H1N1

[Ankf00]

Right, the reports from Mexico sound a lot more like the severe symptoms that Wickerbill and Brickman reported than what we are seeing here. Possible that the fatalities in Mexico had H1N1 but also had something else that killed them I guess.

oc

aren't a large percentage of flu deaths due to secondary infection?

[STD]

Bacterial pneumonia likes to jump in on a weakened immune system.
The last great killer flu panademic is an example.
They had neither antivirals or antibiotics.

[oddlycalm]

The flu would kill you a little quicker than that bacon, almost a toss-up though.

No argument from these fools..., ahem, culinary adventurers...:laugh:

Yoder's canned bacon taste test (http://www.avclub.com/articles/taste-test-yoders-canned-bacon-and-oscar-mayer-ful,2481/)


"It's hard to believe anyone could actually get a slice of Yoder's close enough to actually consume it without dry heaving. The process of opening and forcing the product out of the can is traumatic: The stale-bacon smell, the soggy, grease-soaked paper, the gloopy white scabs of fat clinging to the gory roll of meat..."

"...it tastes kind of like bacon, the same way Purina Beggin' Strips might taste kind of like bacon." :rofl: I'm gonna go way out on a limb and assume this review would cover Tactical Bacon as well G.

oc

[oddlycalm]

aren't a large percentage of flu deaths due to secondary infection?

True, but in the case of the fatalities in Mexico how the hell could you tell the difference? Was it the flu, which then evolved into something less virulent, did they wait too long to get treatment and died from pneumonia, or did they have something in addition to H1N1 and that caused a runaway immune response that killed them? From cameraman's original post at the start of all this....


It is of the charming variety that seem to cause a positive feedback loop in the immune system. It is this runaway immune response that trashes your lungs and quickly kills you (at least that is the current hypothesis) not the virus itself.

What is clear is that we won't know what really happened for some time, if ever.

oc

[STD]

http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/panflu/news/aug2208pneumo.html

[oddlycalm]

Seems like a good strategy for anyone might be to get a pneumonia vaccine (http://www.medicinenet.com/pneumococcal_vaccination/article.htm). The modern one is good for a decade AFAIK.

oc

[Insomniac]

Seems like a good strategy for anyone might be to get a pneumonia vaccine (http://www.medicinenet.com/pneumococcal_vaccination/article.htm). The modern one is good for a decade AFAIK.

oc

Thanks for posting that. I got one a long while back, and at the time, I thought it was once and that was it for life. I'm going to have to follow up on it. I also believe I passed out during/immediately after the injection. (Only time in my life I actually passed out, I don't have a fear of needles though.)

[oddlycalm]

OK, now this doesn't sound good...
WHO investigating whether human error is behind H1N1 (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,519976,00.html?sPage=fnc/health/infectious)

Interview with Gibbs (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aGHZO6p3pgkI)

Severity of H1N1 similar to 1957 pandemic (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aiWTCf0j63kI)

About four of 1,000 people infected with the new H1N1 strain in Mexico by late April died
Doesn't sound too bad until you extend the numbers out to broad populations....

oc

[oddlycalm]

Anyone have any theories as to why the WHO is serious about this and Asia is freaking out while here in the US it's not in the news and the CDC is sanguine...? The contrast couldn't be more stark.

Japan may trigger WHO pandemic alert (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aL67haDE.S94)

The email messages I get from friends in Hong Kong, Japan and China are reflect a lot of anger that the US isn't taking this seriously or doing anything to prevent the spread.

Calm before the storm? (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/swine-flu/5345019/Swine-flu-is-this-the-calm-before-the-storm-head-of-WHO-asks.html)

oc

[Insomniac]

I might be wrong, but isn't this looking like any other flu? We don't freak out about those flus every year. Over in Asia they've had bird flu (H5N1) and that is some serious flu. Perhaps that is why they are more alarmed about a new strain.

[oddlycalm]

I might be wrong, but isn't this looking like any other flu? We don't freak out about those flus every year. Over in Asia they've had bird flu (H5N1) and that is some serious flu. Perhaps that is why they are more alarmed about a new strain.

The reason given for the alarm in other regions is how readily H1N1 spreads. One case in Japan a couple days ago and today 188. The concern isn't just in Asia. News media in Europe continues to track this and the WHO is taking it real seriously so there is a massive disconnect between the US and everywhere else. The only media outlet that is seriously following it in the US is Bloomberg.

I have no idea what he appropriate level of concern is but there is a massive disconnect between the US and the rest of the world at the moment.

oc

[Dvdb]

Hong Kong and Japan are more dense, no?

[JLMannin]

From the "calm before the storm link":


A pandemic describes the geographic spread rather than its severity

A flu virus can be very mild and still be classified a pandemic virus. Each host that is infected gives the virus the opportunity to evolve into something more virulent. I think that is what has the WHO worried.

[oddlycalm]

Hong Kong and Japan are more dense, no? Sure, the only US city to come close is NYC and then really only Manhattan. Hong Kong is at the extreme in terms of density with 7 million people living on a postage stamp...

oc

[Ankf00]

Sure, the only US city to come close is NYC and then really only Manhattan. Hong Kong is at the extreme in terms of density with 7 million people living on a postage stamp...

oc

I want to party there.

[dando]

From an article in the local fish wrap today:


At first, they couldn't dispense H1N1 vaccine fast enough.

Now, they can't give it away.

Flu-shot providers face a growing stock of expired vaccine and plenty of good vaccine they probably will never use.

The Dispatch requested data from the Ohio Department of Health showing that almost 1.5 million doses statewide expired before they were used and almost 1million unused doses are still good.

Those numbers come with a caveat: The state hasn't gathered complete data on vaccine use. Providers were supposed to report timely information, but many did not, said department spokeswoman Jen House.

Of 2,322 providers, 787 reported that they gave no doses, and 1,012 reported having used less than 10 percent, she said.

Regardless, there's no question that plenty of vaccine - both expired and not - is lingering here and across the country.

Through February, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that 91million shots and doses of the nasal spray FluMist had been administered of the 162 million doses manufactured, said spokesman Thomas Skinner.

The cost of the national vaccine effort was about $1.6 billion, Skinner said.

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/05/24/much-of-h1n1-vaccine-wasted.html?sid=101


What a farce. :saywhat: :shakehead

-Kevin

[Insomniac]

From an article in the local fish wrap today:



http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/05/24/much-of-h1n1-vaccine-wasted.html?sid=101


What a farce. :saywhat: :shakehead

-Kevin

It's a no win situation. You make too much and you have the government wasting money. You make too little and the government isn't protecting its citizens. No matter what, the government is painted as incompetent.

[cameraman]

Well we did our part and got our shot(s). This town is full of idiots bragging about how the government could force them to get some damned socialist shot:shakehead

[oddlycalm]

Well we did our part and got our shot(s). This town is full of idiots bragging about how the government could force them to get some damned socialist shot:shakehead
Yep, the big tough cowboys always talk a good game prior to screaming, crying like little girls and blaming the world when they ignore the danger and get pinched. Can't tell you how many industrial accidents I've seen that were down to the people in the plant removing the safety equipment. It never stops them from suing the machine builder. :rolleyes:

Looks to me like the flu shots did good. They got them to enough of the high risk population (kids) to put brakes on the spread so we ended up not needing the bulk of the vaccine. That's what a win looks like IMO.

oc