Swine flu here - *yawn*

Frivolous?

I think what people are saying is that *at this point* the global media is cranking this up into a mega event, when it clearly does not warrant such as yet. Precautions? Sure, and supported. Daily global tallies of deaths and infections that are in single or even double digits? Come on.

And then there is the hypocrisy of people ignoring the actual mega problem that is already there with health systems in some corners of the world so bad that 500,000 people can die every year from ordinary flu, but no-one bats an eye…

In Australia we have far bigger risks, such as a smuggled critter bringing foot and mouth in that is then spread nationwide through all the damn foxes etc.

Stop, collaborate and listen…

Are we back in the Cook speed limit thread?

“Professor, without knowing precisely what the danger is, would you say it’s time for our viewers to crack each other’s heads open and feast on the goo inside?”

“Yes I would Kent.”

STOP-DROP-AND ROLL

Stop, collaborate and listen, Ice is back with my brand new invention

…and make you feel ten years younger, without leaving your home (handy in quarantine)… ; )

Thank goodness all levels of government will have spent hours and dollars developing crisis management plans to deal with the dreaded swine flu.

yeah, but guaranteed none will have contingency plans on how to serve their minister (presuming minister, too, does not succumb) with a third of the staff alive to work, and most of them taking days and weeks for bereavement leave and attending funerals!

Tonight on A Current Affair: Mexican P-plater zombie sharks set to terrorise the world. Experts predict millions could perish … we tell you how to identify one in your community & how to protect your family.

You forgot to mention that they live in Penrith, have Lebanese heritage and can tell you how to save thousands off you grocery bill…

What we need are fridge magnets to stop (start) people being alarmed.

Surely a cheaper (more responsible) placebo could be found.

Actually, the tamiflu IS the placebo.

Tonight on A Current Affair: Mexican P-plater zombie sharks set to terrorise the world. Experts predict millions could perish … we tell you how to identify one in your community & how to protect your family.

STOP-DROP-AND ROLL

caf said :

sepi: There’s a fine line between an appropriately cautious response, and an overreaction that will cost lives in the future due to the “crying wolf” effect.

That’s already evident, the media reporting of swine flu has dropped by two-thirds since the initial hysterical panic over the ‘hundreds’ of fatal mexican cases (which turned out to actually be … seven).

And the bulk of Tamiflu in Australia has been prescribed by … psychiatrists. Surely a cheaper (more responsible) placebo could be found.

It’s not our best crisis response, Sepi. They are following the plan to the letter. So far I’ve been ticking the boxes that I remembered from it, and it’s really pleasing to see how all the states, and other countries, are in careful lockstep with everyone.

It might turn out to be nothing, or something, but either way, they’re following the plan that was carefully developed for this eventuality.

sepi: There’s a fine line between an appropriately cautious response, and an overreaction that will cost lives in the future due to the “crying wolf” effect.

sepi said :

It still could turn out to be really nasty. And even if it doesn’t, our govt should be acting as if it is a killer, in case it is.

So far I’m pretty underwhelmed by the response. I’d have been closing every school that had a hint of swine flu connection, testing everyone with flu symptoms, and recommending all travel be minimised unless really necessary.

If this is our best crisis response, we are in trouble if a pandemic does happen.

Sepi, your ability to be terrified of absolutely everything is a monument to something.

It still could turn out to be really nasty. And even if it doesn’t, our govt should be acting as if it is a killer, in case it is.

So far I’m pretty underwhelmed by the response. I’d have been closing every school that had a hint of swine flu connection, testing everyone with flu symptoms, and recommending all travel be minimised unless really necessary.

If this is our best crisis response, we are in trouble if a pandemic does happen.

Trunking symbols said :

I heard someone on the radio say that the entire population of the world will be dead within six months because of this swine flu. So I suggest that some of our more frivolous and lighthearted contributors pull their heads in . . .

I heard someone on the radio say you’re an idiot.

