"Swine Flu" appears, quickly spreads to US.

The Monkey said:
^ At least you're immune now.
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nathan-hale-resistance-2.jpg
 
DEATHMASTER said:
Fact: Old Flu vaccines won't do shit against a new strain.
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Not quite.

BBC News said:
The US authorities say that two drugs commonly used to treat flu, Tamiflu and Relenza, seem to be effective at treating cases that have occurred there so far.

Use of these drugs may also make it less likely that infected people will pass the virus on to others.
Click to expand...

While they can't cure it, or completely stop it, they are still quite effective. The UK Government had stockpiled over 30 millions of them as
 
Swine Flu Vaccine Could Take 6 Months

By Clara Moskowitz, LiveScience Staff Writer

posted: 27 April 2009 05:01 pm ET

A vaccine for the new swine flu in humans could take at least six months to manufacture and distribute widely, a British doctor said.

The reason: Vaccines must be developed from the specific flu strain, tested for safety, sent to manufacturers for mass production, and then distributed around the world. By the time this is done, the first wave of a pandemic flu might already be over, said Iain Stephenson, a doctor in the Infectious Diseases Unit of the Leicester Royal Infirmary in England.

Scientists do not know if the current swine flu outbreak originating in Mexico will become a pandemic. But health officials in the United States and around the world have already taken emergency steps to thwart the virus' spread out of concern it could go global in a deadlier fashion.

Stephenson and colleagues recently completed a study testing ways to shorten this lag time between the start of a pandemic influenza virus, and widespread administration of a vaccine.

The researchers found that if many people received a "pre-pandemic" vaccine ahead of time, containing some of the most likely flu strains to become pandemic, many of the worst effects could be reduced if an outbreak does hit.

The study, detailed in this week's issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, tested a vaccine of bird flu virus, which until recently was considered the gravest threat for a large pandemic.

The researchers tested people who had received a bird flu vaccine between seven and eight years ago. Those people's bodies still retained very good cell memories of how to fight the disease years later. Compared to people who had not had the initial vaccine, they were more resistant, and a simple booster update would be all that's needed to protect them completely if those strains of the virus did become pandemic. In contrast, people who had not received the pre-pandemic vaccine needed two doses to be protected from the virus.

"You could potentially vaccinate people today so that in the future if something happens people would already have some memory and protection," Stephenson told LiveScience. "We could think about potentially starting to vaccinate those people who would be at highest risk."

The trouble with preparing a vaccine ahead of time is the need to predict which virus strains will become the biggest threats. Until swine flu came along this week, bird flu had been on the top of most doctors' minds as the next big threat.

"This demonstrates how unpredictable influenza really is," Stephenson said. "The problem with the pandemic viruses is that they're quite different from each other. You can't stockpile everything. You have to focus on what seems to be the most likely threats, and this one's appeared as a surprise."

Universal vaccine?

Some scientists pin their hopes on a universal influenza vaccine that could protect against many or all possible future flu pandemics. So far, that has proven quite challenging, though.

"A universal influenza vaccine has been talked about for years, but because influenza adapts and changes and there are different types, it's very hard to come up with components," Stephenson said.

Another study announced this week suggests that the quest for a universal vaccine may be a step closer.

Robert Belshe, director of the Saint Louis University Center for Vaccine Development, and colleagues tested a vaccine prototype called Bivalent Influenza Peptide Conjugate Vaccine (BIPCV) that treats some strains of influenza viruses A and B (swine flu is an A-type virus). The researchers found that this vaccine was well-tolerated and safe among most of the 377 adult human test subjects, and provided an immune response on par with levels that protect small animals infected with influenza from serious disease and death.

"This is a significant first step in developing a universal vaccine to help protect against pandemic influenza," Belshe said. He presented his findings today at the National Foundation for Infectious Disease Conference for Vaccine Research in Baltimore.
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http://www.livescience.com/health/090427-flu-vaccine.html

Outbreak Like Mexican Swine Flu Predicted 14 Months Ago
Video: The Challenge of Making Flu Vaccines
More Flu News & Information

interesting
 
DEATHMASTER said:
Are they vaccines or just drugs?
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They are Drugs and the best we have currently.
It will be a couple of years before with have a vaccine for it, already scientists are working on one.
The last vaccine they made for Swine Flu killed more than the outbreak did. So let's hope they get it right this time.
 
any updates on this?? media overhype as usual?? also my stomach seems to be back to normal now
 
Haha its like end of the world here in new zealand and we don't have anyone infected, 'only suspected'
god the F***king media overhype this Flu just like they did with the god damn recession
 
Warped said:
any updates on this?? media overhype as usual?? also my stomach seems to be back to normal now
Click to expand...

