Swine Flu

by **carter** Fri May 01, 2009 7:20 am

It is interesting to compare the response of our officials to the response of our youth. When you see officials running around like chicken with their heads cut off in order to appease the masses - it's amazing to see how their efforts have become the butt of many jokes among our youth.

Today, while I was in class I had the pleasure of overhearing two students discuss their poor friend Samantha, who was out sick. Samantha has had the cold for two days, and has been absent for just as long. The two in the back were discussing if they should see her, but afraid to 'catch a cold' from her. It was touching, until a third came by and said: "Uh-oh, sounds like swine flu to me!" Well, this response elicited a response that I did not expect. Instead of being offended, the two other students actually laughed, and said: "Well, we thought about that... but she hasn't been to Mexico."

After dealing with that comment, the period ended, and I went to go grab food. While I was in the lounge, I overheard other teachers talking about Swine Flu. And to sum it up; it was a joke to them as well. They recounted stories of every little cough, or sneeze in their classroom; greeted with a "Swine Flu!" from the other students.

And so its begun. Many will reduce this flu into a joke, citing Avian flu, SARS, and other 'false alarms.' When questioned, many also like to point out the ratio: 236 : 6,500,000,000 that is, 236 cases to 6.5 billion people. Which when given the media spotlight, does seem excessive.

So is this truly a serious issue? Or is this 'pandemic' blown out of proportion, and just fodder for a 24hr news cycle?

http://candid.newsvine.com/_news/2009/04/30/2756675-swine-flu-the-new-joke-in-town

If this teacher told me i couldn't make fun of a sick classmate I would give him/her a solid backhand in the pants. This is a huge opportunity to make some very offensive and rightfully un-funny jokes at the expense of anyone that is sick.

And no one. I do me no one, can take this right away from me. Anyway, i think i'm going to go by some pig meat and throw it at kids walking to school. They love that ****.

by **musicislife** Fri May 01, 2009 10:34 pm

people need to learn to be quiet about the swine flew!! i mean seriously. people have been nothing but talking about it for the last couple days.

by **cpschult** Fri May 01, 2009 11:16 pm

well hey, it might be the next cool thing to kill 18 million people

but whatever

by **musicislife** Sat May 02, 2009 9:13 am

i might be the next cool thing to kill 18 million people but they need to learn to be quiet about it!!!

by **tictac** Sat May 02, 2009 9:24 am

I dont think people are taking it seriously because it has not been fatal. The fact that it has spread into so many states, and worldwide so quickly is scary, and I could see it being very dangerous if it got into the wrong place i.e. higher risk people such as elderly people, and infants. It is not a joke, but the news should really lay off a bit, they might be starting a panic attack where people pile up on water and stay hunkered indoors. Whatever, more room on the road for me.

by **carter** Sat May 02, 2009 9:54 am

Do people actually think it could kill 18 million people? I have always thought disease would become our own little population control but didn't really think this would be it.

but tictac, the media is amazing at making something out of nothing. Our country was practically founded on this premis!

by **tictac** Sat May 02, 2009 9:57 am

I think our country was founded on the premis that Native Americans are tasty delicious and the english wanted to stop paying taxes on food. Thats what happened right?

by **carter** Sat May 02, 2009 9:59 am

Pretty close, that and all people of color or non-Christians are doomed to the christian hell.

by **cpschult** Sat May 02, 2009 10:31 am

tictac wrote:I dont think people are taking it seriously because it has not been fatal.

The reason people are freaking out is because it has been fatal. And not on those nambly pambly old people or babies. This can take out people with completely healthy immune systems. If you want I can find links to the articles about it.

But I agree. More room on the road for us.

by **cpschult** Sat May 02, 2009 10:33 am

carter wrote:Do people actually think it could kill 18 million people? I have always thought disease would become our own little population control but didn't really think this would be it.

but tictac, the media is amazing at making something out of nothing. Our country was practically founded on this premis!

I don't think they want to find out if it can kill 18 million.

And here I was thinking the media only lost it in the last 5-10 years...

by **tictac** Sat May 02, 2009 10:34 am

The reason people are freaking out is because it has been fatal. And not on those nambly pambly old people or babies. This can take out people with completely healthy immune systems. If you want I can find links to the articles about it.

But I agree. More room on the road for us.

Oh thats scary I haven't heard of any fatalities here in America. study

by **cpschult** Sat May 02, 2009 10:37 am

i heard yesterday it killed a baby

the CDC was pumped because we haven't seen it kill healthy people yet (!!!) because in Mexico it is swatting them down like flies.

by **ethan** Sat May 02, 2009 10:54 am

It kills people that don't or can't get to a hospital. If you have access to even basic health services, you'll be fine.
Students joke about it all the time in my classes, and the only thing that bothers me about it is that I'm sick of hearing the jokes. The average American probably says the words "swine flu" at least a dozen times over the course of the day right now.
Yes, let's make sure that those who have the flu get to the hospital and get better. No, we don't need to worry ourselves sick about it and we don't need the media to warn us about how the swine flu will kick down our doors, rape our families, kick our dogs, and piss on our rugs.

by **cpschult** Sat May 02, 2009 11:40 am

ethan wrote:It kills people that don't or can't get to a hospital. If you have access to even basic health services, you'll be fine.
Students joke about it all the time in my classes, and the only thing that bothers me about it is that I'm sick of hearing the jokes. The average American probably says the words "swine flu" at least a dozen times over the course of the day right now.
Yes, let's make sure that those who have the flu get to the hospital and get better. No, we don't need to worry ourselves sick about it and we don't need the media to warn us about how the swine flu will kick down our doors, rape our families, kick our dogs, and piss on our rugs.