Trunking symbols said :

I heard someone on the radio say that the entire population of the world will be dead within six months because of this swine flu. So I suggest that some of our more frivolous and lighthearted contributors pull their heads in . . .

We could all be dead in six months from any number of things.

This is considerably less likely than many others.

Trunking symbols said :

I heard someone on the radio say that the entire population of the world will be dead within six months because of this swine flu. So I suggest that some of our more frivolous and lighthearted contributors pull their heads in . . .

I heard someone say on the radio that the zombie holocaust will claim us all in the next three months.

Trunking symbols said :

I heard someone on the radio say that the entire population of the world will be dead within six months because of this swine flu. So I suggest that some of our more frivolous and lighthearted contributors pull their heads in . . .

why?

if it is that bad, why not have a bit of frivolity?

I heard someone on the radio say that the entire population of the world will be dead within six months because of this swine flu. So I suggest that some of our more frivolous and lighthearted contributors pull their heads in . . .

I’m not worried, I got some oinkment

lolz

My husband currently has a cold, so I called the Swine Flu hotline, but all I heard was… crackling!!! OOOOOHOHOHOHO Sorry my post is just… SPAM HEHEHEHEHE. I need to get out more.

I suspect that the world is long overdue for a rash of shark attacks.

Yes, even in freshwater as they’ll mutate to adapt to global warming. Millions will die, mark my words.

Remember, you heard it here first…

mutant sharks rising up and attacking us en masse? saw a movie like that once.

and what has happened to the price of pork? not a damn thing. come on people, start panicking and drive the prices down!

sepi said :

I’m sure lots of asthmatics, pregnant people and other risk groups would also prefer it wasn’t on the loose.

Scoff away though if you are young and healthy – but remember – this is an unknown disease, and the second wave could be a lot worse than the first.

Yep. This thing has got world health people very worried, it’s not just “a flu”. Heck, every year they have to make decisions about what strains of flu to include in the vaccines, and many get left out. Yet this one’s got them all tense.

The real flu season starts when it gets cold enough to have the strain really hitting its straps. The icy temperatures in June should see that happening, and then it will start to morph. If it’s really as bad as the experts think it could become, those of us who aren’t hearty young animals might have something very real to be worried about.

July might be interesting but I hope it’s not.

http://www.innovation.gov.au/Pandemic_Business_Continuity/Kit%20for%20Small%20Businesses/Health%20posters%20to%20assist%20in%20controlling%20infection/Documents/Wash%20hands20070201154443.pdf.pdf

I wonder if the people who publish these kind of documents do it with a straight face or not.

Thank goodness all levels of government will have spent hours and dollars developing crisis management plans to deal with the dreaded swine flu.

deezagood said :

deezagood said :

If you believe the media (and I don’t necessarily) and my (far more trustworthy) local doctor, the world is long overdue for a killer flu pandemic that will take many lives … but I suspect the swine flu isn’t it.

You can’t ignore history Thumper.

Oh yes you can.

deezagood said :

If you believe the media (and I don’t necessarily) and my (far more trustworthy) local doctor, the world is long overdue for a killer flu pandemic that will take many lives … but I suspect the swine flu isn’t it.

You might be right – but in the early days, it’s not a gamble anybody is willing to take.

Put it this way: you’ve found a new mutated virus, to which just about everybody’s immune system is totally naive. It is very similar to a virus that wiped out millions a few decades ago. You’ve got evidence that it can kill people on a small scale, and you know how it’s transmitted.

So what do you do? Dismiss it as a small thing when compared to garden variety influenza? Or do you assume the worst, make moves to contain it, thereby minimising its (still to be ascertained) widespread effect?

deezagood said :

If you believe the media (and I don’t necessarily) and my (far more trustworthy) local doctor, the world is long overdue for a killer flu pandemic that will take many lives … but I suspect the swine flu isn’t it.

You can’t ignore history Thumper.

If you believe the media (and I don’t necessarily) and my (far more trustworthy) local doctor, the world is long overdue for a killer flu pandemic that will take many lives … but I suspect the swine flu isn’t it.

