Swine Flu, Bird Flu, Who Cares?

[Thesemindz]

I mean really. Now we're supposed to be worried about the "swine flu?"

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,517901,00.html

Haven't we been around this block before? I mean, maybe I'm being foolhardy, but I'm just not concerned.

I know a lot of people are. Years ago I had people come up to me and say, "the bird flu is gonna get us!" Now I'm having people come up to me and say, "the swine flu is gonna get us!" I just don't care.

Maybe it's because I'm a young, very healthy man in a first world country who washes his hands obsessively. I don't know. Maybe I'm being a foolhardy ignorant child. I'm willing to accept that possibility.

But the reality is I just don't care. I'm not worried. You want to sweat the swine flu? Fine.

Keep an eye on that for me.


-Rob

 

[theletch1]

The difference between the swine and avian flus is that the "swine" flu is much easier to pass along from human to human. You have good points about being lucky enough to be in a first world country, young and healthy. I think the concern would be more of a concern for your fellow man who isn't quite so lucky... not that I think you aren't, I'm just looking at it from a distance so to speak. I do agree with your underlying point, though, that we've had way too many oddities to be fearful of that never really manifest. Of course, that's been the way of things through out human history.

 

[Thesemindz]

I keep getting these people coming up to me who are hysterical over these things, and I just can't get motivated to care.

Maybe I just don't understand the nature of the threat, but I mean come on.

Wash you hands. Eat vegetables. Drink orange juice. Dress warmly. Cook your food thoroughly.

It's not that hard to stay healthy.

Now, your point about people in parts of the world where washing your hands and drinking orange juice is a little trickier is valid, but I don't live there, so I'm not too concerned for my safety, although concern for their safety is perfectly valid.


-Rob

 

[Empty Hands]

Flu is a deadly disease, we just don't think of it that way. It kills mainly the young, the old, and the sick. Flu can also be responsible for pandemics. The "Forgotten Plague", the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918, infected 20% of the world, and killed off 2.5-5% of the total global population. That, or worse, can happen again at any time. No one should needlessly panic, but it is also irrational to pretend that flu pandemics can't or won't happen, or that they are nothing to worry about. A 5% mortality pandemic today would kill around 300 million people - nearly the entire population of the US.

You are also right that your point of view is a privileged one. Not everyone is young and healthy and has ready access to health care.

 

[Thesemindz]

Flu is a deadly disease, we just don't think of it that way. It kills mainly the young, the old, and the sick. Flu can also be responsible for pandemics. The "Forgotten Plague", the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918, infected 20% of the world, and killed off 2.5-5% of the total global population. That, or worse, can happen again at any time. No one should needlessly panic, but it is also irrational to pretend that flu pandemics can't or won't happen, or that they are nothing to worry about. A 5% mortality pandemic today would kill around 300 million people - nearly the entire population of the US.

You are also right that your point of view is a privileged one. Not everyone is young and healthy and has ready access to health care.

All true. But it isn't 1918 anymore. While I realize that much of the world lives in conditions that would be considerably pre-1918 by our standards, we do not. Which is why, while I understand some concern in general for some parts of the world, I am not personally concerned for my part of the world.


-Rob

 

[grydth]

The 1918 flu specialized in killing off the "young and healthy", and in a quick and gruesome fashion.

How much readier are we to cope with an explosive and very deadly virus now? One might observe in some ways, we are less so.

 

[Archangel M]

Im pretty much with theseminds on this. Much like fretting over a meteor hitting the earth..Im not all for stressing the general population into ulcers over something we have very little control over. Whats the point of worrying ourselves to death over every danger that exists in the world. Take some sensible precautions and carry on.http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/member.php?u=2562

 

[girlbug2]

These epidemic diseases spread more quickly via airline travel in our modern times. Living in a first world country is not protection against exposure, far from it. Got a major airport in a nearby city? Does that airport see a lot of international travelers coming through? LAX, Denver International, Chicago OHare....if your nearest major city has one of these types of airports, you have an increased probability of getting the flu.

From my pov, the one great thing about the world recession is that it's likely to cut down a lot on airline travel this year. Hopefully the swine flu will be curtailed by that.

But, like you, I'm not worried about it much anyway. Short of holing up in my home, I can't really do anything about it, so why waste mental energy thinking about it. Just wash your hands and take your vitamins.