1. The World Health Organization has declared a level 4 pandemic alert. Level 4 means the disease is spreading mostly person-to person and is in several countries. Level 5 means widespread infection in local communities. Level 6 means global pandemic (ie, level 5 conditions in all or most countries) The WHO continues to maintain "containment is infeasible"

2. The Mexican government is being criticized for responding too slowly to the disease, and experts fear that the actual infection rate in mexico may be much higher.

3. The WHO has not started manufacture and research of a vaccine, and will not unless level 5 is declared.

4. China, Russia, South Korea and Singapore are screening all incoming air travelers for fever using infrared cameras. Russia has banned imports of U.S meats.

5. Scientists in Hong Kong are working on a faster test for the virus, which could lower the culture rate from days to hours.

6. Most national governments have recommended that nobody go to Mexico for "nonessential business".
 
I just don't know what to say.I'm scared.I'm a big pussy , and i am afraid of everything usually but now i can literally shit into my pants out of fear.The flu is spreading too fast and WHO can't do shit about it except raise " concern levels"
 
Know what I advise? I advise you lock yourself in your basement and cut all contact from the outside world for the next four months.
 
Jintor said:
Know what I advise? I advise you lock yourself in your basement and cut all contact from the outside world for the next four months.
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Why don't you take your daughter down with you, you filthy Australian.
 
Done and done.

Wait, you have a daughter? Aren't you, like, early 20s? D:
 
nofreeman said:
Haha its like end of the world here in new zealand and we don't have anyone infected, 'only suspected'
god the F***king media overhype this Flu just like they did with the god damn recession
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The 11 cases in New Zealand have been confirmed.

And theotherguy, I saw that conference live with a WHO spokesman and he said that a look into a vaccine had already started.
 
The world is going apeshit over this. :|
 
As long as it doesn't cross cook straight, I'm ok....
 
My friend has the flu and he's feeling pretty shitty..

But he still goes to school and he's getting over it.

It might be the normal flu - it might not. Either way this is being blown way out of proportion.. The only reason people died in Mexico is because of the shitty health care.

Move along.
 
Thanks Dog, it's a pity the doctors, virologists and pathologists don't have you to tell them why people have died in Mexico but nowhere else yet!

Perhaps you should also tell the WHO and CDC that it's nothing to worry about? They're clearly fretting needlessly you should put them at ease.
 
Dog-- said:
My friend has the flu and he's feeling pretty shitty..

But he still goes to school and he's getting over it.

It might be the normal flu - it might not. Either way this is being blown way out of proportion.. The only reason people died in Mexico is because of the shitty health care.

Move along.
Click to expand...

The plausible theory as to the deaths in Mexico and nowhere else is actually because they think its mixing with another virus or along lines at virus epicenter, it seems to me that as it spreads it becomes less serious. There are reports of the one case in Israel, that the man has made a full recovery from it.
 
Eejit said:
Thanks Dog, it's a pity the doctors, virologists and pathologists don't have you to tell them why people have died in Mexico but nowhere else yet!

Perhaps you should also tell the WHO and CDC that it's nothing to worry about? They're clearly fretting needlessly you should put them at ease.
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either your entire family has swine flu or you're another person who thinks the world is about to end. "ITS A PANDEMIC!!!!!!"

my throat is sore
 
Or I'm someone who thinks its hilarious that random people basing their opinion off what they read in the tabloids or watch on Fox think they have a better understanding of the situation than trained proffessionals doing their jobs.
 
Eejit said:
Or I'm someone who thinks its hilarious that random people basing their opinion off what they read in the tabloids or watch on Fox think they have a better understanding of the situation than trained proffessionals doing their jobs.
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he was right, it is being blown out of proportion. 6 People in Canada as of last night have it....OH NOES
 
The avian flu caused a bigger stir than this.

