The Gang of Five
Beyond the Mysterious Beyond => The Fridge => Topic started by: Cyberlizard on April 29, 2009, 07:21:06 PM
-
What's your take on this whole new "Swine" flu thing? How everybody's freaking out and saying "Oh lordy! It's going to be a pandemic! Oh noes!" Honestly, it's the same scare tactic they used with the Bird Flu. I remember freaking out about it when I was pretty young. :lol And after that I've never trusted the media since. Honestly, 36,000 people die every year from the "regular" flu.
If anything, it's going to wind up being the vaccination that kills people. :confused
-
In a way, it's worrying to note so mny diseases. In another, the disease was already there, we just hadn't detected it yet.
And first it was birds, now this. What's next, ants? ._.
Seriously now, I'm speaking for portuguese here only, since Portugal is *cough*safe*cough* because there's no cases detected.
But you're right in one thing, many people do overreact.
-
I'm not too worried. I try not to make a big deal about these disease outbreaks. I don't see the benefit of getting worked up over a disease. I'm not saying it's not dangerous; I'm just saying that I don't see any good coming out of being scared to death of some disease that you may not even catch, especially if that disease is more specified towards a different species, such as in the case of bird flu, it targeted birds. The chances of it jumping from one animal to another is low. Not saying it can't happen, but the risk is relatively low, unless I'm mistaken here.
-
Insanity, just insanity. Is this going to happen every time some disease starts popping up? And what about twitter in all this? Twitter is the only popular internet sites that I've always hated, its pointless, and now its proving dangerous. Way to much false information being spread way too fast.
-
The way I see it if I do go sick I"ll live with it till I get better. If I don't get sick I can live with that.
-
If the symptoms are just like the regular flu, I don't see how its such a big problem.
Err, not the WW1 era flu that killed like 20 million. I mean today's common containable flu
Sure there aren't any clear cut cures but there's definitely treatment, which is widely available. As long as people take care of themselves they should be fine.
Right?
-
The news media has this annoying habit of not telling the whole story, especially in cases like this. Just like the ebola epidemic about 10 years ago, one has to look at where these diseases are centered, and where are most people dying. Then take a good look at sanitation and hygiene practices. Handwashing is not a priority in some parts of the world -- no running water or indoor plumbing.
I've had serious flu 3 times in my life, and those only lasted a week or so. I got amoxicillan (sp?) and plenty of rest. Oh, and I wash my hands frequently. See, I work in a public school so the hot water and soap really get a workout! :smile
Just take care and for goodness sake, Wash your hands! :)
-
Another fine example of American mass media sensationalizing on something and blowing it out of proportion <_<. No worries. Just maintain (or take up on) good hygiene and take the same precautions ya would around others with the flu.
-
I have a little bit of the swine flu :(
but what I'm worried about is Mexico.
I feel bad for all the people who are dying
-
*Opens book titled "101 Reasons NOT to watch the news".*
#2: Always blows stuff out of proportion.
#89: Never gives the full story.
And they call it PROFESSIONAL! :rolleyes:
-
This is yet another example of the stinking media blowing things way out of proportion. Remember what happened last time with that bird flu crap? Also, I keep hearing people compare this to the 1918 flu outbreak but they forget that we didn't have all the advanced medical technology and medicine back then that we have today. Plus, Swine Flu isn't nearly as deadly as some of the other crap out there. I'm sick of hearing about it. i don't even read the crap. I just get tired of seeing the big headlines and crap every time I log on to the internet.
-
I dunno. They're making a big deal out of it because they havent thought of any medicin against it and because people can give it to other people. Probably it's not as bad as the media portrays it, but still something to watch out for ;)
-
Over here medias do report a lot about it (curiously by comparison there has been almost no coverage at all of the earthquake that hit Mexico City a few days ago), but the news reports also make a point of stressing that there is absolutely no reason to panic, that there are two medicaments available that will work against the swine flu, that one is perfectly save to eat pork, and that sufficient stocks of the medication are available.
So summing that up I would say medias over here are not out to scare people even though they do report about the flu. By definition it IS a pandemic (meaning nothing more than that a new illness spreads over several continents), but the spreading alone does not mean the pandemic disease would be more lethal than other pandemic diseases. The death toll in Mexico has been high and there is nothing wrong with informing people (better in this case than ignorance) and take sensible precautions without the whole thing turning into some staged hysteria.
