Discuss Precautionary Measures

The World Health Organization chief said Saturday that the strain has "pandemic potential," and it might be too late to contain a sudden outbreak.
New U.S. swine flu cases spread pandemic fears
Newly confirmed cases in NYC bring the total in U.S. to 19 so far

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Sunday that the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed that same strain of the human swine influenza that has killed people in Mexico has infected at least eight students of a high school. Before that, there were at least 11 confirmed cases of swine flu in California, Texas and Kansas.


Swine flu
Learn about the virus found in pigs and why it is causing concern among health officials.
A new strain of swine flu that has killed as many as 81 and sickened more than 1,324 in Mexico has spread to the United States and is raising fears of a possible pandemic.
Learn more about the disease and why it is causing concern among health officials.



White House to detail response to swine flu

Coming up: Live video of White House briefing on swine flu cases in U.S.

People cannot become infected by eating pork or pork products. Cooking pork to an internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit kills the virus as well as other bacteria, notes the CDC.

How is it treated?
Four antiviral drugs are licensed to treat the disease in the U.S.: amantadine, rimantadine, oseltamivir and zanamivir. Most of the viruses are susceptible to all four, but the CDC currently recommends oseltamivir or zanamivir to treat and prevent swine flu infections. The antivirals should be taken as soon as possible symptoms appear.
Tamiflu, the generic name for oseltamivir, appears to be effective against the new strain when taken early, says the CDC.
Mexico flu deaths raise fears of global epidemic


Scientists said the virus combines genetic material from pigs, birds and humans in a way researchers have not seen before.
"We are very, very concerned," World Health Organization spokesman Thomas Abraham said.
"We have what appears to be a novel virus and it has spread from human to human," he said.
"It's all hands on deck at the moment."

http://www.who.int/en/

http://www.cdc.gov/

Hey! Maybe we could send this to the DEA! Pigs could get swine flu! Good plan!

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Life,
j-angel

aka GP purrie kittie attack cat!


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not that kind of pigs Schatz but sure, why not trying on pest vs. another...

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Keep the gun oiled and the thumb green!

****... this is a dream come true... it would wipe out the worlds pig polulation, if only we could keep it from 'people'....

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Hm? I'm disappointed that more precautionary attitude isn't being expressed in a community of already health-compromised patients on a potentially deadly illness.
I was under the impression this web forum was to address the concerns of Patients.
The comments above show me, concern won't be forthcoming to any immune-depressed friends or colleagues.
Sorry, I find the jokes distasteful.

Richard with a very low to zero immune system myself I find the whole thing a bit scary. I was in 2 doctor offices yesterday for exams and tests and its hard not to look around to see who is safe to sit beside. I agree with you this could be significant to anyone that has already a compromised immune system.

Lets hope it dosen't get to big a problem globally because the sick and weak will get hit hardest and quickest. I'm not going to close to any health clinics until this dies down. No pun intended.

Be safe.

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Isn't "Tamiflu" what everyone gets for the flu shot, anyways?

Actually NO, it is only one of many. Some may work while it is known some others will not.

CDC - Influenza (Flu) | Swine Influenza (Flu)

WHO | Disease Outbreak News

The White House - Blog Post - The Necessity of Science

Being in the medical field I'm very familiar with the concept of pandemics. I personally don't think the swine flu is much more to worry about than the bird flu. But!...I do believe that these new strains and emerging epidemics are just a small taste of what's to come and most definitely should be seen as a sign of something much more serious. It's only a matter of time before we really do have a "pandemic" on our hands. If more people realize this now instead of later...when it's too late...then maybe we can change our way of thinking as well as our priorities. Maybe now would be a good time to imagine such a catastrophic event and ask ourselves what we might have done differently if we knew we only had a very limited amount of time to live. Maybe I'll come back with some credible statistics and write something more about this in the next few days.

Boycott all weed grown in Mexico!

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oh yeah, oh yeah.

i see the point in boycotting the weed but i really dont see the point in posting that here, also about now might be the time to start researching more of the antiseptic qualities of cannabinoids aiy?