Wow. If you don't understand why it could be serious, don't post about it. Yes, the media has blown this out of proportion. They make money from people tuning in. But this is a serious issue. We have antivirals stockpiled because the government was concered about a biological attack of some sort, which is good. The reason this is could blow up is because of how easily it moves. It is not the end of the world, but if it mutates again, it could kill millions.

You remember the bird flu? It didn't move easily from human to human. West Nile Virus? It was carried by mosquito's, and didn't move easily from human to human. The media blew both of those up, but they weren't nearly as serious as this.

Now, to take another look from a world perspective.

I'm sorry that the US is one of the most powerful and most prepared nation. I mean, if you lifted your head out of your ass you might realize that there are billions of other people worldwide who may not have access to "basic health services".

But I can understand why the average american only thinks national. Even Jessie mentioned about death's only in the US.

What you don't understand is when people don't get basic care, or get halfassed care, and the virus mutates. International travel and trade almost gurantee we will see this new version.

I think people dying is funny.

by **cpschult** Sat May 02, 2009 11:45 am

but hey, according to WHO ( the world health organization) the swine flu is only at phase 5 of a pandemic alert! yay for human to human transmission!

by **ethan** Sat May 02, 2009 12:11 pm

Don't get all holier than thou and lecture me about the poor brown people around the world and how they will suffer from swine flu. There are numerous viral and bacteriological agents that are a much greater risk to the first and third world. Your alarmism does not mean that you are more informed or more sensitive to the plight of the international community. Since you are clearly quite concerned about global epidemics I'm sure you're well aware that AIDS, TB, cholera, and malaria are each responsible for massive death tolls across the third world. Where are your postings about new TB mutations in Africa and central Asia, and that we are helpless against? Or the cholera that hasn't stopped killing in DR Congo, Burundi, and Rwanda since 1994?

by **cpschult** Sat May 02, 2009 12:38 pm

This wasn't a discussion about any of those. If you want to get into it I'm sure I know more about them then you do. Or not.

This was a discussion about swine flu. How it affects us, how it affects the world. It's basically a flu that can kill you. I don't call my attitude alarmist, I'm a realist. If you want me to post on those other topics I can.

This isn't a joke, this flu hasn't killed many people, 37 I think at last count. The problem is that this flu spreads so easily. Aids, TB, cholera, and malaria DO NOT spread as easily as this flu does. Tb, cholera, and malaria for the most part are all endemic. Why are they endemic... money.

I am more informed about this than you. Trust me on that. (I just finished a research paper on antibiotic resistant bacteria and their gene flow due to international travel and trade)

My first attack on you was on your knowledge of the swine flu. Not on your lack of caring for the internatinal community. I retract your head up your ass statement because you either google quickly, or you are more knowledgable than your average american, most of which would have no idea about bacteria and viruses worldwide.

****ing teachers

by **cpschult** Sat May 02, 2009 12:39 pm

flag pole, 3 o'clock

by **ethan** Sat May 02, 2009 1:13 pm

Lets not turn this into a pissing contest of who knows more than who about what. Congratulations on your paper, and I'm sure you have a good deal of knowledge on the topic, but writing a paper does not make one an infallible expert by any means.
What exactly do you mean by "******* teachers"? Is there something I've said that is somehow representative of a negative characteristic of all teachers?
Back on topic: By bringing other global killers into the conversation, I was meaning to say that death toll is probably a more important and concerning statistic than the rate of spread. If I were a resident of Botswana, Kazakhstan, or Cambodia, I would be more worried about cholera or TB than I would about swine flu. Furthermore, at this point, I believe the mortality rate for swine flu is about the same as for many other strains of influenza. Flu may spread rapidly, but it isn't a major killer unless there are other factors present. The 1918 flu was so bad because the destruction from WWI left people malnourished, weakened, and unable to deal with an outbreak. The same for the flu shortly after the 100 years war.
Finally, to try and make some peace here...I don't think there is really any reason for us to be at each others' throats about this. We're both aware of our privilege and seem to care about those around the world that are not quite so fortunate. We're arguing over what sucks more for people that live with suck as an everyday part of their lives.

by **drago** Sat May 02, 2009 6:32 pm

What I don't get is if the flu spreads so easily, why are so few deaths? I understand that this could errupt and from my mom was saying, people are only worried about the mutations. I guess I have too much faith in science to and the medical field to be personally concerened.

Unfortunately, as schultz said, not every is so lucky to have access to quality medical. If I worried about every disease, scuffle or war that killed people by the thousands, my head would spin clean off my neck.

by **cpschult** Sat May 02, 2009 8:56 pm

Because right now it is just like the flu. A really new version from a american strain and an asian strain. The problem is we have no natural defenses against this strain. Generally a person with a healthy immune system has no problem beating down a virus, but this strain has killed people with healthy immune systems.

What's scary, is that with antiviral treatment, if it is not completed, can aid in the mutation of a nastier version.

So far swine flu has only killed 17. Which actually makes it less dangerous.

The worst part about this one is that it is air borne transisted.

Your point about 1918 is a bit off. Why did it become so widespread? Troop movement.

by **cpschult** Sun May 03, 2009 1:57 am

update:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090503/ap_on_re_ca/cn_canada_swine_flu;_ylt=AswsEGtLIZMhZ0mVXZQ.MeIDW7oF

crapola

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