oink oink

[powbmps]

Well I survived my trip to Cancun. Just made it back tonight. Of course I could wake up dead tomorrow.

The principal called me in Mexico to let me know that the school board held a special meeting to develop some sort of "protocol" for this type of situation. Need to call Monday to see when my kids can go back to school.

 

[dmc]

 

[jack97]

Remember that the healthcare available in 1918 was not what it is today. This is also why you're seeing more mortality in Mexico than in the U.S.

That's great, except in the case of a pandemic. The problem with a pandemic is not that you can't treat it, it's that it spreads so quickly and in such large numbers that it overwhelms the capacity to treat.

Our ability to travel is alot different than what is was back in 1918. Apparently, the virus has shown up in most of the states and other parts of the world. In one way it's good that this is a mild virus and that it will give researchers real life data on how fast the virus has spread.

 

[drjeff]

While I'm quite glad that it appears that this outbreak is very quickly becoming controled/contained and that it isn't nearly as widespread or as virulent as feared, it is in a semi-perverse way fun to watch the media do it's best to back pedal on this since hands down they blew this way out of porportion. Just remember that the "common flu" kills on average 35-40,000 americans a year and has done so for almost 2 decades, and you just plain and simple don't see wide scale mask wearing and school closures all winter long like you have the last 10 days or so. Just like with the regular flu, the high risk population (the very young, the very old and the medically compromised) needs to be cautious, but general widespread hysteria/panic that has beset many HEALTHY folks recently is quite uncalled for IMHO.

Infectious disease virulence initially can be a tough thing to guage, but creating widescale anxiety before things can be guaged is an issue too.

 

[Greg]

While I'm quite glad that it appears that this outbreak is very quickly becoming controled/contained and that it isn't nearly as widespread or as virulent as feared, it is in a semi-perverse way fun to watch the media do it's best to back pedal on this since hands down they blew this way out of porportion. Just remember that the "common flu" kills on average 35-40,000 americans a year and has done so for almost 2 decades, and you just plain and simple don't see wide scale maske wearing and school closure all winter long like you have the last 10 days or so. Just like with the regular flu, the high risk population (the very young, the very old and the mediclly compromised) needs to be cautious, but general widespread hysteria/panic that has beset many HEALTHY folks recently is quite uncalled for IMHO.

Infectious disease virulence initially can be a tough thing to guage, but creating widescale anxiety before things can be guaged is an issue too.

Totally. Schools were shutting down in CT for "suspected" cases. That's just retarded. And now it's being referred to as the H1N1 virus. That must make it sound more scarier or something. This thing was total hype.

 

[Glenn]

There was a mother on the news this morning freaking out. A student in one school had the flu....just came back from Mexico. But they never came back to school; too sick to go. But their sibling did. So the mom was just freaking out this the sick kid's bother/sister was in school.

People need to chill out. Between the flu and weenie snow storms, I'm sure they missed a lot of school this year.

 

[dmc]

ALBANY – State Health Commissioner Dr. Richard Daines Monday announced there are five confirmed cases of swine flu in the Hudson Valley. Three are in Orange County and two are in Westchester. None of the other counties has any confirmed cases and the two suspected cases in Rockland were found to be negative.

Daines said the Centers for Disease Control said that the five probable cases were, in fact, confirmed.

“With CDC validation all case of H1N1 tested previously by the department’s Wadsworth Laboratories and previously reported as probable are now considered confirmed cases,” he said. “As a result, 16 previously reported probable cases in the state outside New York City are now confirmed cases of H1Ni,” he said.

There are a total of 90 confirmed cases in New York, 73 of which are in the City of New York and the remainder spread across the state.

Orange County Health Commissioner Dr. Jean Hudson said all three individuals tested have received appropriate treatments and are recovering or are completely recovered.
http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/2009/May09/05/swineflu-05May09.html

 

[wa-loaf]

Infectious disease virulence initially can be a tough thing to gauge, but creating wide scale anxiety before things can be gauged is an issue too.

Definitely, I think the CDC and WHO were doing the right thing by being cautious about it, but then the media comes in and yells fire. :smash:

 

[bvibert]

This thing was total hype.

So, are you saying that my work outfit for the last couple weeks has been unnecessary? :dunce:

http://www.biotestofcleveland.com/images/bio-suit1.gif

 

[wa-loaf]

 

[severine]

Love it, wa-loaf! :lol: I especially love the dance sequence at the end.

 

[Dr Skimeister]

Totally. Schools were shutting down in CT for "suspected" cases. That's just retarded. And now it's being referred to as the H1N1 virus. That must make it sound more scarier or something. This thing was total hype.

A huge part of the name change is on account of successful lobbying by legislators from pork-producing locales. Amongst the boat-load of misinformation that our over-zealous media propagated was the possibility that ingestion of pork had a link to this flu. Pig farmers took an unnecessary hit.

