LAS46
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I am not worried at all about the swine flu... what I always say is "If you are scared of it you will most likely get it".
Swine flu
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I am not worried at all about the swine flu... what I always say is "If you are scared of it you will most likely get it".
Sasha
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I wonder if the Mexican origin of the Swine Flu is bringing about some racisim towards those of Spanish background.
Today at work, a mother brought her daughter in because Little Julie had played with a little meixcan girl and had sneezed, so she must have Swine Flu. It was only later that Little Julie told me her friend was from Chile, not Mexico.
Today at work, a mother brought her daughter in because Little Julie had played with a little meixcan girl and had sneezed, so she must have Swine Flu. It was only later that Little Julie told me her friend was from Chile, not Mexico.
lightsandsirens5
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Same here. We have one possible case and the "flu like symptoms" calls are starting.
Shishkabob
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Yeah, well, all schools around me are closed for 2 weeks due to a confirmed case.
I win.
I win.
Summit
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lightsandsirens5
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This is driving me nuts...
Ok. Here's the problem as I see it with the H1N1 influenza strain that's cropping up right now.
First of all, it's a new strain that we've not played with before and most of the serious cases have been in Mexico where there is poorer healthcare to begin with and not much in the way of documentation coming our way, so we really don't have a baseline for where this illness goes and when patients are likely to take a turn for the worse. We *won't* know until there have been a few more cases here in the US.
Second, the fact that it's a new strain means that we have no community acquired immunity to it. We get vaccinated for the normal flu virus, and something like +70% of the population gets the vaccine. This means that the odd unvaccinated bloke has a much lower chance of being exposed to someone who's got an active infection... meaning he's less likely to suffer from it himself. Since nobody has had this before or been vaccinated for it yet, there's no protection at the community level from it. This means everyone is highly susceptible to getting infected, and subsequently, to passing it on to other susceptible people.
This is the scary part. It could move quickly and get people before they realize they've even been exposed... and even if it only kills 5% of infectees, it still incapacitates everyone who gets sick for a short period of time, putting strain our our infrastructure and healthcare systems.
Now, the part that drives me nuts... we really should have been taking precautions like this with influenza all along, as something like 36,000 people die from influenza every year. People are calling "sky is falling" because this is a new, SCARY form of flu. I'm sorry... I'm not that scared. I'm a realist.
Reality check: Pandemics happen. They're a part of our entire history and life. Human life is fragile. Some people will die of illness. But I'm much less scared of influenza than I am of any of the hemorrhagic fevers that crop up in Africa... we can at least treat influenza. Wash your hands. Keep your kids home if they catch it at school (schools are the hot zone right now) and go to the doctor if you have a really high fever (which you should be doing ANYWAY.)
Just my thoughts on the matter...
Wendy
CO EMT-B
Ok. Here's the problem as I see it with the H1N1 influenza strain that's cropping up right now.
First of all, it's a new strain that we've not played with before and most of the serious cases have been in Mexico where there is poorer healthcare to begin with and not much in the way of documentation coming our way, so we really don't have a baseline for where this illness goes and when patients are likely to take a turn for the worse. We *won't* know until there have been a few more cases here in the US.
Second, the fact that it's a new strain means that we have no community acquired immunity to it. We get vaccinated for the normal flu virus, and something like +70% of the population gets the vaccine. This means that the odd unvaccinated bloke has a much lower chance of being exposed to someone who's got an active infection... meaning he's less likely to suffer from it himself. Since nobody has had this before or been vaccinated for it yet, there's no protection at the community level from it. This means everyone is highly susceptible to getting infected, and subsequently, to passing it on to other susceptible people.
This is the scary part. It could move quickly and get people before they realize they've even been exposed... and even if it only kills 5% of infectees, it still incapacitates everyone who gets sick for a short period of time, putting strain our our infrastructure and healthcare systems.
Now, the part that drives me nuts... we really should have been taking precautions like this with influenza all along, as something like 36,000 people die from influenza every year. People are calling "sky is falling" because this is a new, SCARY form of flu. I'm sorry... I'm not that scared. I'm a realist.
Reality check: Pandemics happen. They're a part of our entire history and life. Human life is fragile. Some people will die of illness. But I'm much less scared of influenza than I am of any of the hemorrhagic fevers that crop up in Africa... we can at least treat influenza. Wash your hands. Keep your kids home if they catch it at school (schools are the hot zone right now) and go to the doctor if you have a really high fever (which you should be doing ANYWAY.)
Just my thoughts on the matter...
Wendy
CO EMT-B
HotelCo
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gillysaurus
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doIhaveswineflu.org made me LOL. ^_^
We have our first two confirmed cases in our state... Suck on that, other 49(ish?) states who aren't part of the cool pig flu club!!
We have our first two confirmed cases in our state... Suck on that, other 49(ish?) states who aren't part of the cool pig flu club!!
DV_EMT
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so...i just got the update from micromedix for the recommended drug therapy... looks like lots of tamiflu or relenza the solution. honestly, it doesn't surprise me.
Summit
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WHO has decided that "Swine Flu" has too many negative connotations.
It will now be known as "Bacon Flu" which sounds much tastier.
Mmmmmmm.... Bacon Flu....
It will now be known as "Bacon Flu" which sounds much tastier.
Mmmmmmm.... Bacon Flu....
Sasha
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Eww bacon.
Mountain Res-Q
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We could call it the Canadian Bacon Flu. That way we could stop blaming/fearing the Mexican and turn our fear toward the ones who are far more likely to create a deadly disease so as to kill us all of and take our land... The Canadians.
Shishkabob
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Canada's not a real country, silly.
HotelCo
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http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/05/01/swine.flu.schools/index.html
Think they should be allowed to walk? How about with N95s?
Think they should be allowed to walk? How about with N95s?
Shishkabob
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Well... incubation for the virus is less than 5 days. Chances are they aren't carrying.
Let em walk.
Let em walk.
VFFforpeople
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We can't get N-95 here anymore, the government bought them up..figures lol Why would we need them? We dont deal with the sick or injured people at all lol.
HotelCo
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Of course. Why give them to the people who actually NEED them. No no.. let's stockpile them and then never use them. That makes PERFECT sense.
EMTCop86
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That's a bunch of BS. I understand they don't want the virus to spread but to punish someone who isn't having any S/S is IMO ridiculous. There is a High School around my area that actually cancelled their prom.
VFFforpeople
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Ya that was what a few guys from AMR were talking about at our station the other night..I was like awesome..good thing I am a FF as well..always fall back to the BA lol!!