The global fatality rate for ordinary flu is around half a million (as explained by a CDC rep on Radio National a week or two back.
Puts it in perspective doesn’t it? It’s like shark attacks vs car crashes.

But we should be happy for the media would otherwise have nothing to discuss other than more bloody Malcolm Turnbull vs Peter Costello. And some lucky folk get a cruisy week’s sick leave to tack onto their holidays.

sepi said :

…In the spanish flu it was the second wave that killed everyone. And actually in the spanish flu it hit healthy adolescents the hardest.

My grandmother remembered family get togethers shrinking dramatically after a whole lot of the older cousins died of spanish flu.

In contrast spanish fly has been responsible for creating new life.

Jim Jones said :

In an average year, 30,000 people die of regular flu in the US alone.

True, but the hysteria over pork flu isn’t related to that. It’s related to the issue that this is a new virus subtype, to which most won’t have immunity. Hence, the push to contain any confirmed cases early, lest it turn out to be particularly nasty. Better to be safe than sorry and all that.

Sepi, so far the swine flu has killed an undisclosed number of people – the estimates I’ve seen limit it to double digits.

In an average year, 30,000 people die of regular flu in the US alone.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/05/26/2580849.htm

Just to go off on a tangent for a minute, I drove past a cyclist this morning that had been hit by a car on Mugga Way. The second I have witnessed in as many weeks. Perhaps the Dept of Health should ban cyclists, or cars, they seem to be worse for your mortality than the swine flu……. in Canberra’s inner south at least.

Well I’d rather not catch it thanks. And if my kids catch it I will be beside myself.
I’m sure lots of asthmatics, pregnant people and other risk groups would also prefer it wasn’t on the loose.

Scoff away though if you are young and healthy – but remember – this is an unknown disease, and the second wave could be a lot worse than the first.

In the spanish flu it was the second wave that killed everyone. And actually in the spanish flu it hit healthy adolescents the hardest.

My grandmother remembered family get togethers shrinking dramatically after a whole lot of the older cousins died of spanish flu.

NoAddedMSG said :

This whole Swine Flu thing concerns me greatly, because it really emphasises just how little hope we would have of containing a zombie outbreak should it ever occurr.

No fear: the zombies already run the Health Department. 😉

OMG. Panic. My husband is 41 years old! I hope it is not him, he is equally as good a patient as jessieduck’s partner.

This whole Swine Flu thing concerns me greatly, because it really emphasises just how little hope we would have of containing a zombie outbreak should it ever occurr.

JB you telling me it OK to panic has taken all the fun out of it. Thanks mate.

Just heard on JJJ news that the man is 41 years old.

That rules me out then. Phew!

Hmm, well im coming back to Canberra today and so far i’ve been to ANZ Stadium, Darling Harbour, a few mexican restarants, a spanish restarant, an italian joint and countless trains.

While i’m not actually sick, according to the media I’ll probably get it anyhow if i’ve been near anyone even remotely mexican so hopefully I can buff Canberra’s numbers a little so they can finally put this place on the map!

BRAINS!

When in panic, fear or doubt, run in circles, scream and shout!

Keeps the media happy and the pubes in business. Just don’t mention that more people contract the normal flu and consequently die than from the piggy variety. Oh and that if you have access to basic medical services you’ll be fine. Wouldn’t want to ruin a good panic piece.

“I’m a teapot, I’m a teapot…”

Yes- stay home if you are sick. Two weeks ago I had a colleague sniffling all over my desk telling me how crook she was and then “like magic” I got a cold a few days later- then my husband got it* I just wish my colleague had taken a few days off to get better rather then spread the love.

*Actually, he had man-cold which is far, far worse and is like dying only with daytime TV.

Has anyone stopped shaking hands with people yet? I have tried, but it is just innately ingrained, and I don’t like the idea of spending half an hour explaining why I won’t shake hands, so I just shake hands anyway…