 

[Bumpsis]

Virii ???

Remember that the healthcare available in 1918 was not what it is today. This is also why you're seeing more mortality in Mexico than in the U.S.

And I have news for you: new strains of all virii are constantly coming out. Why do you think they have to make new flu vaccines every year? And even then, it's only a guess as to which one will be the predominate strain that hits. (I won't get started on vaxes though...) There will always be a new strain of something or other, and if we keep doing stupid stuff, then yes, they will turn into super bugs that are hard to kill. Historically, though, the idea is nothing new and is unlikely to have the mortality rates of superbugs of the past. I'm not saying go out and make out with someone who has it; but this is blown out of proportion.

You seem to be really confused on the subject of viruses.

The plural of virus is viruses not viri or virii. Not all latin nouns ending with -us have a plural form ending with -i. Virus was known in latin as a mass noun, like air, so applying any of the latin declensions is just can't be done. So converting virus to its supposed latin plural just can't be done. It makes the user sound more erudite but it misses. Actually "viri" in latin means "men".

Second point: You mix up the concept of increased drug resistance which is a real problem with bacteria but it applies much less so to viruses. In case of bacteria, we cause them to mutate selectively by reckless exposure to antibitic compunds. Antibiotics do nothing to viruses. It's a completely different process.

Lastly, I think that the difference in mortality due to the H1N1 in Mexico vs US is probably due to difference the general life aspects such as nutrion and abilty to have running water (for personal hygene) rather than in actual health care. If you're in poor health to begin with (ie. weak immune system), you're much more susceptable to having a worse outcome when hit with the flu.

 

[severine]

You seem to be really confused on the subject of viruses.

The plural of virus is viruses not viri or virii. Not all latin nouns ending with -us have a plural form ending with -i. Virus was known in latin as a mass noun, like air, so applying any of the latin declensions is just can't be done. So converting virus to its supposed latin plural just can't be done. It makes the user sound more erudite but it misses. Actually "viri" in latin means "men".

Second point: You mix up the concept of increased drug resistance which is a real problem with bacteria but it applies much less so to viruses. In case of bacteria, we cause them to mutate selectively by reckless exposure to antibitic compunds. Antibiotics do nothing to viruses. It's a completely different process.

Lastly, I think that the difference in mortality due to the H1N1 in Mexico vs US is probably due to difference the general life aspects such as nutrion and abilty to have running water (for personal hygene) rather than in actual health care. If you're in poor health to begin with (ie. weak immune system), you're much more susceptable to having a worse outcome when hit with the flu.

I never took Latin. So I put the wrong plural form of "virus"; that has nothing to do with knowledge about viruses as a whole. That's like judging everyone on here's knowledge based upon their grammar and spelling; irrelevant (and would make many on here appear to be retarded). (BTW, before you judge someone else on their spelling, check yours; my spell check is having a field day with your post.)

I know antibiotics do nothing to viruses. HOWEVER I also know that viruses are living organisms that adapt, and rapidly at that. Is HIV not a virus? Was this always around in humans or something that developed, for the most part, in the latter part of the 20th Century? Is it not spread by being stupid? Yes, bacteria and viruses are different organism, but that does not mean that viruses do not mutate on their own (or in this case, quite likely in the lab with a little help) and grow stronger with time. BTW, while you have made the leap that I was inferring the over-use of antibiotics as the contributing "stupid stuff" factor in my post, that was not what I meant. I meant more of the messing around in labs creating monsters. And yes, our bodies do kill them if we recover, and have a harder time doing so with a stronger bug.

I agree that general quality of life and health/nutrition are contributing factors. I did not add that in my original post; forgive me. I did not realize I was expected to write a complete dissertation on my views, findings, studies, and opinions on the virus. My mistake.

ETA: I will add that part of the "stupid stuff" to which I was referring deals with vaccinations, which are aimed at viruses. But again, I will not get into that discussion on here.

 

[o3jeff]

Well I survived my trip to Cancun. Just made it back tonight. Of course I could wake up dead tomorrow.

The principal called me in Mexico to let me know that the school board held a special meeting to develop some sort of "protocol" for this type of situation. Need to call Monday to see when my kids can go back to school.

I'm curious, did they allow your kids to go back to school yet? The towns people treating you like you have SARS?

 

[Bumpsis]

I never took Latin. So I put the wrong plural form of "virus"; that has nothing to do with knowledge about viruses as a whole. That's like judging everyone on here's knowledge based upon their grammar and spelling; irrelevant (and would make many on here appear to be retarded). (BTW, before you judge someone else on their spelling, check yours; my spell check is having a field day with your post.)

