Swine Fever - any thoughts?

Post by **kenneal - lagger** » 09 Jul 2009, 00:49

Seems these swine flu parties are getting popular!!

http://www.powerswitch.org.uk/forum/vie ... 815#111815

RenewableCandy · Post by **RenewableCandy** » 09 Jul 2009, 21:57

snow hope wrote: I wonder have they had to send many patients to A&E due to breathing difficulties or anything?

The air in Bath is pretty terrible (yes it's a beautiful city and I had a great time there but you don't have to have swine flu to have breathing difficulties there).

Anyone think HMG are deliberately underplaying it? It did disappear from the News with worrying rapidity/completeness, a bit like one of those old revolutionaries in comunizt countries who get "tippexed out" of history.

madibe · Post by **madibe** » 15 Jul 2009, 12:17

Ready when you are

UndercoverElephant · Post by **UndercoverElephant** » 15 Jul 2009, 20:04

RenewableCandy wrote:
snow hope wrote: I wonder have they had to send many patients to A&E due to breathing difficulties or anything?
The air in Bath is pretty terrible (yes it's a beautiful city and I had a great time there but you don't have to have swine flu to have breathing difficulties there).

Anyone think HMG are deliberately underplaying it? It did disappear from the News with worrying rapidity/completeness...

That was because it wasn't a particularly interesting story until people started dying in significant numbers and the rate of spread became clear.

Swine flu will kill a few tens of thousands of people. If it gets really bad then it might kill a couple of hundred thousand. C'est la vie.

ETA: in the UK

RenewableCandy · Post by **RenewableCandy** » 15 Jul 2009, 21:48

UndercoverElephant wrote: Swine flu will kill .... C'est la vie.

Nice irony there

PS_RalphW · Post by **PS_RalphW** » 16 Jul 2009, 09:29

The kid's school caretaker (claims) to have it. My wife is on immuno- suppressant drugs. She is starting to get nervous.

It still seems to be spreading exponentially, doubling every week. At this rate, the vaccine should be available about the time the infection rate reaches 200% of the population...

Aurora · Post by **Aurora** » 16 Jul 2009, 16:50

The Telegraph - 16/07/09

Twenty-nine people have now died in Britain after contracting swine flu while the Government predicts 65,000 people will die this winter.

Article continues ...

Eternal Sunshine · Post by **Eternal Sunshine** » 17 Jul 2009, 15:32

My friend's 12 year old daughter was ill for a few days earlier this week. She had a headache, cold like symptoms, slept for a couple of days and vomitted a few times one night. My friend phoned up the doctor and they said they would treat it as swine flu without seeing her and give her the paperwork to be able to go and get the tamiflu from the local designated centre. 2 days later this child was begging to go back to school because she feels better and is bored.

Another friend of mine apparently also has swine flu - same thing, doctor decided she had enough of the symptoms on the check list to just prescribe tamiflu over the phone. I know this because this friend has been posting updates on her condition ever 5 mins on Facebook. Obviously not feeling TOO ill then.

The one time I ever had flu, about 10 years ago, I was so ill I couldn't get out of bed for a week, didn't eat all that time either and didn't recover properly for at least 4 weeks. There was no way I would have had the energy to lift my head let alone be messing about on the computer.

My point is this - yes some people will get it bad, but the vast majority that reportedly have it now MAY just have the sniffles, and GPs who don't want these people to come into the surgery 'just in case' are prescribing the medication anyway as a precaution - hence inflating the figures of people believed to have swine flu.

The media must be loving this story.

Aurora · Post by **Aurora** » 17 Jul 2009, 20:09

Agreed. You can't suppress a good, juicy story.

To encourage mass panic at this stage of the game is both irresponsible and foolhardy.

Having said that, there are worrying precedents when it comes to influenza: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1918_flu_pandemic

UndercoverElephant · Post by **UndercoverElephant** » 17 Jul 2009, 20:50

Aurora wrote:Agreed. You can't suppress a good, juicy story.

To encourage mass panic at this stage of the game is both irresponsible and foolhardy.

Nobody is encouraging mass-panic. No encouragement is needed. Panic will occur anyway.

woodburner · Post by **woodburner** » 17 Jul 2009, 21:47

And they're starting them young. I know of a school with under fives where a teacher has told the children that invisible bugs came over the sea in an aeroplane.

What halfwit thinks five year olds need to know his sort of thing anyway? Needles to say the children are frightened at the thought of these "invisible bugs" that are making their friends and parents ill.

JohnB · Post by **JohnB** » 17 Jul 2009, 22:14

woodburner wrote:And they're starting them young. I know of a school with under fives where a teacher has told the children that invisible bugs came over the sea in an aeroplane.

Maybe they'll grow up with an aversion to flying, and reduce the air travel that the government haven't got the guts to do

UndercoverElephant · Post by **UndercoverElephant** » 18 Jul 2009, 00:02

woodburner wrote:And they're starting them young. I know of a school with under fives where a teacher has told the children that invisible bugs came over the sea in an aeroplane.

What halfwit thinks five year olds need to know his sort of thing anyway? Needles to say the children are frightened at the thought of these "invisible bugs" that are making their friends and parents ill.

Hey man, I'm scared of needles.

Papillon · Post by **Papillon** » 23 Jul 2009, 01:33

Hmmm... I personally know a person who had just recovered from swine flu, he said it was not nice. I also know a person who's brother and his partner have both had swine flu for the past week and a half. They said it is not nice and they are not over it yet! I know the Head of Nursing of a major hospital, about 10 percent(!!!!!!!!!) of the nurses there are off sick with swine flu! That's quite scary. I'm starting to think: a) it's here b) it's coming c) it's not gonna be nice

Ludwig · Post by **Ludwig** » 23 Jul 2009, 11:46

Papillon wrote:Hmmm... I personally know a person who had just recovered from swine flu, he said it was not nice. I also know a person who's brother and his partner have both had swine flu for the past week and a half. They said it is not nice and they are not over it yet! I know the Head of Nursing of a major hospital, about 10 percent(!!!!!!!!!) of the nurses there are off sick with swine flu! That's quite scary. I'm starting to think: a) it's here b) it's coming c) it's not gonna be nice

Well I'm sceptical that all those 10% of nurses have actually got swine flu. I wouldn't be surprised if some of them were just pulling a sickie to avoid getting it. Others are probably so hysterical about it that they've developed symptoms. Others will just have a sniffle but have been diagnosed over the phone by their doctors.

I just think the whole thing has got totally out of hand. How are we going to get through Peak Oil if this is how people respond to an illness that in only a tiny minority of cases is fatal?