swine flu

[kelsen83]

Hey ppl.. Actually i feel that there's no cause for real panic and alarm with the temperature taking and stuff. All those "precautionary measures" are taken, in my personal opinion, just for show. My best friend, who is a doctor in a gov hospital, told me about some of the extra stuff that MOH is enforcing and they're really a whole load of rubbish so.. chill!

[kelsen83]

Ooo and just to share with you guys, my friend had a fever of 39degreesC when he touched down from NRT the other day and guess what- the equipments set up at the customs area in the arrival hall failed to pick that up! It's rather scary when you think of it cuz if swine flu were to ever get into sg, it'll be thru air travel and the two causeway links!

[Barczar]

Last week ONE person in the USA died as a result of the "swine flu"... another 6,000 died from obesity related diseases - pandemic - yeah, but has nothing to do with the flu!

Since January of this year:
Death Toll relating to the "Swine Flu" worldwide 150

Death Toll relating to the "Swine Flu" in the United States 1 (was a Mexican back in the USA though so doesn't really count towards the USA.

Death Toll relating to the regular run of the mill seasonal flu in the United States since January 13,000+

Death Toll relating to the Regular run of the mill seasonal flu worldwide in any given year is estimated between 250,000 to 500,000.

But hell....don't let the facts get in the way of your fear mongering panic...

[sundaymorningstaple]

Death Toll relating to the "Swine Flu" in the United States 1 (was a Mexican back in the USA though so doesn't really count towards the USA.

There has been one US resident in Texas that Has died of the H1N1 flu as well as of this morning. I'm surprised that the newspapers didn't hype it up with something like US Death Toll from swine flu DOUBLES over night!

It will be interesting how it mutates before next fall though. And whether the "flu" jab will be able to keep up with the mutations. Will agree that Singapore is a wee bit knee-jerk in it's response, but it would seem that they are not by themselves at the moment.

[SteveP79]

I agree with Barczar - there are so many much easier ways to get yourself killed. You're probably more likely to be hit by a car or struck by lightening on the way to the shop to buy the face mask, than you are from H1N1.

That said, I'm perfectly happy with all precautionary measures. Better safe than sorry and all that.

[Jeppo]

Death Toll relating to the "Swine Flu" in the United States 1 (was a Mexican back in the USA though so doesn't really count towards the USA.

Racist much? I guess Merkin doctors won't treat foreigners, huh?

Death Toll relating to the regular run of the mill seasonal flu in the United States since January 13,000+

Do you have the mortality rates for seasonal flu and swine flu? Is mexico a high contributor to seasonal flu mortality? Or has swine flu had a higher mortality rate? What about ages? Seasonal flu is known to be predominantly a problem for the aged and infirm, how does it correspond to swine flu? Is swine flu more lethal for healthy people or seasonal flu?

[Asdracles]

There has been one US resident in Texas that Has died of the H1N1 flu as well as of this morning. I'm surprised that the newspapers didn't hype it up with something like US Death Toll from swine flu DOUBLES over night!

Yes, right, but also don't say so much about her bad health situation before the H1N1 flu..... I'm wondering: If I get the virus, and later I die hit by a car, I'm counted also like a H1N1 victim?

Because seriously, the chances of being hit by a car are much higher than the chances of getting the virus, but I don't see LTA making 3 speed controls per day to every car in Singapore and double checking the traffic lights every hour

And I absolutely agree with Barczar. I don't know what would happen with a "comeback", but in this situation, we have a normal flu.

I'm spanish. Spain is the ranking 5 in cases detected/suspicious (after Mexico, USA, New Zealand and Canada) and there was a bit paranoia with the first cases, but now, nobody is so worried. You go to clinic, take almost same treatment that a normal flu and you go home. Done.

Just one anecdote. The mother of one of the first person infected in Spain said in an interview something like this:

Each time that I went to clinic, I saw my kid doing well. But when I returned home and read newspapers or watched TV, I panicked and had to go back to hospital. Then I saw my kid ok, and was wondering if my kid was Superman or the journalists apocalyptical prophets

[Barczar]

Racist much? I guess Merkin doctors won't treat foreigners, huh?

Mexican is a racist term?...No....Mexican is the term for a person from Mexico...Or were you upset about the spelling of American as in Merikans? Thin skinned much? If that is the case than yeah I'm a big ol' racist!!! You got me!

If a Mexican is travelling in USA and dies do you say that an Merikan died or a Mexican died....I'd say Mexican which would not count against the American death toll...

Do I have the mortality rates etc? New invention called the Google on the Interweb thingy - what am I a doctor or a statistician with nothing better to do than look into "pig flu"? I found some facts from the CDC posted them here and you want to get all technical and pissy in an attempt to prove you are right and we are all going to die?...