-
I'll be sure to tell everyone if I catch the swine flu and die. :p Right now, this new virus is concentrated in Mexico and as far as I've heard, people in different areas of the world are more immune to the disease, and it could be based on what you've been exposed to or eaten.
-
^ Not to what you have eaten. We usually don't tend to eat raw pork and that virus is destroyed at 70? Celsius. But even if one did happen to eat a raw pig infested with the swine flu (very likely :rolleyes:) the virus would not be taken up through the alimentary system, it works only through inhalation.
as far as I've heard, people in different areas of the world are more immune to the disease
I'm kind of wondering about that one and now I'm switching from current events to history. Much of the human immune system is based on our living circumstances. When in 16th century the Europeans arrived in the new world they unwittingly brought along uncountable diseases which caused far more deaths than any fighting between "whites" and Native Americans ever did (we are talking of a mass dying that by percentage of victims in the population may have been much worse than for example the "black death" that killed of a third of Europes population in 14th century). When the Europeans arrived in the new world the "exchange" of epidemics was (with very few exceptions) a one way street though. Europeans hardly got any epidemics from the Native Americans to which they had not been exposed before. It is a likely assumption that one of the reasons was that throughout the centuries (and at the cost of many lives to various plagues) the immune system of most Europeans had been confronted with far more diseases than was the case with the Native Americans. One of the reasons was that Europeans had for thousands of years domesticated all kinds of animals (cows, pigs, goats, horses, sheep etc.) and been living in very close contact with these animals and carriers of disease. Apart from some dogs (not known as a main carrier of disease) and lamas there had been hardly any domestication of animals on the part of the Native Americans which could have "prepared" there immune system to all the diseases brought along by the Europeans.
Nowadays however few of us will be exposed to domesticated animals in the way people were in the middle ages or the early modern times and I daresay none of us will live under as unhygienic conditions :p
As a consequence much less people die from diseases nowadays, but I wonder if at the same time our natural immune system is suffering from the lack of "training" caused by the improved hygienic conditions. Some scientists state that living in too sanitary conditions and showering every day (sometimes even repeatedly on one day) will in the long run increase our dependency on synthetic vaccines which have to some degree replaced the "natural training" of our immune system.
This training has partly been replaced by vaccination but through the faster development of vaccines the viruses adapt to the new vaccines faster as well. It is like some kind of ever accelerating race between the two.
-
I hope the Medical Team finds a solution fast enough to hold up this Swine Flu I was really looking forward to travel to Florida this year but if this keep up it may not happen.
-
Seriously now, I'm speaking for portuguese here only, since Portugal is *cough*safe*cough* because there's no cases detected.
But you're right in one thing, many people do overreact.
Well, my family kinda overeacted when they knew that there had been cases of the decease detected in Spain, and there was also a group of Portuguese's that came from Mexico, but they were tested and there wasn't any signs of the decease on them, so yeah, for now we are safe.
In my opinion, people should be a little more on the look out until this is over, without freaking out or overeacting.
When it's our Health that 's at stake, the careful is never to much.
-
Dont you guys remember when avian bird flu and SARS had everyone in a mad frenzy?
When was the last time you heard anyone talk about either of those two?
-
I got amoxicillan
I don't mean to be rude but, uh, no you didn't. Antibiotics are USELESS against virus, especially amoxicillan. It works by disrupting the formation of peptidoglycan, a very important polymer in the cell membranes of gram-positive bacteria. Viruses don't use peptidoglycan, they don't even have a traditional phospholipid membrane, using a protein coat instead. Other antibiotics alter various other functions of a bacteria, but a virus doesn't have any of its own machinery, it hijacks it from whatever cell it has invaded. This is why viruses are so dangerous, our immune system is really the only thing that can fight them. This is still being blown out of proportion though.
-
A friend of mine completely freaked out when I mentioned a slight nausea. It was quite funny in some ways, but a little saddening in others.
-
I find it quite ridiculous that some schools have actually closed as a result of this new disease. And it's only been in the media for about a week, I think. :rolleyes:
-
THE USA NEWS MEDIA: SCARING STUPID PEOPLE WHEN THEY DON'T HAVE AN AUDIENCE!!!
