Swine Flu

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

Could Obama face similar scrutiny here if the situation worsens?

Doubtful.
1) He's Saint Barrack.
2) He's not Bush.
3) The visuals of the flu aren't nearly as compelling as the Katrina visuals, it simply isn't as good a television event.

[cuervo72]

Similar to the conclusion I came to.

[Lathum]

http://www.sphere.com/2009/10/28/fury-erupts-over-h1n1-shots-for-prisoners/?icid=main|main|dl1|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sphere.com%2F2009%2F10%2F28%2Ffury-erupts-over-h1n1-shots-for-prisoners%2F

[Schmidty]

Wow.

I'm not one of those people who thinks we should take a shit on all prisoners, light them on fire, and then piss on their ashes, but that's bullshit.

[flere-imsaho]

Just found out a guy at work probably has it (he's home now). Normally I wouldn't care, as getting the flu for a healthy mid-30s guy like myself would just mean a few days off work, but with a toddler at home it scares me.

If I do get it, I'll be moving out of the house into a hotel for a few days.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

If I do get it, I'll be moving out of the house into a hotel for a few days.

I will be doing the same thing if I get it.

My wife is contacting her doctor today to find out about vaccination ( she is pregnant).

She was also telling me she was talking to a nurse yesterday that told her 2 otherwise healthy pregnant women had to have labor induced because of it and both died. She said they were both around 8 months, my wife is at about 14 weeks, but still, some scary shit.

[claphamsa]

I work (kinda) with the development side, and Ive heard enough shit....Im not getting it.

[JeeberD]

Originally Posted by Lathum

I will be doing the same thing if I get it.

My wife is contacting her doctor today to find out about vaccination ( she is pregnant).

She was also telling me she was talking to a nurse yesterday that told her 2 otherwise healthy pregnant women had to have labor induced because of it and both died. She said they were both around 8 months, my wife is at about 14 weeks, but still, some scary shit.

That's the last thing I want to hear with my wife at 32 weeks...

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by claphamsa

I work (kinda) with the development side, and Ive heard enough shit....Im not getting it.

care to elaborate?

Originally Posted by JeeberD

That's the last thing I want to hear with my wife at 32 weeks...

yeah, the woman knows my wife is pregnant and my wife was like, WTF, why are you telling me this?

[grdawg]

Lurker who doesn't post much thought I'd chime in. My wife is about 16 weeks pregnant and while her doctor recommended getting it, we were at my son's 2 yr checkup last week and while the pediatrician recommended us all getting the regular flu shot (which we did), he said to wait on the swine flu vaccine. He said to wait about 4-6 weeks and by that time any side effects would be apparent. His opinion was that it wasn't tested thoroughly enough on anyone especially pregnant women.

We all held off getting it for now, but I keep hearing stories about how hard its hitting pregnant women, but then you worry about how safe the vaccine really is for the baby. This is so annoying...

[Lathum]

yup, unfortunately it looks like most people have no choice but to wait.

[flounder]

The testing for the swine flu vaccine is exactly the same testing as the regular flu vaccine.

Shortly before noon yesterday, Dr. Benjamin Kruskal was tapping out an e-mail to his wife. The topic: the safety of swine flu vaccine.

“A large group of her friends on Facebook are discussing it,’’ said Kruskal, a pediatrician and infectious disease specialist at Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates. “There were three or four people who said, ‘My pediatrician said not to get it because it’s too new, it’s untested.’ ’’

Kruskal’s message to his wife, as well as to his patients: You can get the vaccine. It’s safe.

While the H1N1 virus that causes swine flu is new, the vaccine brewed to stop it follows the same tried-and-true laboratory and production methods used to churn out millions of doses each year against the seasonal strain. And, so far, clinical trials of the vaccine have not turned up any side effects more worrisome than the mild variety associated with annual flu immunizations.

[flere-imsaho]

I'd like to echo what flounder said. And I'll note that my most recent client was a pharmaceutical that not only makes a variety of influenza vaccines, but I had the good fortune to work (on another initiative) with the team that was working on the H1N1 vaccine.

It's fundamentally the same vaccine as all the other influenza vaccines, and these vaccines have been tested for decades now on millions of people. Each company that manufacturers these drugs is required to keep a database of all "adverse events" that happen with their products to customers. This data is constantly reviewed and teams of statisticians look for trends and if trends are found (or even suspected) the scientific teams are told to review the vaccine, which can include looking at the formulation again, looking at the manufacturing process, or even running more clinical trials.

I have a 14-month old child, and he will be getting the H1N1 vaccine as soon as it is available in our area.

[JeeberD]

My wife had and OBGYN appointment today and lucked out...they had two H1N1 shots left in the building. So she's all immunized up, finally. Now I just need to get my regular flu shot.

[Fidatelo]

My wife and 8-month old child just got the vaccine today. I'm still wary of it, mostly because I'm just not sure if it's actually necessary or if the media just has everyone in a frenzy. I have more time to stew on it for myself as I don't fit any of the high-risk groups and therefore have to wait a few weeks.

[johnnyshaka]

I finally got mine today after my wife and daughters got theirs earlier this week. We're all healthy and don't have any health issues to speak of but we still didn't have any reservations in taking our doctor's advice and getting vaccinated.

[RainMaker]

Saw this on the news and some sites.

U.S. Releases Its Stockpile of Tamiflu for Children - NYTimes.com

Kind of pisses me off. Roche has a monopoly on Tamiflu and are not able to meet demands. We have the ability to have someone else make it but we are not (a company stated they can make 1,000,000 generic doses quickly). In fact, the generic versions are 20-30 percent cheaper.

