Flu Outbreak Going To Prevent Hauling?

[aziajs]

See, the problem with something like this is that it can be contained to a degree with common sense hygiene BUT A LOT OF PEOPLE DON'T HAVE COMMON SENSE HYGIENE! Do you know how many people I see sneeze and cough without covering their mouths? Or if they do they sneeze or cough into a hand that they then use to hold onto rails, open door, shake your hand, etc? Do you know how many people do not wash their hands? That is what worries me. I will say this, I won't be trying any testers on my face but I will still buy what I planned on buying.

The other thing that worries me is the boy-who-cried-wolf effect. We have seen bird flu, sars, mrsa, etc. and there haven't been catastrophic outbreaks or casualties. So, this time around people won't take the proper precautions because they don't feel there is any real threat.

 

[TISH1124]

^^^ I know right.....Tons of Elementary kids ..... and yes....Nasty adults as well....

 

[reesesilverstar]

Hence the reason why, I'm staying in my corner. I've seen it... I had to tell this parent off in Walmart just this weekend. Her son's coughing and carrying on rubbing his nose and touching PRODUCE. What? Ewww...

 

[SMMY]

The sad thing about things like this, is it brings out the crazies. One of the more, um, interesting posters on another board I read, is convinced that it's a government conspiracy. Yeah, like the government doesn't have enough on it's plate right now, so it's engineered a possible pandemic to keep itself busy. Sometimes people scare me more than viruses.

 

[User38]

*This*
swine flu is a mutation of the *old* swine flu and is mostly airborne. Since it is a mutation of the original swine flu virus, it is not limited to pigs and really only has a small pig component in it. This virus has other host's properties, i.e., birds, humans, etc. Cleanliness will keep anyone safer from contagion, but will not be a panacea for avoiding catching it.

And, unless it kills me dead, it will not stop me buying makeup

 

[User38]

Having survived a severe MRSA infection, I am the world's biggest germophbe. That said, facing death is not so scary once you realize that you will not be going anywhere after that and hey, that would be a first in my life!...

 

[TISH1124]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SMMY The sad thing about things like this, is it brings out the crazies. One of the more, um, interesting posters on another board I read, is convinced that it's a government conspiracy. Yeah, like the government doesn't have enough on it's plate right now, so it's engineered a possible pandemic to keep itself busy. Sometimes people scare me more than viruses.

Yeah tell them we are still dealing with the last one they called a government conspiracy....AIDS.....we can only handle one at a time people

 

[SMMY]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TISH1127 Yeah tell them we are still dealing with the last one they called a government conspiracy....AIDS.....we can only handle one at a time people

People like this are beyond reasoning with. My favorite response back to them was from a poster who wrote, "Okay, we've had bird flu and swine flu, now all we need is a wheat toast flu to have the Axis of Evil breakfast."

 

[ClaireAvril]

um.. I think about 30 or so people died from SARS in Toronto in 2003. These flu things are not something to just brush off. I think when we think it will never happen to us or where I live, thats when things go kablamm-o.

When I started working in downtown Toronto and began taking public transit everyday I noticed I started getting sick more often (I am currently sick right now - again!! and I am really frustrated about it).
I always wash my hands and carry around hand sanitizer.. I try to wear gloves when holding on to rails and open doors with my coat and immediately rub on some hand sanitizer after.
Our health is so dependent on other people's cleanliness and that is scary because not everyone is raised clean. Some people don't even think twice about washing their hands after using the washroom.
Sometimes I am on the train and people will just cough in your face, not even cover their mouth.. wipe their nose then touch the railing.. its disgusting. I wish there was a coootey spray I could spray in their faces--and i would.
Even when I go to MAC people just walk in and stick their dirty fingers into the shadows or slap on one of the display lipglosses and do their makeup for their hot date that night. Buh! Then I pick up a q-tip and swatch a contaminated shadow on the back of my hand.

The worst is when people who are sick insist on coming in to work and spread their germs to everyone. STAY HOME IF YOU'RE SICK!! I am sure the company loses more money if you come in sick and spread your sickness around the office. And I think companies need to start broadcasting that to employees because I think some people feel as though its frowned upon when they call in sick. I may just call in sick tomorrow because I feel like sh*t.

