Swine flu outbreak "serious"

[Shelby2]

Anyone following this story? http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/04/25/swine.flu/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

I wonder what implications it has for our area since I imagine a fair number of people are back and forth between here and Mexico.

This is the same flu that killed 20 to 50 million people worldwide in 1918 (some of my NY relatives among them) and there was another small outbreak in the US in the 1970s that caused major problems due to the resulting vaccination program.
Swine Flu - wikipedia

[Shelby2]

8 New York Students Likely Have Strain of Swine Flu

[Shelby2]

This has certainly progressed since I posted last weekend.  Just check daily news sources for new info.

This paragraph in today's Times (April 29) surprised me because I wasn't aware that so many people die from the flu in our region every year.

Mr. Bloomberg noted that even in a normal flu season, 1,000 to 2,000 New Yorkers, typically children or elderly or ill people, die from other strains of the flu, and said that if the swine flu continued to spread, “we may sadly see people either in New York City or nationally” die of it.

[Ed]

OK, but think about this-
The real swine behind swine flu?

Lest you worry too much about the swine flu, here’s a link to a short huffingtonpost piece that presents hysteric media coverage of swine flu as viral marketing on behalf of Tamiflu...made by former defense secretary Don Rumsfeld’s pharmaceutical company Gilead/Roche. The piece links to a story about an identical marketing campaign by Tamiflu during the avian flu outbreak in 2005. Also links to an onion article “Powerful Rest And Fluids Industry Influencing Doctors' Treatment Of Colds”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jay-gordon/tamiflurumsfeldh1n1-redux_b_191606.html

And here’s proof that the tactic is working...

From Monday’s BusinessWeek....

Drug stocks help world markets weather swine flu

Pharmaceutical companies enjoyed solid gains amid expectations that demand for anti-viral drugs would rise.

In Europe, Switzerland's Roche Holding AG -- the maker of Tamiflu -- saw its share price rise around 4 percent while GlaxoSmithkline PLC, which manufactures the Relenza drug, spiked 6 percent.

"The share prices of major European pharmaceutical companies have jumped in a generally weak market in anticipation of increased orders for vaccine-related products and it is estimated that the average earnings uplift from such an event could amount to around 0.5 percent in both 2009 and 2010," said Jeremy Batstone-Carr, director of private client research at stockbrokers Charles Stanley in London.

The gains weren't just confined to Europe though. In the U.S., a whole host of drug companies like Merck & Co., Pfizer Inc. and Eli Lilly & Co. were in demand too.
 
 
As the media coverage of swine flu reaches a fevered pitch, Jon Stewart wants you to know that at 149 deaths in Mexico, it still ranks last on the "list of things that can kill you in Mexico." 
 
 
 
 
Fear is deeply primal, one can't fully evolve away from fight or flight. Suppressing the urge is what really confounds those of us who trust our instincts. Who does Chicken Little work for?

[John Prester]

I’d be careful citing the Fluffington Post or Jon Stewart as reputable sources for information on the current flu problem. 

Fluffington Post also had this post by New Age nut job Marianne Williamson:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marianne-williamson/pray-away-the-swine-flu_b_192004.html

The post pretty much speaks for itself.  If it’s not that obvious, it was dissected in Discover Magazine’s blog here:

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2009/04/28/the-swine-flu-is-all-in-your-head-is-anyone-awake-at-the-huffington-post/

For a more scientific view on the influenza, this blog here by Vincent Racaniello Ph.D., Professor of Microbiology at Columbia University Medical Center:

http://www.virology.ws/

His most recent entries indicate that the influenza season in the Northern Hemisphere generally runs from January to April, and sometimes into May.  The epidemic should be over by the end of May in Mexico.  But he also cautions that the virus could spread to the Southern Hemisphere, where the influenza season generally runs from May to September.  And there’s always the possibility of the virus mutating, and this could cause problems with the Fall flu season in the Northern Hemisphere.

[Shelby2]

This has certainly progressed since I posted last weekend.  Just check daily news sources for new info.

This paragraph in today's Times (April 29) surprised me because I wasn't aware that so many people die from the flu in our region every year.

Mr. Bloomberg noted that even in a normal flu season, 1,000 to 2,000 New Yorkers, typically children or elderly or ill people, die from other strains of the flu, and said that if the swine flu continued to spread, “we may sadly see people either in New York City or nationally” die of it.

What I don't understand is, if up to 2000 people die in the NY area from flu in any given year, why 150 deaths from flu in a country as populous as Mexico would cause such alarm.  Is it because normally strong, young people are dying?  Have to do more reading.

[Really4rob]

Not to add the widespread panic, but I know of several schools that have had confirmed cases, more than just those of the news, and let's leave it at that.

Thankfully so far my own school, and my son's (PS 69) have no cases that have been publicized.

[Marlene]

One of the teacher's at P.S. 69Q is in Mexico and returning in a day or two.  I'm not sure how the school will handle the return.  To be continued . . . .   :smiley6600:

[NYC Peromyscus]

Just to ease the tension a bit (but not to make light of a potentially serious disease for some affected people, obviously)...

[Chuckster]

The latest news on the Swine Flu is that an assistant principal from a Queens school, Intermediate 238, has been hospitalized.  I googled 238's location and came up with Hollis, Queens.  Two other schools are a lot closer to us:

Intermediate School 5 in Elmhurst
P.S. 16 in Corona

Queens Educator Critically Ill With Swine Flu; 3 Schools Closed

[snickers]

One of the closed schools(IS 5) is just on the other side of Queens Blvd in Elmhurst. I saw a news helicopter flying overhead on Thursday late afternoon. Mayor Bloomberg along with other health dept officials was on Queens Blvd yesterday holding a press conference about the swine flu crises.

[Jeffsayyes]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4B7FW8b5qI

[vladicravich]

Check it out, google map of swine flu:
http://queenstribune.wordpress.com/2009/05/18/it-just-keeps-spreading/

We'll be updating this as more closing come in. Feel free to give us your own tips in the comments.
Vladic

[Really4rob]

Check it out, google map of swine flu:
http://queenstribune.wordpress.com/2009/05/18/it-just-keeps-spreading/

We'll be updating this as more closing come in. Feel free to give us your own tips in the comments.
Vladic

Very helpful.  Thanks!

[Chuckster]

Has anyone found that they're taking extra precautions because of the recent uptick in reports we've been getting from the media?  The news was reporting this morning that a child has died at Elmhurst Hospital, and they're attributing the death to complications due to flu-like symptoms.  Testing will be done to determine the child's actual cause of death, and I suppose they will also test for the H1N1 virus.

I'm just following my usual routine of frequent hand washing, and I've always carried a small bottle of hand sanitizer with me anyway.