 

[Gordon Nore]

Flu is a deadly disease, we just don't think of it that way. It kills mainly the young, the old, and the sick. Flu can also be responsible for pandemics. The "Forgotten Plague", the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918, infected 20% of the world, and killed off 2.5-5% of the total global population. That, or worse, can happen again at any time. No one should needlessly panic, but it is also irrational to pretend that flu pandemics can't or won't happen, or that they are nothing to worry about. A 5% mortality pandemic today would kill around 300 million people - nearly the entire population of the US.

You are also right that your point of view is a privileged one. Not everyone is young and healthy and has ready access to health care.

I think theseminds is right to the extent that people do tend to panic over these outbreaks. Toronto was home to a SARS outbreak several years ago, which, as Empty Hands pointed out, was a greater threat to the very young, the old, and those already sick. The paranoia that occasions these events adds to the overall stress. For instance, people are afraid to go the doctor's office or the hospital -- the latter is actually quite a safe place -- in these times.

 

[Empty Hands]

Which is why, while I understand some concern in general for some parts of the world, I am not personally concerned for my part of the world.

I agree with the general point that panic is not warranted. Influenza in the first world is more deadly than you give it credit for however. It kills about 30,000 people each year in the US. That puts it ahead of homicides, and not far from car accidents. The Influenza/Pneumonia combined category is the 6th leading cause of death.

 

[Thesemindz]

I agree with the general point that panic is not warranted. Influenza in the first world is more deadly than you give it credit for however. It kills about 30,000 people each year in the US. That puts it ahead of homicides, and not far from car accidents. The Influenza/Pneumonia combined category is the 6th leading cause of death.

Ok, that's fair, although I'd be interested to know if it's weighted more to pneumonia or influenza, but I'm still not personally concerned.

I guess in the end, it isn't that I don't think influenza is dangerous, it's just that I don't think it's a danger to me. There are far too many other things, like paying my rent, for me to worry about to waste time worried about the "swine flu."

Besides, I got loads of vitamin B in case I do get sick.


-Rob

 

[Archangel M]

So far..in the US (more cases have popped up)..the people getting Swine Flu appear to be reacting just like they have the "regular flu". They get sick for a while and they recover. Why its killing so many in Mexico is a good question.

Who hasnt had a bout of the flu in their lifetime? it IS a risk to your life, as EH said its a leading cause of death in the US already (the "normal" flu) and nobody is pulling their hair out.

 

[Empty Hands]

Ok, that's fair, although I'd be interested to know if it's weighted more to pneumonia or influenza, but I'm still not personally concerned.

The diseases are co-morbid a lot of the time, which is why they are grouped. However, deaths from straight influenza (30,000) count for about half the total combined deaths.

 

[MA-Caver]

I don't think I'd be far off in quoting Grand Moff Tarkin from "A New Hope".... "Fear, will keep the local systems in line, fear of this battle station."

The battle station, for us anyway, could be war, terrorism, panademic diseases, recession, etc. etc. Whatever the current flavor might be. Just like a momma hen that lets her chicks out into the yard and then something "dangerous comes along" and the ones who survive are the ones that go scurrying quickly back under her wing.

Rob, you're young and healthy. I applaud that sincerely. Keep at it. But I do ask you to take these events a little more seriously. You live in a first world country and that's good. It's by no way going to guarantee you won't be affected.
Think upon these items for a moment.
How easy is it for an infected person from a 3rd world country and fly on over here and mingle with the passengers on the jet, mingle with the folks at the customs, mingle with the folks at the airport to pick up baggage, mingle with the folks out on the sidewalk at the airport waiting for a ride or a cab and so on. How many folks have just been infected? How many of those so called 3rd world folks might be actual terrorist with the ultimate weapon? Remember Nigeria is a 3rd world country... how ironic that they can afford to hop on a plane (ironically funded by stupid people that fell for their banking schemes) and pay a visit to the New World?
How easy is it to get INTO the country without anyone knowing about it? Just ask the thousands of illegals that have already been here for a few years.
Read the first 50-60 pages of "The Stand" by Stephen King (if you haven't already... if you have, re-read it), the man did his research finding out how easy it is for a flu to spread quickly across state, national and international lines.

Swine Flu, Bird Flu, who cares? I do. But I'm of course not one of those running around the barnyard screaming and squawking my head off "the sky is falling, we're doomed the end is near and bla bla bla...ack!"
But things to watch out for and to care about.
We're a great country... but we are hell and gone from being invunerable.

 

[Sukerkin]

A good mix of caution and sense in the posts above, ladies and gentlemen.