There was a Hepatitis A outbreak at a Tim Hortons in a city just north of Toronto. It makes you think.. omg people who are handling/preparing the food I eat aren't even washing their hands. Sick.

I am at the point where I do want to wear a mask (with a hot smokey eye).. mainly because I am sick of getting sick. and if that sounds crazy I don't care. My mom is a nurse I will get some masks from her lol.

 

[sofie1507]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ClaireAvril um.. I think about 30 or so people died from SARS in Toronto in 2003. These flu things are not something to just brush off. I think when we think it will never happen to us or where I live, thats when things go kablamm-o. When I started working in downtown Toronto and began taking public transit everyday I noticed I started getting sick more often (I am currently sick right now - again!! and I am really frustrated about it). I always wash my hands and carry around hand sanitizer.. I try to wear gloves when holding on to rails and open doors with my coat and immediately rub on some hand sanitizer after. Our health is so dependent on other people's cleanliness and that is scary because not everyone is raised clean. Some people don't even think twice about washing their hands after using the washroom. Sometimes I am on the train and people will just cough in your face, not even cover their mouth.. wipe their nose then touch the railing.. its disgusting. I wish there was a coootey spray I could spray in their faces--and i would. Even when I go to MAC people just walk in and stick their dirty fingers into the shadows or slap on one of the display lipglosses and do their makeup for their hot date that night. Buh! Then I pick up a q-tip and swatch a contaminated shadow on the back of my hand. The worst is when people who are sick insist on coming in to work and spread their germs to everyone. STAY HOME IF YOU'RE SICK!! I am sure the company loses more money if you come in sick and spread your sickness around the office. And I think companies need to start broadcasting that to employees because I think some people feel as though its frowned upon when they call in sick. I may just call in sick tomorrow because I feel like sh*t. There was a Hepatitis A outbreak at a Tim Hortons in a city just north of Toronto. It makes you think.. omg people who are handling/preparing the food I eat aren't even washing their hands. Sick. I am at the point where I do want to wear a mask (with a hot smokey eye).. mainly because I am sick of getting sick. and if that sounds crazy I don't care. My mom is a nurse I will get some masks from her lol.

i SO agree with you! i HATE it when ppl stick their fingers in make up! worse are useing lipgloss like its their own!

 

[NeonKitty]

The media is sensationalizing this and stirring up fear.

This bug is spread through droplet not airborne. There is a significant difference. If someone coughs on you, sneezes on you, spits on your lipgloss, wipes their nose and then touches a door handle, then you can potentially be infected. Items like makeup that come in contact with secretory organs should not be shared. Contact precautions should be maintained, and avoiding close contact with people who have colds/flu symptoms is what will generally be done in this case. Albeit, they may treat this bug as airborne for the time being until they are certain otherwise, but the reason for masks is NOT because it is airborne (sirgical masks do not protect against this) but because it is a droplet contagion.

The NUMBER ONE THING YOU CAN DO TO PROTECT YOURSELF AGAINST ANY TRANSMISSIBLE DISEASE IS TO WASH YOUR HANDS FREQUENTLY.

And that's really all it boils down to. This bug seems to have a relatively high virulence, meaning it spreads fairly easily, but a low mortality. Most cases are mild, like a typical flu, not a full blown influenza. The mortality rate is about 10% if deaths attributed to swine flu are confirmed. That really isnt a whole lot to get excited about, whereas smallpox and ebola, well now THATS something that I would panic about.

Those at the most serious risk are, as always, those who are elderly, very young or immunocompromised. This will comprise the majority of deaths. I guarantee you that the typical influenza and community acquired pneumonias have a higher impact on the herd morbidity than this one.

Another group at high risk are health care workers. We all know it, and there's really nothing we can do about it. With the virulence remaining high, it will make it's way into the hospital population quickly. Health care workers are always amongst the highest risk, and this is no surprise, anyone in health care knows this and accepts it.

So, the moral of the story is, wash your hands, use a paper towel to turn off taps after washing your hands and to open doors, or increase the frequency of handwashing and avoid touching your face. Sneeze and cough into your crook of the arm. Coughing or sneezing into your hand will only spread the virus, this is true with colds etc as well.

