<p>The thing about Mexico, where most of the flu victims have died, is that it really is a Third World nation. Much of the population experiences poor health by default, may already have a disease, and are more inclined to get very sick from any give illness. </p>
<p>I was reading an article, and one of the guys the journalist interviews ruminates on the fact there are just a bunch of homeless “children of the street” wandering all over the place in Mexico City. Those children could very easily die from a somewhat severe flu.</p>
<p>Like we have predicted it is all over the globe now, with New Zeland, Canada, Spain, Scotland, France and Israel reporting probable cases. All of the cases outside of Mexico seem to be very mild.
And the politics of it all have started as well…</p>
<p>^The fact that most of the cases outside of Mexico are mild at this point doesn’t mean much. In fact, this is exactly how the 1918 flu pandemic started. The 1918 virus came in waves. The first wave appeared in March of 1918 and was relativley mild. The deadly strains appeared in August of 1918 and then again in November of that same year. In short, the current mild cases that we are seeing may be a prelude to something much worse. We simply don’t know at this point.</p>
<p>Above poster is correct about the 1918 flu…It was first reported in Mar…Became very leathal in Aug…I think about 1/2 of the world population was affected by it of which 2.5-5% died…Normal mortality rate from the flu is I believe under 1% (I think I read 0.3% but not sure of that fact).
The 1918 flu was a H1n1 strain (which is what the current swine flu is)… Will it become something very dangerous??? anyones guess at this point…depends on what it mutates into.</p>
<p>In the 1918 flu (like this one) it seemed to hit the 20-40 year olds the hardest…Instead of the under 2 and elderly…This is because 20-40 year olds typically have the best immune systems…What that flu did was send the immune system into overdrive and the reaction often caused edema in the lungs…A person might be fine in the morning…dead by evening…</p>
<p>The 1918 flu pandemic is where the following childrens rhythm came from</p>
<p>“I had a little bird,
It’s name was Enza
I opened the window
and in-flew-enza”</p>
<p>The flu is spread by droplets…Yes wash your hands…BUT…coughs and sneezes carry a long way…</p>
<p>As a nursing student about 4 years ago we were required to watch a documentary on the 1918 flu pandemic (that lasted about 18 months)</p>
<p>Do you need to panic?? Well really what can you do? If it’s going to happen it will…At this point I’m not running for the Tamiflu.</p>
<p>OK, so I admit, I am a worrier at times. I came here to see if there were any other parents worried about this Swine Flu outbreak. My D goes to school right outside of NYC and is in and out of the city every weekend. I am concerned because the dorms are very overpopulated and she has told me in the past that when one kid on the floor gets sick, they all do. I am wondering what the colleges close to NYC will do to inform the kids and to prevent an outbreak. I sent D copy of NY Times article today, but knowing her she will just say, “OH, Mom.” …lol.</p>
<p>It’s a serious flu. Need to be mindful. kids will be getting on the planes soon to come home. This worries me. I guess they are screening with heat detection for fevers. The NYC cases have been confirmed as swine flu. Spring break kids went to mexico.</p>
<p>The “new cases” being reported are pure media sensationalism. There have almost certainly been thousands of cases of this strain in March and April; since symptoms are fairly mild, people chalked it up to normal flu and went on with their lives. ~80 people dead sounds high, but that’s out of thousands and thousands of infections (definitely more than the ~1300 officially confirmed). </p>
<p>So we’re not seeing the start of a global pandemic (yet). Remember, flu kills half a million people per year in non-pandemic years, so we have a ways to go before H1N1 represents a significant threat. And regardless, even if we did see a pandemic, people in countries like the US (with active flu monitoring and enormous anti-flu resources) would have very little to fear.</p>
<p>MommaJ - looks like your D could do well in International Government Administration…
The following was in todays New York Times.
“Some countries banned pork imports from Mexico, even though there is no link between food products and the flu.”</p>
<p>Please be aware that all those who have had it confirmed thus far in America have recovered. No one knows yet why the mortality is higher in Mexico but some of those that died may not have had the flu at all. We won’t know for sure until tests are completed which may be weeks. Everybody needs to be clean ‘n’ careful, of course, but anxiety lowers your immune system’s ability to fight! So…oooohhhmmm.</p>
<p>“In the 1918 flu (like this one) it seemed to hit the 20-40 year olds the hardest…Instead of the under 2 and elderly…This is because 20-40 year olds typically have the best immune systems…What that flu did was send the immune system into overdrive and the reaction often caused edema in the lungs…”</p>
<p>So is it a good thing or a bad thing to have a depressed immune system in this kind of scenario? I ask because one of my kids takes medication that suppresses the immune system (and has to take it). This kind of news (about the flu) pushes my Mom buttons but are you saying a healthy immune system is actually a bigger risk? I’m kind of confused.</p>
Disagree.
It means tons. It means people are not developing cripling disease like they were a few years back when SARS was attacking. It buys us time to learn more about the virus before it mutates.
We can’t really compare todays outbreaks to the spanish flu. In those days people did not have access to antibiotics and were dying of pneumonia.</p>
<p>Wrong on both counts. Today’s influenza outbreaks are no different than what happened in 1918, save one simple fact – the series of genetic mutations that resulted in the virulence of the 1918 strain has not happened again . . . yet. Most epidemiologists says that it’s not a question of if it will happen again, it’s a question of when. And when it does happen, it’s likely to be more severe because air travel has made ours a much smaller and more connected world, making it easier for the virus to spread quickly. Antibiotics have no effect on flu – it’s viral, not bacterial. While antibiotics are useful in treating secondary infections that may arise as complications from the flu, they have no effect on the flu virus itself. Remember that the 1918 influenza virus killed many of its victims in less than 24 hours – people who became ill in the morning were dead by nightfall. No antibiotic or antiviral medication works that fast.</p>
<p>I’m sure I’m missing the central point here, but the most alarming thing to me is to hear that some people are experiencing vomiting and diarrhea with this flu strain. Nobody has thrown up in our house for more than two years and I’d like to keep it that way. I have only had a true influenza once, and it was awful, but at least there was no throwing up. Does anybody know what the incubation period is on a virus like this? My friend went to Mexico for spring break and I’d like to know whether I can let her in my house or not. :)</p>