'Flu is indeed a much more dangerous disease than many give it credit for - in part because not only have the outbreaks been mild and contained (from our perspective) but from the simple linguistic quirk that has crept in of people taking time off work with "the 'flu" when in fact they have a cold i.e. the word has become disassociated with the actual disease.

The 'flu is a very dangerous virus indeed because it mutates so frequently and some of those mutations turn very deadly. There is some speculation that the Black Death in Europe, which has for so long been blamed on the fleas on rats, was actually a 'flu epidemic. If that's true, it gives some idea of how nasty it could be.

 

[Archangel M]

The thing is, what is there that you or I can DO about it? I worry about things that I have control over. The only thing I can think of that we can do is make sure that the gvt has medical care and supplies ready in the event that they are necessary. Anything else is fretting over the falling sky.

If it falls it falls. Im not going to escape it through panic anyways.

 

[Sukerkin]

That is true.

 

[Thesemindz]

I don't think I'd be far off in quoting Grand Moff Tarkin from "A New Hope".... "Fear, will keep the local systems in line, fear of this battle station."

The battle station, for us anyway, could be war, terrorism, panademic diseases, recession, etc. etc. Whatever the current flavor might be. Just like a momma hen that lets her chicks out into the yard and then something "dangerous comes along" and the ones who survive are the ones that go scurrying quickly back under her wing.

Rob, you're young and healthy. I applaud that sincerely. Keep at it. But I do ask you to take these events a little more seriously. You live in a first world country and that's good. It's by no way going to guarantee you won't be affected.
Think upon these items for a moment.
How easy is it for an infected person from a 3rd world country and fly on over here and mingle with the passengers on the jet, mingle with the folks at the customs, mingle with the folks at the airport to pick up baggage, mingle with the folks out on the sidewalk at the airport waiting for a ride or a cab and so on. How many folks have just been infected? How many of those so called 3rd world folks might be actual terrorist with the ultimate weapon? Remember Nigeria is a 3rd world country... how ironic that they can afford to hop on a plane (ironically funded by stupid people that fell for their banking schemes) and pay a visit to the New World?
How easy is it to get INTO the country without anyone knowing about it? Just ask the thousands of illegals that have already been here for a few years.
Read the first 50-60 pages of "The Stand" by Stephen King (if you haven't already... if you have, re-read it), the man did his research finding out how easy it is for a flu to spread quickly across state, national and international lines.

Swine Flu, Bird Flu, who cares? I do. But I'm of course not one of those running around the barnyard screaming and squawking my head off "the sky is falling, we're doomed the end is near and bla bla bla...ack!"
But things to watch out for and to care about.
We're a great country... but we are hell and gone from being invunerable.

Ok, I get your point, and I like The Stand, but what can I do to affect it anyway?

Like I said, I wash my hands, take a lot of B and C vitamins, eat a balanced diet, wear clean clothes, bathe regularly, dress warmly, I mean what else can I do?

So, if I can't do anything I'm not already doing to address the issue, then why should I stress over it? I know there are some sick people. I try not to kiss them when I see them. More than that, I just can't get worked up over.

If the flu comes and kills me, I guess I'll be dead. Until then, I know one thing I won't be.

Bothered.


-Rob

 

[Flea]

In 2002 I was still in journalism, and I vividly remember the day that my boss sat me down. We had 2 cases of West Nile virus in the city recently. One was a little old lady with other MAJOR health issues who didn't survive. The other pulled through with mild sniffles. The Health Department was only mildly interested in the whole thing and had no comment.

Why was this my problem? It was an excruciatingly slow news day. So my boss told me verbatim to "whip up as much frenzy as I can on the West Nile thing" in order to fill air time. Panic, he said, I want panic!!

So ... I tend to be really skeptical about these things since then.

Oh. And I didn't whip up any panic either. My sense of journalistic ethics won out. Sorry boss.

 

[MA-Caver]

In 2002 I was still in journalism, and I vividly remember the day that my boss sat me down. We had 2 cases of West Nile virus in the city recently. One was a little old lady with other MAJOR health issues who didn't survive. The other pulled through with mild sniffles. The Health Department was only mildly interested in the whole thing and had no comment.

Why was this my problem? It was an excruciatingly slow news day. So my boss told me verbatim to "whip up as much frenzy as I can on the West Nile thing" in order to fill air time. Panic, he said, I want panic!!

So ... I tend to be really skeptical about these things since then.

Oh. And I didn't whip up any panic either. My sense of journalistic ethics won out. Sorry boss.

A rare journalist these days indeed.

Fear, one of the best ways to control people if done correctly. It's one of the nastiest ways to control people as well.