Is there a reason to worry about the SWINE FLU?

Yes. It distracts us from the bird flu. Or Sars. Or slow news days.

It will kill you in 24 hours and there’s no vaccine?

^Lies.

I know what I’m talking about…
lol

It turns you into a pig.

@Lothloriengaladriel That’s not true. There are 2 kinds of vaccines that currently work against it, oseltamir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza), and it is no more fatal than other forms of the flu (which can kill you, under extenuating circumstances), it’s just FAR more contagious.

This kind of hysteria is going to make people make wrong decisions.
I’m not gonna die from swine flu, but there’s a pretty good chance I’m going to die from banging my head on my desk.

For starters, here’s an article on CNN. Get thee some information and stop freaking out.

Because everyone on TV is talking about it, and it might be LEVEL SIX soon!!!!111!one!

It’s just like any other flu, except it will probably hit harder because it’s a rarer strain. And it’s highly contagious, and having the flu is a miserable experience.

It’s more of a problem for governments, because they have to deal with the ramifications of 25% to 50% of the population being out of commission due to flu.

News article: There’s no shortage of flu drugs in the US.

I don’t really what to believe anymore, I’m still a bit concerned about it though

not until you get infected :s

@Lothloriengaladriel: “The strain in most cases causes only mild symptoms and the infected person makes a full recovery without requiring medical attention and without the use of antiviral medicines”

No one believes you on swine flu threads anyway, you’re the girl who blamed it on illegal immigrants. Your credibility is pretty much shot.

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/

And I’m done.
Educate yourself.

I’m sure you’re old enough.

@Lothloriengaladriel: In response to your edit, racism and ignorance tends to leave an impression with me.

To correct some comments above: there are no vaccines. There are just antivirals.

A vaccines is given before you are infested and prevents you from getting sick. The antiviral helps fights the disease once you have it. Meaning there is no way to prevent the infection, only means to help fight it once you have it.

This is a reason to worry about it and take steps to avoid getting infested at all in the first place.

@asmonet Its just fluther, I’m entitled to my own opinion, I don’t judge yours.

@Master Thank you for the correction. :) I didn’t even catch that. I just tried to correct it and I guess it’s been too long since I posted it…. damn.

@3or4monsters No problem. :)

I would look at it as any other flu atm. I don’t worry and I don’t think you should either.

Swine flu (H1N1) is more dangerous than the regular seasonal flu for the following reason:

This strain of H1N1 is one that most of the people alive today have never been exposed to before. That means our immune system does not have anti-bodies to fight the disease. But this is the killer (no pun intended): The immune system will fight the infection nonetheless, causing a cytokine storm (a fatal immune reaction, which as was the case in the Spanish flu, is the cause of death by destroying your lungs tissue, allowing fluids in.).

So do not assume that it’s just like any other flu. If it was it would not be news. Please people, don’t play it so cool!

Read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cytokine_storm#Role_in_pandemic_deaths

I think parents have cause for concern but there is no need to panic. Look at the CDC’s website for accurate information.

@Master Thank you so much for taking this seriously and for your helpful information.

I’m a parent of a young child. My concern is not w/any of the rest of my family getting this strain of flu, just with my son.

For now, we’ll limit his exposure. Thank goodness the weather’s picking up here. Our yard is a welcoming place to play.

I do hope we’ll have enough vaccines by fall to help stop the spread of this by next flu season.

@Master: It has nothing to do with downplaying the effects of infection, it has everything to do with the chances that any ONE of us, out of the BILLIONS in the world will be infected.

There have only been a couple hundred fatal cases.
Out of millions upon millions of people in the areas of exposure.

I’m sorry, but the math won’t allow me to have an unnecessary panic attack over it.

Thanks @jonsblond. I only hope everyone does their part to keep themselves and loved once safe.

@Lothloriengaladriel: I love how you continue to show Fluther your true colors. :)

Personal attacks are against the guidelines, sweetheart.

It’s worthy of concern yes. It is not worthy of panic.

@Lothloriengaladriel Very rude of you.

@Master Bah, let’s not have the same discussion over and over. =) I respect your sentiments, and all we can do is wait and see. There is always cause for some concern, but this is hardly the spanish flu.