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they call me ishmael, and mobys music sucks. smile if you get it.

Yeah, my bad. Just trying to make light of what would be a dark situation.
On a more serious note i believe this is like the Bird Flu, SARS (severe accute respiratory syndrome). The ways of dealing with these seem to be the same, react until it gets worse. Heck, in Hawaii the Gov and mayor of Honolulu are saying don't worry, wash your hands, etc, the Health Director is going off saying to be alert watch for signs especially for seniors and young children, and a politician wanting to go full blast against it - screen incoming travelers by looking at body heat (like Japan is doing), conducting surveys on where people have been, and thoroughly examining people who are traveling from Mexico.
I heard that if you used Tamiflu for another flu virus it won't work because your body developed an immunity against it.

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oh yeah, oh yeah.

Good idea to boycott weed from south of the border. Ya know....if this swine flu really does turn into something much worse...then we've really got some serious problems on our hands, considering our aliens run in and out of the USA on our southern border by the thousands on a daily basis. I really do hope the CDC can find a way to contain this one. Ignorance is bliss...sometimes I wish I had never taken microbiology...

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"A thought, even a possibility, can shatter and transform us." ~Friedrich Nietzsche~

Just kidding about the weed part....it would take much more than something like that to contain any sort of outbreak...and ya...I'm guilty too of trying to make light of a very serious topic. The way the drug war has been going on Americas' southern border...I would much rather boycott Mexican weed because of all of the murders and innocent lives lost just so that someone can make a quick buck! Not to say that we don't have more than our share of problems here...but we "do" have our own weed. Good ole' American weed...you've got my vote.

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"A thought, even a possibility, can shatter and transform us." ~Friedrich Nietzsche~

OK! So, I need to fear the collapse of the economy, flu pandemic, terrorist, global warming, drugs, Identity theft, North Korea, Iran, carbon footprint, and God knows what else.

I've had the Flu that puts you horizontal for a week or more, about 4 times in my life...If I did not take care of myself, I would have died. I could of died if my body was weakened for some reason. And just about everyone I knew got it! Sorry! If its my time to die, then so be it.

burning i beleive what richard is wanting to know is how people of ill health and low immune systems can protect themselves in the off chance that it travels to where they are. i too like to make light of bad situations and agree the murders at the border are UNACCEPTABLE and i hold the government of both countries responsible for setting into motion the events leading up to this violent trade.

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they call me ishmael, and mobys music sucks. smile if you get it.

Don't the folks with low-immune systems require a "Non-live" anti-viral vaccine. Now, my brother seem to have good results from the "Non-live" shot. Why would that not be good for the rest of the public?

thats just it, i dont know. . . with me its always just been eat healthy drink a glass of orange juice and take some suedaphed lol.

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they call me ishmael, and mobys music sucks. smile if you get it.

I'm sure everyone has heard this before...but just waking up is a gamble and a risk to our being. We can either live in fear (like Adrian Monk) and assume that everyone and everything is infected with something that can kill us, massive use of dust masks, hand sanitizer, and assorted PPE...or we can just live as normal (within reason of course) and hope that it's not out time. The best advice that I could give to an immunosuppressed person is just to use common sense during an epidemic. Stay indoors as much as possible, invest in a few portable air-filtering machines for the house...as well as an assortment of sanitizers and bleach....and of course a healthy diet, multivitamins, and plenty of weed wouldn't hurt. This too, all depending on the manner in which the virus is most likely to be spread. Even if only spread by human to human contact it still would be wise to anticipate a mutation and take the initiative to hire an exterminator to come out and spray for mosquitoes so that you can mount a preemtive strike against those blood sucking little vectors. (ticks included)

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"A thought, even a possibility, can shatter and transform us." ~Friedrich Nietzsche~

I apologize to the group for being too serious on matters such as this.
As a patient with a compromised immune system, a sniffle in line at the grocery store could end up sending me to the hospital.
I forget websites such as this one are not confined to patients.
I ran in to the same situation at Michigan Medical Marijuana Association.
I assumed it was exclusively for patients and their caregivers.
And as such, the seriousness of the situation would be more readily recognised.