This has been another joke from pokeplayer, showing you just how ridiculous it is. :D
-
This Swing Flu is just like any other regular Flu but its alot worse but I believe as long as there are medication to treat it the same way as treating the Regular Flu than everyone will be fine. But they need to work fast, because this Virus is Spreading TO Fast!
-
I find it quite ridiculous that some schools have actually closed as a result of this new disease. And it's only been in the media for about a week, I think. :rolleyes:
I got news for you. Two schools here are now closed for one week. Yep, won't open until May 11 as ordered by the state. Get this...How many kids have H1N1? Only 1 kid in each school! Read all about it. (http://tinyurl.com/dhgf64) :blink: There'd been times when 4 or more teachers and a handful of students -- in the same school -- were out sick the same week, and this was during so called regular cold and flu season. Life simply went on. Now? Because of 2 sick kids in separate schools? OMG it's the end! Sorry for the large font, but it's to get a point across. :wacko:
Thanks alot news media for blowing this story extremely out of proportion.
:anger
-
Very smart, intelligent, and well meaning people can be scared into stupid actions too if they are exposed to respective medias / claims with no other reports.
From what I have heard by now the numbers of people in Mexico whose death can be really attributed to the flu rather than other causes has been corrected to be significantly lower than original reports claimed.
-
Lots of schools were/are closed. Sounds pretty silly since nobody closes on the regular flu season.
-
Lots of schools were/are closed. Sounds pretty silly since nobody closes on the regular flu season.
And yet if they weren't and then something did happen, then the government behind it would be absolutely nailed by the media, and subesequently a lot of other people. One can't blame them really.
-
The cases of the decease in Spain duplicated.
It seems that the Mexicans are cofident that this will end soon, even with the growing cases there.
Areas that still weren't affected are now showing signs of the virus, it seems that it is spreading fast.
No need to worries, still...
In Hong Kong, in a hotel, with several mexicans, there was a case of the virus detected there, they putted that area in quarantine, but the Mexicans are being treated like c***, no signs of the virus was detected on them, they dont let them leave, and they treat them like c***...,(wth are they thiking), this is causing alot of problems between this two countries.
Almost 200 Portugueses are coming back from Mexico next week, I hope they dont bring the virus alongside them.
-
I'm not really afraid because... there's nothing to be afraid of.
Take the same precautions you take with normal flu and you should be fine.
-
I think as a little joke I'm going to walk around school tomorrow with a paper breathing mask on. See if I can scare the hell out of a few people. xP
-
Better watch out. Some people in the school setting seem to lack a sense of humor these days.
-
Yeah its a bit strange when everyone else is all in a panic and you're totally laid back. I remember everyone in this one class jerked their heads around when someone sneezed, and they were all "SWINE FLU! GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!"
-
I think as a little joke I'm going to walk around school tomorrow with a paper breathing mask on. See if I can scare the hell out of a few people. xP
Hardly a joke really. Even doctors say walking around with a mask is actually not even necessary. Just makes you look silly. Is that what you want?
-
A friend of mine in a different town wore a mask at HIS school and the next day most of the kids were gone in a panic. So I figured I could try the same thing and expect the same result, considering how corruptively paranoid people are these days.
Though... Considering how newspapers are now saying the exact opposite of what they said last week, I think actually making a joke out of it is a little too late now.
It's actually kind of funny though, the headlines say "No real need to panic." And all I can say about that is "Psssh. Thanks for stating the obvious!"
-
You're not naming a doomsday virus "Swine Flu".
As for now, the first case has been detected in my country.
The WHO can keep their highest level, I'm gonna go with it like I did with the H5N1:
There's no need to be scared. But it doesn't hurt to be cautious.
It's a virus that has rapidly mutated. Ofcourse media makes a bigger deal of it than what it really is.
-
It's actually kind of funny though, the headlines say "No real need to panic." And all I can say about that is "Psssh. Thanks for stating the obvious!"
But how far did the medias actually ever go in spreading panic about this?
We did not have a single post in this thread in which anyone ever expressed even the remotest fear of Swine Flu. Is it because everyone here is so suspicious of the medias that he or she would not trust them no matter what they say, or is it perhaps because (in spite of whatever has been said about the media hype) the medias actually did report from a very, very early time on that there was no reason to panic and that there is medication to treat swine flu?