@jonsblond: And yet, someone lurved it. Meh, people will be people. :)

@asmonet (=

@oratio Respect the facts. Not my sentiments.

@Master okelidokeli

I’m just glad we were able to avoid the avian flu that was going to kill us all. I’m also happy that I managed to not contract Sars.I barely dodged the Ebola and AIDS bullets.Maybe I should worry, my luck may be running out.

@Blondesjon Yep, sars felt like a near miss. ”Barely dodged the Ebola”? You were in Zaïre?

@oratio…Me and Johnny Cash, man, we’ve been everywhere.

@Blondesjon **snickering** (forgot about the lol-ban)

SARS was controlled by effective public health measures. It was (and still is) a concern, but we were fortunate that quarantining infected individuals at home and in hospital prevented spread. The same thing is being attempted now with the H1N1 influenza outbreak. The most important thing to do is to wash your hands frequently and if you are feeling sick (or your child is sick), to avoid going to work or school.

wow. im surprised this is still alive…

@oratio: My town barely dodged the Ebola.~ ;)

That site is like a two minute drive from my house.

The only reason I’m even mildly concerned is that the two mediactions that are being used to treat swine flu are Pregnancy Class C medications. Meaning that there hasn’t been extensive safety studies. I wouldn’t feel comfortable using them.

Otherwise, as people have already pointed out, it’s no more fatal than the strains we’re used to. But even the mention of the everyday flu has me ducking and covering these days. Even a lot of OTC meds aren’t recommended during pregnancy.

@shilolo…Don’t forget the part about not rushing to the ER if you sneeze. It only takes one truly infected person in a room packed with panicky sheep to infect the herd.

@asmonet Oh. Interesting. There is a non-pathogenic monkey ebola. Didn’t know that. Thanks :)

@Master the wikipedia article now says “Recent reports of high mortality among healthy young adults in the 2009 swine flu outbreak has led to speculation that cytokine storms could be responsible for these deaths.[6] However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has indicated that symptoms reported from this strain so far are similar to those of normal seasonal flu,[7] with the CDC stating that there is “insufficient information to date about clinical complications of this variant of swine-origin influenza A (H1N1) virus infection.”[7]”
the end seems to be saying “swine flu MAY cause death by cytokine storms, but it’s either very rare, or not significantly linked to the swine flu (insufficient evidence to make that claim)”.

I’m still convinced that swine flu is no more of a concern than catching the regular flu. You don’t want it to happen to you, or anyone you know, but it’s really not something you should devote much of your time to thinking about. Continue on your daily routine, as if nothing was happening at all. (and yes, that does seem ignorant.)

@itsnotmyfault1 Conclusion: Wikipedia should not be anyone’s source for medical information…

@oratio: If you’re interested there was a book written about the outbreak, and a movie based loosely on a few details, in the book a monkey seems to escape – didn’t happen in reality, one of the scientists just panicked. It did get people thinking about it, and Outbreak was conceived. Or so the story goes.

i think the government did it.

Haven’t you heard we are ALL going to die at some point

Swine flu is now formally a pandemic, a declaration by U.N. health officials that will speed vaccine production and spur government spending to combat the first global flu epidemic in 41 years. Thursday’s announcement by the World Health Organization doesn’t mean the virus is any more lethal — only that its spread is considered unstoppable.

@YARNLADY My husband was very sick for 10 days and is still coughing and sniffling. He was told it was a viral infection. My five yr old is now very sick (same symptoms). Her ear was very red and the doctor didn’t want to bother her with a swab for strep since the antibiotics she prescribed would take care of both strep and ear infection. Long story short, I do wonder if…..swine?

@jonsblond Symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills, and fatigue. Some people reported diarrhea and vomiting. H1N1 is a viral infection, so it could mean the same thing.

@YARNLADY Those are all of the symptoms that Jon and my daughter have had. At least they are still alive and the other three in the household have not had any symptoms.

I swear I’ve had “sympathy” symptoms though. I’ve had a slight achy throat for two weeks now.

Say sympathy symptoms three times in a row! Funny stuff. :)