News Plague Year?

[rynnor]

After all the fears about H5N1 we now have a classic H1 strain coming back with a new variant that is already human transmissable - thats the jump they were always afraid H5N1 would make.

And similar to the infamous Spanish Flu of 1918 this one seems to kill mostly young adults.

I'd say this is almost certain to become a Pandemic - guess we better hope the anti-virals work because none of our Flu innoculations will be particularly helpful.

Scary times...

BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Mexico flu sparks global action

 

[Trem]

I wonder why these flus seem to kill mainly young adults, do they need a healthy body to work well or something?

 

[rynnor]

I wonder why these flus seem to kill mainly young adults, do they need a healthy body to work well or something?

Dunno - no-ones ever worked that out about the Spanish Flu pandemic. Some people theorised that the Great War was responsible since a lot of those who died were soldiers returning home but if this new Mexican flu has the same profile then that would blow that theory out of the water.

Edit - the last couple of flu pandemics affected mostly the young n old.

 

[Jaberwocky]

While the disease has spread out side of Mexico, we're looking at the USA, Canada and NZ so far, the 80 or so deaths attributed to it have only been located in Mexico city. Outside of that area the disease remains a mild aliment, now there are a number of different factors that could be attributed the abnormal death total in Mexico City, the city it's self is densely populated (20 million) with a number of other diseases and respiratory problems that could be working in tandem to create this number of fatalities.
As it stands we're definably missing something since the disease has yet to cause a fatality outside of the region where we assumed it originated.

 

[rynnor]

While the disease has spread out side of Mexico, we're looking at the USA, Canada and NZ so far, the 80 or so deaths attributed to it have only been located in Mexico city.

Anti-viral drugs are being used on suspected cases outside of Mexico tho - inside Mexico they dont have a lot and are restricting their use - not saying that is the only differentiating factor but it will muddy the waters.

 

[Roo Stercogburn]

The UK has a pandemic response organised in the event of such an outbreak here.

 

[rynnor]

The UK has a pandemic response organised in the event of such an outbreak here.

Indeed - I have studied the plan myself a while back. The biggest practical problem in my opinion is diagnosing people quickly enough and not wasting the stockpile on people with colds or non-pandemic flu.

For things like Relenza/Tamiflu to be effective you really need to start taking it within the first 24 hours of showing symptoms which should be doable at the start of a pandemic but more difficult when you hit the peak 3-6 months down the line plus a real pandemic consists of a number of waves of infection over a few years.

Still we in the first world are lucky - if this turns into a real nasty pandemic you can be certain that most of the deaths will not be amongst us.

 

[Mey]

Re: the young adult thing, could that be in most part young adults are in more contact with other people and as a result have more exposure to the flu?

 

[rynnor]

Re: the young adult thing, could that be in most part young adults are in more contact with other people and as a result have more exposure to the flu?

Thats true of normal flu (the exposure angle) but it still invariably kills mostly the old and young.

Edit - lol - the official travellers advice for mexico now says to remain 6 feet away from other people - that'd be a fun holiday

Oh and people getting off planes from Mexico in the UK are now being ushered into health interviews.

 

[Trem]

Re: the young adult thing, could that be in most part young adults are in more contact with other people and as a result have more exposure to the flu?

Heard today that it causes the immune system to over work then stop working in young adults thats why it kills them most. Because they have a good immune system, too good, it can't handle the virus.

 

[SAS]

The thing to see at the moment is the deaths have only occured in Mexico. All other cases outside have been mild, which is a positive sign, unless the virus mutates .

I've been researching stuff for my book which has a global outbreak of some kind (no more details or I've spoliled the plot ) and found a number of online resources and being driving my girlfriend crazy with reading / watching anything virus related:

Pandemic flu: A national framework for responding to an influenza pandemic : Department of Health - Publications
Who - Information straight from the guys who know and only post facts.

Problem we'll see at the mo is the media going crazy with wild claims.

 

[Raven]

Something new to use as scaremongering, I guess the credit crunch is getting a bit boring now.

 

[Sparx]

lol i said the same thing this morning Raven

 

[rynnor]

Hmm - theres a number of stories coming out of Mexico City saying that the whole thing is being massively under-played - they say a lot more people have died from it than are reported...