I know antibiotics do nothing to viruses. HOWEVER I also know that viruses are living organisms that adapt, and rapidly at that. Is HIV not a virus? Was this always around in humans or something that developed, for the most part, in the latter part of the 20th Century? Is it not spread by being stupid? Yes, bacteria and viruses are different organism, but that does not mean that viruses do not mutate on their own (or in this case, quite likely in the lab with a little help) and grow stronger with time. BTW, while you have made the leap that I was inferring the over-use of antibiotics as the contributing "stupid stuff" factor in my post, that was not what I meant. I meant more of the messing around in labs creating monsters. And yes, our bodies do kill them if we recover, and have a harder time doing so with a stronger bug.

I agree that general quality of life and health/nutrition are contributing factors. I did not add that in my original post; forgive me. I did not realize I was expected to write a complete dissertation on my views, findings, studies, and opinions on the virus. My mistake.

ETA: I will add that part of the "stupid stuff" to which I was referring deals with vaccinations, which are aimed at viruses. But again, I will not get into that discussion on here.

Admittedly, my spelling could be better and I should get into the habit of reading my own posts to make corrections, garmmar or otherwise. However, I think I do pretty well on clarity.

And that's where I had trouble with your post. I assumed that the "stupid stuff" had to do with generation antibiotic resistant strains(ie. "superbugs). Thant is a know and established fact for bacteria and fungi. I was just pointing out that it is not quite so for viruses (with respect to antibiotics).

Now I see that what you meant was that the process of vaccination produces seperbugs. You wrote: "There will always be a new strain of something or other, and if we keep doing stupid stuff, then yes, they will turn into super bugs that are hard to kill."

Is that really what you meant?

Oh, by the way, viruses are not living organisms.

 

[severine]

Admittedly, my spelling could be better and I should get into the habit of reading my own posts to make corrections, garmmar or otherwise. However, I think I do pretty well on clarity.

And that's where I had trouble with your post. I assumed that the "stupid stuff" had to do with generation antibiotic resistant strains(ie. "superbugs). Thant is a know and established fact for bacteria and fungi. I was just pointing out that it is not quite so for viruses (with respect to antibiotics).

Now I see that what you meant was that the process of vaccination produces seperbugs. You wrote: "There will always be a new strain of something or other, and if we keep doing stupid stuff, then yes, they will turn into super bugs that are hard to kill."

Is that really what you meant?

Oh, by the way, viruses are not living organisms.

I am not a microbiologist/scientist/etc/etc/etc, so forgive my layman's terms here. Yes, viruses straddle the definition of living and not:

"Viruses exist in two distinct states. When not in contact with a host cell, the virus remains entirely dormant. During this time there are no internal biological activities occurring within the virus, and in essence the virus is no more than a static organic particle. In this simple, clearly non-living state viruses are referred to as 'virions'. Virions can remain in this dormant state for extended periods of time, waiting patiently to come into contact with the appropriate host. When the virion comes into contact with the appropriate host, it becomes active and is then referred to as a virus. It now displays properties typified by living organisms, such as reacting to its environment and directing its efforts toward self-replication". From The Bacteriophage T4 Virus

http://serc.carleton.edu/microbelife/yellowstone/viruslive.html ~ (italics added by me)

Screwing around in labs with genetic codes, whether it be with viruses (whether creating for germ warfare or the vaccination process, which has a very ugly side to it), making tomatoes with bug DNA to protect them from harm, etc, etc, is, IMHO, asking for trouble. Perhaps it's merely accelerating the inevitable, but it's definitely problematic.

As for clarity issues, you're talking about posts I made at 10:04AM and 12:02PM. Have you ever been a stay-at-home-mom? I lack clarity because I lack focus because I have a 2-year-old and 4-year-old constantly interrupting my thought process, whether that's by: screaming at each other, screaming because they want something, requiring a diaper change, climbing on me, hitting the keys on the keyboard, grabbing the mouse while I'm using it, breaking things, tormenting the dog, getting into things they shouldn't, etc, etc, etc. I'm surprised by the amount of clarity I do manage under the circumstances. Forgive me for not doing a better job filtering and ensuring my complete thoughts are properly and completely expressed.

 

[dmc]

I'm teaching a class to some people from Columbia, Japan and Korea this week... They all arrived last night.. I don't like to take chance and normally try to avoid bugs while traveling.. But today my hands are dry from hand wipes after the initial hand shake session...
I was also a bit tired and had to stop myself from rubbing my eyes..

Hype... whatever... I don't want the flu.. And I don't want my visitors to get sick either...

 

[dmc]

I am not a microbiologist/scientist/etc/etc/etc

But you play one on TV?

Yes, viruses straddle the definition of living and not:

Coolest thing I learned today... For real..

 

[severine]

But you play one on TV?

You got me!

Coolest thing I learned today... For real..

Amazing what a little bit of genetic code can do, eh? It was an interesting link, though I have not had time to research the validity of the information presented.