posted
Let's hope that swine stays contained in New York, California and Kansas....well LeDaemon I know that's near your neck of the woods somewhat so let's just hope the Swine gets wiped out altogether!
-------------------- If feet are your bottom line, you're gonna get trampled...if women are your bottom line, you're gonna get lovestruck!
quote:Originally posted by LeDaemon: Like the swine flu coming from Mexico?
Exactly like that...
A woman came into work yesterday sweating, wheezing, and coughing all over the place. She says "I had the influenza 8 weeks ago and this is what it left me with!" She then proceeded to circle the store, coughing into her hands and then molesting the merchandise, and also making attempts to LOOK like she was coughing into her hands when really she was only holding her fist about a foot away from her face. It was really outrageous, I've never seen anything like it. It's like she was some walking satirical caricature of what NOT to do when you have the flu. The woman was in rough shape and clearly completely ignorant or just does not care about hygiene or spreading her illness. It was terrifying and I can't tell you how absolutely furious I was.
posted
one of my family members works at an airport...came down with the flu over the weekend but is supposedly feeling better....i'm super concerned but the only one in my family that is...
-------------------- If feet are your bottom line, you're gonna get trampled...if women are your bottom line, you're gonna get lovestruck!
posted
I don't mean to down play any possible pandemic. Just take the information from the news casters with a grain of salt. They're trying to sell newspapers and advertising space. Facts from the CDC: 200,000 Americans are hospitalized each year with flu symptoms. 36,000 Americans die annually from complications of the flu. But, you're not getting that information in the evening news with the report about "The Next Bad Thing To Come From Somewhere Else!" or whatever the flavor of the day/week is.
-------------------- It's a sick world, and I'm a happy guy! Posts: 762 | Registered: Jan 2005
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A little media hysteria to shake us up. Should be great for the already tanking economy telling us to not go out in public places for fear of Piggly Wiggly Influenza.
Best advice you should wash hands often, and don't travel to Mexico.
posted
I concur with sofatater & L.D. I can't recall the exact numbers of currently confirmed cases of Swine Flu but, when considered as a percentage against the total American population, it is vanishingly small.
I think it is helpful to remember that this is the part of the year when influenza diminishes to a very low rate of occurrence. This makes transmission even more unlikely.
For many years, the motto of most news organizations (especially local news outlets) "If it bleeds, it leads." Over-sensationalizing events is a common media practice as a way to gain ratings. As one who is suspicious of news agencies, when I see one story get as much hype as this one has it tells me that my attention is being drawn away from other events of equal or greater significance, perhaps intentionally...Somebody's getting away with something about which they want you to know nothing.
To use an old example: "Look! It's Haley's Comet!"
Posts: 5067 | Registered: Apr 2005
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posted
Well the entire Fort Worth Independent School District has closed until May 8th and some area Dallas schools are doing the same now. There is a total at the last moment I checked of 16 cases in the state of Texas.
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Not here. I wonder if people realize how deadly your regular, garden-variety influenza is? The influenza outbreak after World War I is still among the deadliest pandemics in human history and people still die from it these days. Considering the Avian Flu and SARS were contained pretty well, I'm actually not as worried about this, especially since people are already cognizant of its existence and taking appropriate, and at times, excessive precausion. The worst pandemics are the ones you DON'T see coming.
Posts: 2681 | Registered: Mar 2006
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posted
You know, I was going to post the following in the "I hate it when..." thread. But it will be more appropriate to post it here:
I hate it when the government tries to scare me with diseases we will NEVER get. First, it was SARS, then it was monkey pox, chicken pox, West Nile virus, and now THIS? Please. Remember the Asian bird flu? That one especially didn't scare me because I'm not a sparrow in Thailand. Mysterious Asian diseases just don't come knocking on your door unless you're Neil Bush.
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