Swine Fever - any thoughts?

DominicJ · Post by **DominicJ** » 28 Apr 2009, 10:20

Health was, and still is, very variable.

I work quite near an old mill, Quarry Bank Mill, its now owned and operated by The National Trust as tourist type thingy.
The workers houses all came with large allotments, they were in the middle of a farming area, so food costs were a smaller proprotion of wages than the average person today at Tesco, although they ate more, being hard manual workers.
Even the "indentured apprentices" (IE slave children) were very well fed and relativly healthy.
There was a gym, a church and a very rarely opened pub.

10 miles further North we had the Peterloo Massacre.

DominicJ · Post by **DominicJ** » 28 Apr 2009, 10:22

My Collegues wife works in A&E, eek!
Not shaking his hand again

RevdTess · Post by **RevdTess** » 28 Apr 2009, 10:31

Every time I hear the words 'swine fever' I have this image of John Travolta and music of the bee gees in my head.

phobos · Post by **phobos** » 28 Apr 2009, 10:37

It may be worth downloading this just in case.

http://www.birdflumanual.com/resources/ ... efault.asp

Andy Hunt · Post by **Andy Hunt** » 28 Apr 2009, 10:46

Tess wrote:Every time I hear the words 'swine fever' I have this image of John Travolta and music of the bee gees in my head.

RevdTess · Post by **RevdTess** » 28 Apr 2009, 11:01

ooh ooh ooh ooh staying aliiiiiiive

Andy Hunt · Post by **Andy Hunt** » 28 Apr 2009, 11:06

Tess wrote:ooh ooh ooh ooh staying aliiiiiiive

I used to work for a company providing tax advice for doctors, one of the clients had that track on his answering machine.

DominicJ · Post by **DominicJ** » 28 Apr 2009, 11:11

I have vague memories of a mustard advert...

Catweazle · Post by **Catweazle** » 28 Apr 2009, 12:53

Decorators suppliers supply bulk FFP3 disposable masks for just over a quid each delivered. Always useful for decorating too

Blue Peter · Post by **Blue Peter** » 28 Apr 2009, 13:19

Tess wrote:ooh ooh ooh ooh staying aliiiiiiive

I remember seeing bits of Saturday Night Fever on tv; it seemed a much darker film than all the John Travaolta and BeeGees hype might have led one to believe ,

Peter.

SunnyJim · Post by **SunnyJim** » 28 Apr 2009, 13:58

chris25 wrote:After initially panicking like a mad man, I now am not too concerned with the spread of this virus and the virulence of this virus.

As has been discussed, the fact that deaths have not spread out of Mexico, is a reassuring sign.

Nevertheless, I shall still be watching this.

From what I have read, preventation methods against the virus such as washing hands regulary with alcoholic spray, not touching your face with uncleaned hands and wearing an FFP3 mask can pretty much entirely minmize your risk of getting the virus anyway.

I'm getting more worried. Experts on Radio 4 are saying the spread is inevitable, we just need to know the numbers now. Even if it isn't a killer if 30% of UK population are sick or off work avoiding getting sick or caring for those that are sick, then services are going to be minimal at best. One hour of listening has me extremely concerned.

SILVERHARP2 · Post by **SILVERHARP2** » 28 Apr 2009, 14:13

SunnyJim wrote: Even if it isn't a killer if 30% of UK population are sick or off work avoiding getting sick or caring for those that are sick, then services are going to be minimal at best. One hour of listening has me extremely concerned.

but if its not a killer then it is just a strain of flu , I havnt come across anything that it is easier to catch then any other flu. Also your 30% number would be spread over 5 or 6 months so only 1 or 2 % of the populus would have it at any one time.
Close the schools at the end of May and you youd cut the transmission by a large factor , over the summer I'm guessing it will be a dead story (excuse the pun)

SunnyJim · Post by **SunnyJim** » 28 Apr 2009, 14:15

Yes, that's true I suppose.

re · Post by re » 28 Apr 2009, 14:36

Not sure if anyone else has already linked to this:
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/p ... &t0311.pdf

I know it's from 2005 and things are probably a lot better by now!

I found it pretty interesting especially in relation to food supplies and power outages - not just for flu but more generally.

Rasputin69 · Post by **Rasputin69** » 28 Apr 2009, 15:16

In my opinion this is a very carefully crafted media made blanket which is being used to divert our attention away from the lackluster budget and general recession woes. While I do not doubt that it is a serious problem and I feel for those who are affected by it, I for one am not in the least bit worried and would suggest others to relax. We've seen this kind of thing crop up then fade away before (see: avian flu) The Beeb don't want us to consider things critically; they know fine well we're sick of hearing about the 'credit-crunch', so they've exacerbated this story to take our minds off it for a while.