that information is incorrect since that is such a large building with lots of common spaces.
Yes, get flu shots (I’m sure most here are in agreement on that) but this is about coronavirus. A few reasons why this is getting focus: more unknowns, a shot isn’t available to help prevent this, the mortality rate and transmission rate both appear to be higher (although that could change as more info becomes available), it’s really interesting in many different ways (epidemiology, politics, economic impact, etc.) which shouldn’t be confused with undue concern on this thread. Getting a flu shot gets plenty of its own concern.