 

[old.user4556]

I'm off work today. Since yesterday, been shitting through the eye of a needle, being sick, cold and shivering and unable to stay awake for long.

I am now at my PC.

 

[SAS]

Hmm - theres a number of stories coming out of Mexico City saying that the whole thing is being massively under-played - they say a lot more people have died from it than are reported...

If that is true, then why are all the other cases around the world mild? Mass hysteria will play a part now. People "think" they are ill, when really they are suffering from normal headaches e.t.c.

Mass hysteria - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

 

[mycenae]

Big G....if you feel you need medical attention, can I suggest that you ring NHS direct - they will be able to advise you on what to do....one of the biggest problems with exposure to things like this is that people get scared and take themselves straight to hevily populated areas like A&E and GP's and spread the whole thing around, so people need to understand when they should attend.
I'm not suggesting that G has this Flu virus, but he sounded scared.....

 

[Raven]

I felt like crap this morning, aches, coughing, sneezing. Cup of tea and a paracetamol and I feel OK now. Can partly blame the booze and 40 fags last night though.

 

[old.user4556]

Big G....if you feel you need medical attention, can I suggest that you ring NHS direct - they will be able to advise you on what to do....one of the biggest problems with exposure to things like this is that people get scared and take themselves straight to hevily populated areas like A&E and GP's and spread the whole thing around, so people need to understand when they should attend.
I'm not suggesting that G has this Flu virus, but he sounded scared.....

Nah I'm feeling better today that I was yesterday, felt fucking awful yesterday. Still not 100% but at least me breakfast is staying put .

I'm now obsessing about aperture sizes and image quality on my camera, so I must be better.

 

[Embattle]

Nothing like some media stoking.

 

[Sparx]

I'm off work today. Since yesterday, been shitting through the eye of a needle, being sick, cold and shivering and unable to stay awake for long.

I am now at my PC.

Sounds more like the norovirus mate, i had that new year its horrible should last 2/3 days. Stay off 48 hours after symptoms stop as you will still be contagious

 

[old.user4556]

My mum had that, she was puking out her eyeballs for 24 hours and then it stopped as soon as it started.

But yes, it does sound more akin to norovirus - I've never had such fatigue, aches and shakes coupled with skitters / sickness before.

The disease is usually self-limiting, and characterised by nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain; and in some cases, loss of taste. General lethargy, weakness, muscle aches, headache, and low-grade fever may occur. Symptoms may persist for several days and may become life-threatening in the young, the elderly, and the immune-compromised if dehydration is ignored or not treated.[4] When a person becomes infected with norovirus, the virus begins to multiply within the small intestine. After approximately 1 to 2 days, norovirus symptoms can appear.

 

[Sparx]

You probably got it from her, its highly contagious and doesnt necessarily hit you right away

 

[mycenae]

norovirus is horrid...I have had it too in the past!

 

[Sparx]

Horrible thing your not immune, you can get it 2 weeks later!

 

[Shagrat]

It's Captain Trips..

game over man, game over.

 

[Uara]

Hahahahahahahahaha Rep for you, i always think that when I hear about a potential pandemic
EDIT:Oh and I always hope to be part of the 99.4% of the population that survives!

 

[fettoken]

Actually, this is one of the times i can call myself lucky, to be living up in north of Sweden in a rather small town in a remote area. If something nasty breaks out, you´ll probably be dead before i am Then im stuck posting to myself around here.

 

[rynnor]

Actually, this is one of the times i can call myself lucky, to be living up in north of Sweden in a rather small town in a remote area. If something nasty breaks out, you´ll probably be dead before i am Then im stuck posting to myself around here.

Well Spanish Flu wiped out a lot of isolated communities (lots in Alaska for instance) so perhaps you would be better off near a pharmacy stocking Tamiflu?

Oh and back on topic I did find why some strains of Flu effect young adults worst and it is down to the immune system - the Spanish Flu could cause peoples immune systems to fight the host - their lungs filled with fluids and secondary bacterial infections and pneumonia killed them.

This reaction is known as a cytokine storm which is interesting because theoretically you could treat this with immuno-suppresives but it would be a little risky.

 

[caLLous]

The UK is one of the best prepared countries to deal with swine flu and "all action necessary" will be taken to stop its spread, Gordon Brown has said.

Ummmmm what else did he say we were "one of the best prepared countries to deal with" recently? And look how that's working out...