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The Mexican Swine Flu Epidemic
Topic Started: Apr 25 2009, 08:51 AM (5,072 Views)
Kerri P.
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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30486742
Mom worries as swine flu hits 5 in N.Y. family
Slow school response, indifferent attitudes may endanger kids, she says

updated 8:44 a.m. ET, Thurs., April 30, 2009

One confirmed case of swine flu was scary enough, but Jacqueline Civitano spent this week worrying as five family members developed high fevers, coughing, dizziness and other signs of the virus that’s sweeping the globe.

By Wednesday, the fear had subsided for the Floral Park, N.Y., mother of seven, who was simply stuck in the house under isolation trying to entertain a crew of mildly sick, stir-crazy kids.

But she said there’s still plenty of worry to go around, judging by the community response to the outbreak, which began a week ago, when her 17-year-old son, Frankie, became one of more than 50 students from St. Francis Preparatory School in Fresh Meadows, N.Y., to contract the potentially deadly illness. A group of students from that school had just returned from a trip to Mexico, although Frankie wasn't among them.

snip...
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Concerned
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Houston Chronicle is reporting that the child that died in Houston did visit the Galleria mall before going back to Brownsville and falling ill. I think I read somewhere that you are contagious one day before you feel symptoms. This child actually died of pneumonia.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6400968.html

April 3 - Child arrives with mother and three brothers at the Matamoros airport. The family crosses Gateway International Bridge to Brownsville, and stays with mother for two nights at Staybridge hotel in Brownsville.

April 5 - Family members, including an aunt, mother, and three brothers travel to Houston. According to Cascos, the aunt and mother had medical appointments there. The group eats out and goes shopping at the Galleria.

April 8 - Group returns to Brownsville, child falls ill

April 13 - Child admitted to Brownsville hospital, then to Texas Children's the next day.

April 27 - Child dies in Houston.

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Kerri P.
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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30398682
WHO to stop using term ‘swine flu’
Group seeks to prevent needless slaughter of pigs as worldwide cases climb

updated 53 minutes ago

Worldwide cases of swine flu climbed to 257 on Thursday, a day after global health authorities warned that swine flu was threatening to bloom into a pandemic and notched up their alert system to the second highest level.

Also on Thursday, the World Health Organization said it will would stop using the term "swine flu" to avoid confusion over the danger posed by pigs.

WHO spokesman Dick Thompson says the name change comes after the agriculture industry and the U.N. food agency expressed concerns that the term "swine flu" was misleading consumers and needlessly causing countries to order the slaughter of pigs. He told reporters in Geneva "we're going to stick with the technical scientific name H1N1 influenza A."

snip...
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Baldo
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Well all we can do is read what's being reported. The Mexican Govt has basically recommended to all to stay home for five days.

It does make you wonder what information we are receiving and what they are acting upon. Is it health, economics, tourism, or sort of a panic move? But I can't remember a country ever taking this step

Mexico shuts nonessential services amid swine flu

MEXICO CITY – Mexico is telling citizens to stay home, urging businesses to close for five days and suspending government services as the World Health Organization warns the swine flu outbreak is on the brink of becoming a global epidemic.

In the United States, federal health officials said Thursday the number of confirmed cases had risen to 109. President Barack Obama told Americans the government was "taking the utmost precautions and preparations" to stop the virus.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon said in a televised address that only essential businesses such as supermarkets, hospitals and pharmacies should stay open, and only critical government workers such as police and soldiers would be on duty from Friday through Tuesday. School had already been canceled nationwide through Tuesday.

The steps are aimed at stopping further spread of the virus, blamed for 168 deaths in Mexico and one in the United States, even though the WHO has suggested nations should focus on minimizing its effects, not containing its spread.

"There will be no government activities — those that are not fundamental for citizens — nor any private-sector activities that are not fundamental to common life," Calderon said Wednesday night in a televised address.

"There is no safer place to protect yourself against catching swine flu than in your house," he said, defending the government against criticism that it had been slow to act against signs of a new and dangerous virus.... snipped
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090430/ap_on_he_me/med_swine_flu
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brittany

PETA would like that.
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mike in houston
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Concerned
Apr 30 2009, 12:41 PM
Houston Chronicle is reporting that the child that died in Houston did visit the Galleria mall before going back to Brownsville and falling ill. I think I read somewhere that you are contagious one day before you feel symptoms. This child actually died of pneumonia.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6400968.html

April 3 - Child arrives with mother and three brothers at the Matamoros airport. The family crosses Gateway International Bridge to Brownsville, and stays with mother for two nights at Staybridge hotel in Brownsville.

April 5 - Family members, including an aunt, mother, and three brothers travel to Houston. According to Cascos, the aunt and mother had medical appointments there. The group eats out and goes shopping at the Galleria.

April 8 - Group returns to Brownsville, child falls ill

April 13 - Child admitted to Brownsville hospital, then to Texas Children's the next day.

April 27 - Child dies in Houston.