I wonder if perhaps we are unjustly harsh on the medias if we claim them to be main spreaders of panic.
Frankly, if indeed all the medias at the same time had reported that indeed there was a very serious thread, that the swine flu was extremely dangerous etc. would the reactions here have been just as unconcerned?
-
Despite how close this Swine Flu is to becoming a pandemic on an international scale according to the WHO (world health organisation) I seriously doubt there is anything I will be changing about my lifestyle because of it. I've only ever been struck down with flu once and I've never had it again since. AS long as proper hygiene is upkept then there's no need for such a flap and panic. Scientists have even been saying that it was humans that caused the incident in the first place. Human Influenza infected pigs where the strain mutated thus giving us this new strain. Humans and pigs are very similar in physical make up (hence why things like pig organs can be used for temporary human transplants and the like). Still, with all this mayhem the media is creating, I for one won't lay off pork, be donning a breathing mask nor will stop doing what I do normally to ensure my own hygiene. Surely this should be enough to not need to wet my pants over it all. Besides, there have been no reported fatalities in the UK since the outbreak despite the number of cases have slowly been increasing.
-
They had an article about this on either science Friday or the naked scientists podcast forgot witch one, but the scientist they had on did say that the so called swine flu has been going back and forth between humans and pigs for a very long time since pigs can get infected with it and they can infect humans who live or work where they come in regular contact with pigs.
-
What has upset me is just how big of an overreaction this is. Schools are closed, people are given off days at just the notice of a sneeze (Which could be from a simple dust allergy.) and hardly anyone is buying pork anymore. What? Do they think that even if it's cooked that they'll get sick? :rolleyes: I had some a few days ago and I'm feeling just fine. :)
News Media, please give the full news at the start next time. -_-
-
Still, with all this mayhem the media is creating, I for one won't lay off pork, be donning a breathing mask nor will stop doing what I do normally to ensure my own hygiene.
Did any medias ever suggest any of this in the UK?
Just how much of the reporting in the medias was actual outright panic stiring and how much of it was mainly aimed to calm down the people?
Is it possible that the mere mention of an illness (even in a report that primarily states that there is no reason to panic etc.) is enough to make people interpret it as a stirring up of fear?
And if that is so (if the mere reporting of anything bad without actual panic promoting messages is enough to send people into panic) does anyone think that bad news should be restricted in the news unless they strike us very directly?
How much of the hype was made by the medias and how much by the peoples' reaction to the reports?
-
To be perfectly fair on the media they haven't seriously overblown this one; nothing like the MMR/autism scare a little while back.
-
The media isn't overblowing it Malte. Most are saying, just do basic hygeine and that would keep you as safe as the "normal" flu would.
-
In that case it looks like we are the ones to blame ourselves of overblowing things. Perhaps we are so indignant about hearing further bad news that the moment we hear them we are going at the messenger? :unsure:
-
It is probably moreso the public over-reacting but the media has to be accountable for a certain amount. Granted, on the first hearing of anything that can be relative, people do tend to go nuts. Fuel crisis - people charge to the petrol pumps with 3 cars and extra barrels/can, recession/saving rates fall/banks in debt - people withdrawl every penny they've got and stuff it under their matress. Now this swine flu is another example of the OTT reaction most are displaying. Maybe the media isn't to blame directly (it's keeping us informed after all) but it does just seem to fan the flames of fear once news gets out.
-
Even if it isn't a war, if it bleeds, it sells.
-
Seems there's an odd feature that the swine flu is exhibiting: no fever.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/13/health/1...ner=rss&emc=rss (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/13/health/13fever.html?partner=rss&emc=rss)
-
It's official, swine flu is now considered a pandemic.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/un_un_swine_flu (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/un_un_swine_flu)
One thing I must agree on: this declaration of a pandemic would have happened earlier, but many countries wouldn't allow it, fearing it would cause mass panic.
-
This one piece in that article says enough:
So far, swine flu has caused 144 deaths, compared with ordinary flu that kills up to 500,000 people a year.
Apparently it isn't strong enough to kill despite thousands affected by the virus.