Help To Prevent Swine Flu

[Rising Dead Man]

I know this is off topic but we need to be prepared for this.

Here are good tips.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4934081_prevent-swine-flu.html

http://www.ehow.com/how_4933954_attempt ... e-flu.html

I suggest you read everything. And read other pages about Swine Flu on that website. Even if a page looks the same as the other. Keep reading. It will say something else. We want to be as protected as possible. Sorry if it seems like I'm overreacting but I just really want everyone on here to be OK.

People say a lot of things on here. it will be useful.

http://www.answers.yahoo.com

Remember to take off your shoes before you enter the house after being in public and wash any clothes that might have been exposed to Swine Flu. Practice good hygiene like washing hands, showering, ect. after being in public. Again, if I seem to be really overreacting I just don't want anyone on here to be infected.

Thank you for reading.

[Nostalgiascape]

I totally understand you. But please understand that I have moved this thread in order that people post Off Topic items in its designated area.

[Pumpkin_Man]

With all due respect, I think the news media is making a mountain out of a moll hill. Swine Flue has been around a long time. The first time I heard fo it was back in the mid 70s, when I was in high school, so there's nothing new about it. World wide, less then one one=thousandth of one percent contracted Swine Flu, and even less then that died from it. They are having a problem with it being passed around in San Antonio, Texas, but that does not mean that we're going to have a pandemic, and it does not mean that the plagues are comming and we have to totaly alter the way we live.

I'm sorry, but the news media would be no where if not for sensationalism, panic pedaling, fear mongering and all the drama that they pass off as "journalism" so they can get higher ratings.

Mike

[Nostalgiascape]

When people start dropping in droves nation wide, i'll think it is a major concern.

[Pumpkin_Man]

That's how I see it. 6 cases here and 4 cases there are not a "pandemic."

Mike

[Nostalgiascape]

But on the other hand, it is too soon to dismiss it.

[Pumpkin_Man]

Any serious illness should be taken seriously in the context that it's a serious illness, but to portray this whole Swine Flue thing as a global pandemic is just sensationalism and melodrama on the part of the news media.

Remember the story of the boy who cried wolf? That's the problem I have with the media coverage of this thing. Some day, when we are ind anger of a real life threatening, nobody will take the news media seriously, and many will get sick and die.

Mike

[Nostalgiascape]

Best learn to get used to it. The media is forever ridiculous.

[HalloweenDot]

If anyone is interested, there is a great book called The Great Influenza by John Barry. I read it about 5 years ago and it is about the 1918 influenza pandemic and it shows how bad things can get under the wrong circumstances. It also lays out why everyone is so concerned about it - with some unfortunate mutations any new strain can become a terrible killer.

One interesting thing is that in 1918 it came in the spring (mid-March) and was relatively mild and seemed to go away (perhaps even the spring of 1917 and then seemed to go away then too). Then it returned as more virulent strain in August 1918 and began killing around 50 million people (iirc), even people who were otherwise healthy. That is the fear with any new strain - deadly mutations.

While swine flu itself has been around a while, this strain has not. Likewise, it has been rare to see a human-to-human transmission vector. It is just like regular flu - the term "flu" covers many, many different variations. Some of which are less deadly, some of which are the same in terms of mortality, and some of which are huge killers.

Anyway, it was an extremely interesting book and something that I'd recommend if anyone is interested in the current swine flu and why health professionals monitor it closely.

You can read more stuff about Avian flu and swine flu here:
http://www.avianflu.biz/

[Rising Dead Man]

It's in New Hampshire now! I am near there!

[Pumpkin_Man]

Any serious flu can become a pandemic if it's mishaneled. But it hasn't gotten to that as of yet, and I see no reason why the media allways have to fear monger.

Mike