Can anyone tell us the mode of transportation from B-ville to Houston and back again? (First trip) Was it by car? Where did they stop? its a long trip. Was it by plane? What flights. This is why the press is so useless. If it was by car I'm sure the people in the places they stopped would like to be informed.
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sceptical


There are far more cases than the official figures below. For example, Illinois has 9 cases determined by the State Health Lab but not yet officially confirmed by the CDC.

http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/

H1N1 Flu (Swine Flu)
Swine Flu website last updated April 30, 2009, 10:30 AM ET

U.S. Human Cases of H1N1 Flu Infection
(As of April 30, 2009, 10:30 AM ET)
States # of laboratory confirmed cases Deaths
Arizona 1
California 14
Indiana 1
Kansas 2
Massachusetts 2
Michigan 1
Nevada 1
New York 50
Ohio 1
South Carolina 10
Texas 26 1
TOTAL COUNTS 109 cases 1 death
International Human Cases of Swine Flu Infection
See: World Health Organization
In response to an intensifying outbreak in the United States and internationally caused by a new influenza virus of swine origin, the World Health Organization raised the worldwide pandemic alert level to Phase 5 on April 29, 2009. A Phase 5 alert is a “strong signal that a pandemic is imminent and that the time to finalize the organization, communication, and implementation of the planned mitigation measures is short.”

The United States Government has declared a public health emergency in the United States. CDC’s response goals are to reduce transmission and illness severity, and provide information to help health care providers, public health officials and the public address the challenges posed by this emergency. CDC is issuing and updating interim guidance daily in response to the rapidly evolving situation. CDC’s Division of the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) continues to send antiviral drugs, personal protective equipment, and respiratory protection devices to all 50 states and U.S. territories to help them respond to the outbreak. The swine influenza A (H1N1) virus is susceptible to the prescription antiviral drugs oseltamivir and zanamivir. In addition, the Federal Government and manufacturers have begun the process of developing a vaccine against this new virus.

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Joan Foster

My daughter in med school just forwarded me an email they all received. Here is part of it:

• The cases reported in the U.S.****** have presented just like any other flu and have not been any more severe according to reports.


• There has not been an increase in the routine number of individuals with general flu-like symptoms in the U.S.

• Wash your hands regularly.
• If you need to cough/sneeze, cover your mouth and cough/sneeze into your arm, not into your hands.

o If you have to cough/sneeze into your hands, wash your hands immediately.

• If you have flu-like symptoms, especially severe flu-like symptoms – cough and or sore throat with fever (defined as greater than 100 degrees F) , muscle aches and fatigue, and maybe vomiting and diarrhea (but generally only less than 5% present with either of these) – seek medical advice from your health care professional and avoid contact with others. It is best to call your health care professional before venturing out into public.


Is this whole thing being hyped?

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sceptical

Joan Foster
Apr 30 2009, 02:41 PM
My daughter in med school just forwarded me an email they all received. Here is part of it:

• The cases reported in the U.S.****** have presented just like any other flu and have not been any more severe according to reports.


• There has not been an increase in the routine number of individuals with general flu-like symptoms in the U.S.

• Wash your hands regularly.
• If you need to cough/sneeze, cover your mouth and cough/sneeze into your arm, not into your hands.

o If you have to cough/sneeze into your hands, wash your hands immediately.

• If you have flu-like symptoms, especially severe flu-like symptoms – cough and or sore throat with fever (defined as greater than 100 degrees F) , muscle aches and fatigue, and maybe vomiting and diarrhea (but generally only less than 5% present with either of these) – seek medical advice from your health care professional and avoid contact with others. It is best to call your health care professional before venturing out into public.


Is this whole thing being hyped?

No, Joan.

This is the start of a major pandemic. Most people have no immunity to this new strain of influenza.

The main questions are:
1) will the rate of increase in cases be linear, logarthmic, or exponential?
2) what is the case fatality rate?
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Deleted User
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Obama was asked at his 100 day anniversary press conference if the U.S. should close the Mexican border. His answer was brilliant as usual - "No, that would be like closing the barn door after the horses are out". Does it get any better than this, folks?
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Joan Foster

Sceptical...I am so confused as to what that really means. Just that most of us WILL get this flu...but yet it is presenting as no more severe than the average flu in folks who are not high risk?

Is the concern because so many more people will get it? Or that it will be more deadly than other flus?

Edited by Joan Foster, Apr 30 2009, 02:59 PM.
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Kerri P.
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Joan Foster
Apr 30 2009, 02:55 PM
Sceptical...I am so confused as to what that really means. Just that most of us WILL get this flu...but yet it is presenting as no more severe than the average flu in folks who are not high risk?

Is the concern because so many more people will get it? Or that it will be more deadly than other flus?

It means that most of us will be able to fight off the virus that caused this "swine Flu."
Then there will be others that won't be able to fight off the virus and they will stand a better chance of dying from it.
Edited by Kerri P., Apr 30 2009, 03:06 PM.
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sceptical

Joan Foster
Apr 30 2009, 02:55 PM
Sceptical...I am so confused as to what that really means. Just that most of us WILL get this flu...but yet it is presenting as no more severe than the average flu in folks who are not high risk?

Is the concern because so many more people will get it? Or that it will be more deadly than other flus?

More people will get it because we do not have immunity against this new strain and it appears to be highly contagious (dozens of kids in the same schools).

It may not be more fatal than seasonal flu, but each year seasonal flu kills up to 50,000 people.
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Joan Foster

Thank you, Clowns and Sceptical.
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mike in houston
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Check in here:

http://scienceblogs.com/aetiology/2009/04/what_does_the_whos_pandemic_sc.php
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