Sars

[Damini]

And no, not the plural of good old Dave.

Just wondering what you guys think on it. Think it'll take a grip here? Know anyone who's at home on strict orders not to go out until ten days are up? Think its the latest health scare for people to pick up on, and nothing more than that? Anyone going to invest in a nice lickle face mask for the daily commute?

I'm just having an argument with a guy on another forum who just reckons its media hysteria, and we should pay the same attention to it as deaths by car crashes and so on.

 

[Lester]

There's big potential for disaster in third world countries with little or no health care.


Err so that's us fucked then...

 

[nath]

Anyone seen 12 Monkeys? :uhoh:

 

[Damini]

No. Where did you last have them?

 

[nath]

AR AR AR AR AR AR</mork>

 

[Sir Frizz]

Originally posted by Damini

And we should pay the same attention to it as deaths by car crashes and so on.

Err, there have been more car deaths than the whole of WWII, which is quite significant. And that stat is quite old.

 

[Embattle]

TBH I reckon there is a lot of hype, generally such infections are more likely to kill the very young or old.

SARS: PROBABLE CASES AND DEATHS

China 1,280 cases (53 deaths)
Hong Kong 970 (27)
Singapore 118 (9)
Vietnam 62 (4)
Canada 91 (10)
Thailand 7 (2)
Malaysia 1 (1)
Source: World Health Organization (17:00GMT Wednesday)

Note: The WHO only records cases and deaths it believes are "probable" Sars - figures from national health authorities may vary.

 

[Xtro]

I have cancelled 2 flights to China as a result. I'd rather be scared of the hype and go somewhere else. China will still be there when the fuss dies down..hmm.. I think!

 

[Embattle]

Well you better not go any where else, you might die in a car crash on your way to the airport

 

[Xtro]

lol If its work I'll go via chopper to the airport

 

[Ono]

I got back from Hong Kong last Sunday and my new company have told me to stay at home for 10 days.

The first reports of the virus first emerged just before I flew over so I had no inhibitions about taking myself and my family over for a well earned holiday.

The first 2-3 days out there I did notice only a handful of people wearing surgical masks (including one nutter wearing a full head cover) but as we got into the later half of the first week and the second week the number of mask wearers shot up to about 70% of the population (including all of my HK based relatives).

I only wore a mask on one day during the trip and that was because I knew I was going to be spending the entire day in crowded area of Kowloon for shopping. I have to say that wearing it was pretty unbearable in the heat and humidity and I frequently took it off.


As Embattle said, this virus has been blown out of all proportion, it's NOT a killer (unless you are in a susceptible group anyway) and there is now a course of treatment which will get most people up on their feet again within days.

 

[old.D0LLySh33p]

I have it!

Doh, thought you meant herpes.



















Damn you TDC.

 

[1tchy trigger]

Well my flatmate comes back from her trip to Hong Kong and China on Sunday - so I'll tell you what its like when I contract it

 

[Testin da Cable]

Originally posted by Ono


As Embattle said, this virus has been blown out of all proportion, it's NOT a killer (unless you are in a susceptible group anyway) and there is now a course of treatment which will get most people up on their feet again within days.

slightly higher kill rate than the flu. imo peeps are freaking out because it's new. could be wrong though :/

 

[old.Kez]

I have a parcel downstairs for the chinese folk next door - the ones that haven't been seen for a week or more.

I'm so fucking dead.

:s

 

[lynchet]

TDC

slightly higher kill rate than the flu. imo peeps are freaking out because it's new. could be wrong though :/

Problem is flu is a massive killer in the world. OK here we have good health care, lifestyle etc -- but in third world countries.......

I dont think we are going to see half of Britain dropping dead with sars but it could be VERY serious elsewhere.

 

[Damini]

And flu can be vaccinated against, being asthmatic I get the flu jab because I used to get bronchitus every year after catching flu... If SARS is a corona virus from the cold family, the chance of a vaccination is virtually nil.

If I got SARS, bearing in mind the fact that a normal flu can give me bronchitus, I think I'd be in a fair bit of shit.

 

[old.D0LLySh33p]

In a small corner of my mind I keep on thinking the world will be wiped out by SARS...



(that's about all my mind I guess then)

 

[Damini]

World won't be wiped out by it, it's far less deadly than the flu that went round the world at the end of WWI and we're still here. I think it's going to be very very nasty if it reaches those countries were a large percentage of the population is already HIV positive, such as some countries in Africa and the old USSR, and I think if it takes a hold in central London the underground is going to look a lot different, but I don't think this is the stuff of End Of Days. Like I said, maybe mine if I get it, but you lot that don't have asthma and didn't start smoking at 11 will probably be fine and dandy

 

[Sar]

Originally posted by old.D0LLySh33p
In a small corner of my mind I keep on thinking the world will be wiped out by SARS big c0><0r!