The swine flu shot is also impossible to find around here. I don't need it but my Mom is on auto-immune drugs and is more likely to get the flu. My grandma has a heart condition and would probably not survive it. Seems like a horseshit job by whoever is supposed to get this shit going.

Really pissed about this whole scenario. If this was a bank that was going under, this would be solved. But a lot of people need a flu vaccine and it seems like our system is riddled with incompetency.

[Lathum]

Yep.

My pregnant wife can't get it but prisons are vaccinating inmates.

[RainMaker]

So she doesn't work for a Wall Street firm?

U.S. Releases Its Stockpile of Tamiflu for Children - NYTimes.com

[Coffee Warlord]

My company is handling call center duties for several counties in/around Chicago.

The call volume and supply availability is...amusing.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

The call volume and supply availability is...amusing.

I can imagine.

We have a doctors appointment tomorrow so we are going to get the OBGYN's advice.

Otherwise I will wait for my school to get it, they say late this month.

[johnnyshaka]

Big uproar and subsequent firing of a "senior" employee after the Calgary Flames and their families were all offered the vaccine "privately" and therefore bypassing the long lines as well as jumping ahead of the high-risk cases.

[flere-imsaho]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

My company is handling call center duties for several counties in/around Chicago.

The call volume and supply availability is...amusing.

Can you hook me up?

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

Can you hook me up?

With a quick insert into the database, you could get to the head of the line.

But I mostly like my job, thank you.

[flere-imsaho]

It's not for me, it's for my 14-month son.

j/k

[Lathum]

Santa is getting into the act

http://www.king5.com/health/What-doe...-70346622.html

[Edward64]

Not sure when, but one of these days it'll be a wide, widespread outbreak.

Chinese authorities kill 20K birds as avian flu toll rises to 6 - CNN.com

Chinese authorities have killed more than 20,000 birds from a live-poultry trading zone in Shanghai after an unusual strain of bird flu that has so far killed six people in the country was found in pigeons on sale in the city, state-run media Xinhua reported Friday.

Details of the slaughter of chickens, ducks, geese and pigeons come as the city prepares to temporarily close all its live poultry markets. It wasn't clear how long the market closures -- announced Friday on the Shanghai Municipal Government's microblog account -- would last.

By Friday morning, authorities in Shanghai had already closed the Huhai agricultural market, where the H7N9 avian flu virus had been found in pigeons, Xinhua reported. The virus had not previously been found in humans until a series of cases were reported in China this week.
:
The Chinese Minister of Agriculture said Thursday an analysis showed a strong genetic overlap between the strain found in the Huhai market pigeons and the one detected in infected humans.

[panerd]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Not sure when, but one of these days it'll be a wide, widespread outbreak.

Chinese authorities kill 20K birds as avian flu toll rises to 6 - CNN.com

I agree but if the mass media (and local media is even worse) decide to run again with 6 dead as a major story than when a real threat comes people will say we have been through this 20 times before and completely ignore it.

[DanGarion]

Oh god, 6 dead out of a billion?!?!? That's like 0.0000006%!!!!!

[molson]

There's always a lot of talk about supervirus outbreaks, but has there ever actually been a real, significant, global outbreak since everyone started using toilets and such?

[claphamsa]

1918?

[molson]

Originally Posted by claphamsa

1918?

There's probably a more meaningful cutoff than "uses toilets", but I'd think worldwide sanitation has come a long way since 1918. Can a virus decimate the world in that manner with modern levels of sanitation? We can't know for sure until it happens, but, it hasn't happened yet.

[path12]

Originally Posted by molson

There's probably a more meaningful cutoff than "uses toilets", but I'd think worldwide sanitation has come a long way since 1918. Can a virus decimate the world in that manner with modern levels of sanitation? We can't know for sure until it happens, but, it hasn't happened yet.

Once we get a mutation that is antibiotic resistant and airborne (research indicates it should happen eventually) I don't know that sanitation quality will make a whole lot of difference.

I'm sure it is a factor, but viruses are always looking for new survival methods.

[Honolulu_Blue]

I missed this thread some how.

I had the swine flu a few years ago, back when it was all the rage.

It sucked. The worst part was that I spent that Friday night up late playing video games. Then I spent the next Saturday night up late drinking beer and playing D&D, so when I arrived home not feeling well at all Sunday morning, Lady H_B was less than sympathetic. She thought I was just tired and hungover. I felt worse than that, but forced myself through the day. We had brunch with some friends and had another couple over for dinner. After dinner I finally passed out and it wasn't until that Sunday evening when I was lying in bed shivering and sweating that she finally came around to the fact that I was sick.

That following Monday while I was set up on the coach, Lady H_B turned the Red Wings game on and just watching TV and the sound of it made my head hurt so bad I couldn't watch it. Once she realized I was too sick to even watch hockey her concern increased exponentially.

I eventually recovered.

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

I eventually recovered.

Whew, glad to know you're not posting as a zombie!

/tk

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

I missed this thread some how.

I had the swine flu a few years ago, back when it was all the rage.

It sucked. The worst part was that I spent that Friday night up late playing video games. Then I spent the next Saturday night up late drinking beer and playing D&D, so when I arrived home not feeling well at all Sunday morning, Lady H_B was less than sympathetic. She thought I was just tired and hungover. I felt worse than that, but forced myself through the day. We had brunch with some friends and had another couple over for dinner. After dinner I finally passed out and it wasn't until that Sunday evening when I was lying in bed shivering and sweating that she finally came around to the fact that I was sick.

That following Monday while I was set up on the coach, Lady H_B turned the Red Wings game on and just watching TV and the sound of it made my head hurt so bad I couldn't watch it. Once she realized I was too sick to even watch hockey her concern increased exponentially.

I eventually recovered.

SI