I'm pretty sure I actually caught the avian flu, as unbeknown to me, I had mosquitoes breeding in a neglected pan that had filled with water in my backyard. (They breed in stagnant water)

While laying in bed quite ill for a few days, I looked up one day and saw that there were about 8 mosquitoes matching the images of the ones I had seen on TV that carry the virus, and they were resting on my ceiling in my small room! They had come in through my open window, directly above their breeding pan.

Nobody really believes me to this day, like it was some mythical disease that no real people could get.

Anyway, if this Mexican flu was a big deal, they would be scrambling, and they aren't.


EDIT: this is what the mosquitoes looked like; Black with the scary stripes:

mosquito.jpg
 
Tyguy said:
he was right, it is being blown out of proportion. 6 People in Canada as of last night have it....OH NOES
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He he was definitely 100% right about "The only reason people died in Mexico is because of the shitty health care.". Funny how he can be so much more sure than the experts.

Also if you've played that Pandemic 2 game one thing is does pretty well is simulating the way in which a new disease spreads...

Hey Virus, heard the term 'hypochondriasis'?
 
so the death toll is around 150 people in Mexico. And its sad that 150 people have died. But you know what, unless it gets drastically higher, this is normal. 300,000 to 500,000 people die world wide from the flu. Hell, even here in the United States, 36000 people die each year from influenza (almost 99 a day). Why are people freaking out? I mean, I know why, but lets just wait and see what happens. There's not much that can be done to stop it if it is the real deal anyway.
 
David.Seth2 said:
so the death toll is around 150 people in Mexico. And its sad that 150 people have died. But you know what, unless it gets drastically higher, this is normal. 300,000 to 500,000 people die world wide from the flu. Hell, even here in the United States, 36000 people die each year from influenza (almost 99 a day). Why are people freaking out? I mean, I know why, but lets just wait and see what happens. There's not much that can be done to stop it if it is the real deal anyway.
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mortiz-Redux said:
The point is not how many people have died from it, it's the mortality rate, which for this virus is far higher than normal influenza, which thousands may die from but millions get.
Click to expand...



VirusType2 said:
Are you joking, trolling, or genuinely can't believe it either?

Note: you may choose any or all choices.
Click to expand...

So there were mosquitos near you, that means you had bird flu. Why doesn't anyone believe you?!
 
I've looked into the future and saw that swine flu isn't going to be a big deal. However, in about 10 years, we'll all die of giraffe flu. Except for the Australians, they'll die some time later of dingo flu.
 
http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/health/two-scottish-people-feeling-a-bit-run-down-200904281729/


TWO SCOTTISH PEOPLE FEELING A BIT RUN DOWN

botflu1.jpg

Scottish flu passes easily from bottle to human

THE government raised its virus alert level to 'pantastic' last night after it was confirmed that two people in Scotland were hovering close to feeling slightly unwell.


The pair, from one of the dozens of non-descript hell-holes between Edinburgh and Glasgow, were admitted to hospital yesterday when their condition was described as 'critically fuzzy'.

Doctors said they were now 90% certain the couple were suffering from Pork Flu as opposed to a common strain of Scottish Influenza, also known as a bastard hangover.

Dr Tom Logan, from the Royal Infirmary of Scotland, said: "Scottish flu is particularly common at this time of year as the weather becomes milder and the days longer, meaning everyone spends even more time in the pub than usual, mainly because they can stand outside all night smoking hundreds of fags."

He added: "I would not be surprised if over the next few days we see thousands of Scottish people coming forward reeking of cheap wine and claiming to have spent the weekend in Mexico City."

A Department of Health spokesman said: "We are almost certainly facing a pandemic and there is now nothing we can do to stop quite a few people being given some pills and told to stay home and watch Murder She Wrote.

"However, we are urging those infected not to watch Grey's Anatomy on Living TV. It won't make their illness any worse, but it will make them much, much worse - as people."

Meanwhile in America more than 40 people have been confirmed as feeling a bit peaky, including one woman who really had to sit down.
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Looks like I'm ****ed.
 
Girl in my college says her dad has just returned from Mexico a few days ago, has a flu of some sorts. Seems he's far too arrogant to go to a doctor about it.

Hm.
 
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