Quote:Original post by phantom Erm, flu IS a lethal virus, it can kill.
Now, chances are if you are a healthy adult who isn't too old and doesn't suffer from any chronic conditions then you'll be fine, but that doesn't change the standing of the virus.
Correct, the flu is lethal, CDC Flu Death Info. Basically that article says that approx. 36,000 people (in the U.S.) died every year in the 90's. Wikipedia says 41,000 per year from 79-01. A World Health Organization article says 250,000-500,000 die globally per year WHO (not sure the date range on that one).
WHO also says as of October 23, only ~5000 had died world wide from H1N1.
Personally I'm not convinced the swine flu is the next pandemic. If so I think we would be seeing way more deaths than we have. The 1918 flu pandemic killed 20-100 million people.
But like Phantom said, deaths usually occur in the young, elderly, or already sick individuals. I think people just blow it out of proportions.
Quote:Original post by outRider I found that my immune system could handle it also (that is to say I didn't die), but it was the worst flu I've ever had my life due to the sheer discomfort of the symptoms. I'm one who usually never gets vaccinated against the seasonal flu and I rarely get sick, but if I knew how utterly miserable H1N1 would make me feel I'd have hurdled over small women and children to get vaccinated so I wouldn't have to go through that wretched 10 days of illness.
Hmm. It's interesting to hear feedback from people like you, who actually went through it. I don't know anyone who did in my surrounding. Maybe if I heard more first hand opinions like yours, unbiased by media hype, I might in fact change my mind.
I might be biased, living in the "swine flu capital of the world", but no-one I know is getting vaccinated. It's too bothersome - it's just like the regular flu anyways! I know heaps of people who've had it, I may have had it... it got so common we stopped getting tested for it. I had a flu of some description. The infection rate of Victoria is higher than that of America or Mexico!
Actually, on this topic, America, what the hell is wrong with you? We've had just over half the number of confirmed cases (and remember - we stopped getting tested for them), and about one tenth the number of deaths. South Korea even makes us look bad. Is it your healthcare, is it a cultural thing (y'know, not going to the doctor for things like this...), is it something else?
Edit: I should point out to internationals that Victoria had such a high percentage of infection that local GPs stopped testing people who presented with flu symptoms, and simply told them "yeah, it's probably swine flu", and prescribed regular influenza treatment if required. Usually not required.
[Edited by - _goat on November 11, 2009 10:15:11 PM]
Quote:Original post by _goat Actually, on this topic, America, what the hell is wrong with you? We've had just over half the number of confirmed cases (and remember - we stopped getting tested for them), and about one tenth the number of deaths. South Korea even makes us look bad. Is it your healthcare, is it a cultural thing (y'know, not going to the doctor for things like this...), is it something else?
Did you check the per capita figures? Only 66,000 cases out of 310 million people.
"I thought what I'd do was, I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes." - the Laughing Man
Quote:Original post by LessBread Did you check the per capita figures? Only 66,000 cases out of 310 million people.
I think he's referring to the number of deaths per confirmed case. In the U.S. there was 1,744 deaths out of 66,126 confirmed cases vs. Australia's 187 deaths out of 37,039 confirmed cases.
My guess is that the difference comes more from the method of "confirmation" than the actual quality of care. That also explain why South Korea has such an enormous number of "confirmed" cases, but such a tiny number of deaths. In Korea, this virus is hyper-sensationalized, and so you'd have had people going to the doctor with the siffles and being "confirmed" as a sufferer. In any other country they would've been told to go home and stop being a hypercondriac :) (my wife's Korean, so I know a little about their culture).
Quote:Original post by _goat Is it your healthcare, is it a cultural thing (y'know, not going to the doctor for things like this...), is it something else?
Quote:Original post by LessBread Did you check the per capita figures? Only 66,000 cases out of 310 million people.
I think he's referring to the number of deaths per confirmed case. In the U.S. there was 1,744 deaths out of 66,126 confirmed cases vs. Australia's 187 deaths out of 37,039 confirmed cases.
Lessbread: ... are you making a point, or just pointing out a fact?
Except for 1 girlfriend who really got sick for a week (catched the virus on her vacation in Spain), I don't know anybody who had this flu either. I think which is why we're a little bit laconic about the whole situation. First the media and a couple of "experts" predict doomsday. Then it was quiet again, until a few people died here recently(including healthy persons).
I guess it's because the overrated/hyped flu, media craziness and bad information that the average person either fears this virus, or laughs about it. Difficult to estimate how dangerous(or not) this flu really is. 100 years ago everyone shutted up, trusted the docters, and got their injection. These days everyone thinks to know everything better. The only thing I really know is that the flu on itself is relative harmless when compared to other diseases. But some of the experts say the real danger would be a mutated variant of this virus. The easier the virus spreads, the bigger the chance it changes into something worse. I could be wrong, but the Spanish flu that killed millions of people early 19th century also started with a common cold, right? Then again, medical care was quite bad those days of course.
Like I said before, I don't think I'll get that vaccin unless a whole lot more people get sick or die here. I think gettings shots, drugs or therapies for everything only makes us weaker on the longer term. That African man had a nice meal while I'm stuck on the toilet for 6 days. Guess his immune system works a little bit better...
As for my daugher, I think I wait a little longer. Just see how it works out. But eventually she'll get that vaccination. She plays with dozens of other children on the crèche, and as little kids don't really care about hygiëne yet... the chance that they infect each other is very real of course. It surprises me none of the kids got sick there so far.
As for the nano-chips thing. Again, I never said I actually believed this theory. But in order to convince myself, I wanted to check our current technical capabilties. Can I conclude that this type of hardware simply doesn't exists yet? I bet there are nano-chips, but probably they won't be able to do much, unless connected with (big) other components (batteries, antenna's, actuators, sensors, memory, etc.).
BTW, does anyone know about the quarantined region in Wester Ukraine? Quite alot of people got sick (and died) there with an unknown flu. The crazy thing is that I heard absolutely nothing about this on the news. My girl watches the Polish news which reports about it (the quarantine area is nearby the Polish border) so that's how I heard it. Food for other complots, or does the Dutch news just don't care about Ukraine people?
Quote:Original post by Marmin Use a rare earth magnet (neodymium) to deactivate the implant. And, no I won't get a vac, only if it's a lethal virus then I 'll get one.
Erm, flu IS a lethal virus, it can kill.
Now, chances are if you are a healthy adult who isn't too old and doesn't suffer from any chronic conditions then you'll be fine, but that doesn't change the standing of the virus.
There's one thing that confuses me- when the virus appeared- wasn't this virus supposed to target mainly healthy young individuals ('flooding of lungs')and leave the elderly and weak untouched? When did this suddenly change into the opposite?