Try not to dislocated your shoulder from patting yourself on the back so hard whilst justifying your fear mongering to the rest of the forum......

Anybody needs me I'll be out playing with Miss Piggy...

[Jeppo]

Racist much? I guess Merkin doctors won't treat foreigners, huh?

Mexican is a racist term?...No....Mexican is the term for a person from Mexico...Or were you upset about the spelling of American as in Merikans? Thin skinned much? If that is the case than yeah I'm a big ol' racist!!! You got me!

If a Mexican is travelling in USA and dies do you say that an Merikan died or a Mexican died....I'd say Mexican which would not count against the American death toll...

So if a mexican is hit by a car in America then it doesn't count towards the American road statistics? Or what about if an American dies of lung cancer in Singapore, does that count towards America's or Singapore's toll? Or is it because he contracted the disease outside the country? Since the disease originated in Mexico does that mean all deaths go towards Mexico or only the ones contracted there? He was in America, under American medical treatment when he died. What purpose does it serve to say he was Mexican? American medical treatment failed to help him, maybe it should go towards Mexicos count, and maybe not, but the fact is America couldn't save him.

Do I have the mortality rates etc? New invention called the Google on the Interweb thingy - what am I a doctor or a statistician with nothing better to do than look into "pig flu"? I found some facts from the CDC posted them here and you want to get all technical and pissy in an attempt to prove you are right and we are all going to die?...

You used statistics to prove a point. I was merely questioning them, since you used a solitary number to prove the point without looking at other factors. Nowhere did I say that we should all hide under our beds until it's over, merely that we shouldn't base decisions on partial information. If you want to live your life without getting relevant facts, then go for, but make sure it's not hurting other people when you do it.

[wnyw]

I think part of the additional fear that we have is generated from the media with all the precautionary news given...

while on one hand i believe it's better safe than sorry. If we are no pre-warned or there's no precaution measures taken, and outbreak takes place without being prepared, people would complain against the authority. Yet when they are being very careful, we tend to think they are overly cautious and create unnecessary stress...

I guess there are always 2 sides of the coin to view, depending which you are in. For me, I think i appreciate the extra precaution planned but I'll try not to get myself overly affected by this...

2 days ago i took my kids down to the playground and saw no children, when normally there's a bunch of kids playing... my deduction is because of the fear of the virus. Btw, i'm currently staying in a condo with mostly expat communities from Japan, Germany, Australia... so was quite shocked to see the effect.

[Jeppo]

Personally I'm not sure which side I'm on, I've read so much (due to my work) and frankly there is so much going both ways, it's difficult to tell which way to go.

One of my problems though is when people use statistics selctively to push their view. Here's an example which uses statistics to blur the truth:

300,000 deaths each year in the United States are associated with obesity.

Cigarette smoking-related mortality from malignant neoplasms (ie. Cancer) 160,372 (year 2001)

Source: CDC website

Hence, it’s healthier to smoke than to eat that chocolate cake for dessert.

And here's some more info regarding the Spanish Flu and Swine Flu:

1918 Spanish flu (caused by an H1N1 swine influenza virus) killed an estimated 40 million people in less than a year

“Nobel laureate Frank MacFarlane Burnet believed deaths were at least 50 million, and may bave reached 100 million. Between September 1918 and April 1919, approximately 500,000 to 675,000 deaths from the flu occurred in the US alone.”

“In general the rate of death is highest for the very young and older persons. The 1918 pandemic followed a strikingly different pattern, with the highest mortality in young persons 25-30 years old. With the Spanish flu, mortality rates were high among healthy adults as well as the usual high-risk groups. The attack rate and mortality was highest among adults 20 to 50 years old.”

“The "case-fatality rate", the fraction of infected people who die, was 2 to 2.5 percent for the United States as a whole in the 1918 Spanish Flu, while the Asian influenza of 1957-58 had a fatality rate of 0.2-0.5, and the Hong Kong flu of 1968-69 was 0.1 percent, about that of seasonal flu.

As of 0600 GMT, 3 May 2009, 17 countries have officially reported 787 cases of influenza A(H1N1) infection. Mexico had reported 506 confirmed human cases of infection, including 19 deaths, a case-fatality rate of 3.7%.

The "case reproduction number" or "basic reproductive number" [RO] - how many people are infected by each new case - determines the potential for the spread of a disease. The case reproductive number for measles, which is highly contagious, is above 15; smallpox is over 5. With seasonal influenza, the reproductive number ranges from 1.5 to 3.0.

On 02 May 2009 The Washington Post reported that Miguel Ã