\/

 

[SilverHood]

one might think the chinese would let sars run rampant to control the population growth... remember seeing an article saying the WHO didn't trust China....

 

[Tom]

In all honesty, I have never had the Flu. Plenty of colds, but never Flu. Am I alone in this respect?

 

[SilverHood]

was a mate of mine who never suffered from anything, ever.
100% attendance through school, except for half a day, where he had to visit the dentist. I missed a day or a month during the colder months....some people are just more succeptible I imagine.

I usually get a cold around november, and it goes away around april may.
While I have that cold, a too short eustacian tube in my ear means I loose pressure in my inner ear.
So all the bad stuff inside runs down my throat, leading to tonsils the side of golfballs.
swollen tonsils is bad news, and I usually get flu, fever or another ilness easily. This also means that my eardrum perforates (hole apreas) *very* easily... and I get ear infections... which usually means loss of pressure in my ear, which leads to swolen tonsils... get the picture?

Wish I could just sit back without worrying...

 

[whipped]

Originally posted by SilverHood
one might think the chinese would let sars run rampant to control the population growth... remember seeing an article saying the WHO didn't trust China....

That's only because they banned them from playing there.

MAGIC BUS!!!

 

[Testin da Cable]

Originally posted by lynchet

Problem is flu is a massive killer in the world. OK here we have good health care, lifestyle etc -- but in third world countries.......

I dont think we are going to see half of Britain dropping dead with sars but it could be VERY serious elsewhere.

oh yeah, deffo. I tend to get lots of colds and flu's for some reason due to lung problems I had when I was a child. influenza can kill loads of peeps iirc, partially because it spreads easilly and partially because it's a nasty bastard of a virus. but still, iirc it has a kill rate of ~4% or so (iirc mind you, haven't done my homework so if I'm wrong then it's my bad)
I'm not too worried (heh) tbh. I would really be worried if SARS had a PK rate of say...ooh I dunno. I don't usually think about quantifying my chance of death in an acceptable percentage. 20% 1 in 5? ooh err :/

 

[Maljonic]

Originally posted by Tom[SHOTTEH]
In all honesty, I have never had the Flu. Plenty of colds, but never Flu. Am I alone in this respect?

Hi everybody!
Most people haven't had flu; even though they take sick leave for flu, it is usually just a heavy cold. The onset of influenza is sudden, usually when the victim is in perfect health, with the familiar symptoms of headache, stiffness of neck, aches and pains all over the body, sore throat, irritating hard cough, and fever.

The following four varieties of the disease may be recognised:

Respiritory- Breathing is restricted, cough is accompanied by frothy, blood-stained expectoration; blueness of the lips and face, together with high fever, may be present. Lobar pneumonia is a serious and frequent complication, of which the mortality rate is high.

Nervous- This is characterised by severe headaches, sleeplessness, and either depression or delirium. Meningitis and encephalitis are rare complications.

Gastro-intestinal- Here vomiting, abdominal pain or colic, and diarrhoea are the chief features. The symptoms are sometimes mistaken for appendicitis.

Febrile- Here the syptoms are vague and indefinite. The fever may be remittent or continued and may suggest a diagnosis of typhoid fever.

In epidemics it is often that one or other of these is predominant, the others being less in number or attracting less attention.

Complications- In addition to the complications already mentioned the following may occur: inflammation of the heart (pericarditis, myocarditis, and endocarditis), inflammation and thrombosis of various vains, accute inflammation of the middle ear, and baldness.

 

[Testin da Cable]

woo, two down...two to go

 

[Lester]

I went to the doc about two years ago with what I seriously thought was a tropical disease or Tetanus. I literally couldn't walk, couldn't get dressed or do anything remotely physical. Every muscle in my body ached unbelievably, even my fingers, so I was unable even to pull on my socks. I thought I was gonna die. The doc checks me out and says it's flu. Fuck off says I. Yes says he - you don't need to sneeze or have a runny nose to have flu, it just so happens that it's attacking your muscles. Luckily I don't have many of those so I was back on my feet after a week. Very weird experience tho.

 

[1tchy trigger]

Originally posted by Lester
...Every muscle in my body ached...

You don't have any muscles - you're just skin and bones you great computer geek

 

[Sir Frizz]

Originally posted by Lester
Luckily I don't have many of those so I was back on my feet after a week.

Originally posted by 1tchy trigger
You don't have any muscles - you're just skin and bones you great computer geek

Mleh?