At work today the consensus was this swine flu thing is overblown. If it does turn out to be "the big one" (highly unlikely, it's not deadly enough) then we have learned a lesson that we need to be more proactive about secretions and clamping down on travel the very instant a new breakout is observed. There is no way to stop this from spreading all over the world, simply due to the mobility of the world's population. But bear in mind this 10% of deaths among affected individuals includes those of low health status and those with poor access to sanitation currently.


Or you could lock yourself in a bubble, but that would just be boring.

 

[NeonKitty]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ClaireAvril um.. I think about 30 or so people died from SARS in Toronto in 2003. These flu things are not something to just brush off. I think when we think it will never happen to us or where I live, thats when things go kablamm-o. When I started working in downtown Toronto and began taking public transit everyday I noticed I started getting sick more often (I am currently sick right now - again!! and I am really frustrated about it). I always wash my hands and carry around hand sanitizer.. I try to wear gloves when holding on to rails and open doors with my coat and immediately rub on some hand sanitizer after. Our health is so dependent on other people's cleanliness and that is scary because not everyone is raised clean. Some people don't even think twice about washing their hands after using the washroom. Sometimes I am on the train and people will just cough in your face, not even cover their mouth.. wipe their nose then touch the railing.. its disgusting. I wish there was a coootey spray I could spray in their faces--and i would. Even when I go to MAC people just walk in and stick their dirty fingers into the shadows or slap on one of the display lipglosses and do their makeup for their hot date that night. Buh! Then I pick up a q-tip and swatch a contaminated shadow on the back of my hand. The worst is when people who are sick insist on coming in to work and spread their germs to everyone. STAY HOME IF YOU'RE SICK!! I am sure the company loses more money if you come in sick and spread your sickness around the office. And I think companies need to start broadcasting that to employees because I think some people feel as though its frowned upon when they call in sick. I may just call in sick tomorrow because I feel like sh*t. There was a Hepatitis A outbreak at a Tim Hortons in a city just north of Toronto. It makes you think.. omg people who are handling/preparing the food I eat aren't even washing their hands. Sick. I am at the point where I do want to wear a mask (with a hot smokey eye).. mainly because I am sick of getting sick. and if that sounds crazy I don't care. My mom is a nurse I will get some masks from her lol.

SARS was small potatoes. Notice that thing died off after the season was over and nobody has seen or heard of it since. 30 deaths? Big deal, do you know how many people die from community acquired pneumonia in the same period of time? Do you wear masks and wash your hands constantly right now? Maybe you should, you might end up with CAP if you don't.

As for the contaminated shadows, I don't know about you but I always take the mindset of ASSUME EVERYTHING IS CONTAMINATED. I don't expect the testers to be clean. I expect them to be dirty. Rubbing the shadow on the back of your hand which has an intact skin barrier is going to amount to a whole lot of nothing. Snorting it, sticking it in your eye or licking it, well now that's a problem. This is why I don't do shared lipsticks or glosses. You cannot properly sanitize a cream product, end of story, and once again ASSUMING everything is contaminated, I'm not putting that on my lips, but I will swatch it on the back of my intact hand. See where I am going with this?

Handwashing is number one. However, this societal fear of germs over the last few decades has resulted in overuse of antibiotics, antibiotic dish soaps, hand soaps, toilet paper...I digress, which has only served to decrease our immunity to these germs (due to lack of exposure) AND the mutation of viruses/bacteria into antibiotic resistant strains. These are the bugs to worry about, well and ebola...and smallpox...

All you can do is take responsibility for yourself. You cannot control others' hygeine habits, you can only control your own. If you assume that there is always a low grade risk of infection, and wash hands accordingly, you will cut your risk by 70 billion (yes, this is backed by literature hehehe).


Oh yeah and vaccinate. That's the other risk to the population right now, low vaccination levels mean low herd immunity mean high risk for outbreaks of previously wiped out diseases.

The biggest advances in population health have not been fancy medical equipment. It has been 1) sanitation 2) running water 3) vaccination 4) hand washing. All else takes a back seat in terms of effectiveness.

 

[BitBitBabiGirl]

Okay, the normal flu kills somewhere like 300,000 people a year, i think i remember reading, and everybody in the US and Canada who has gotten this, they have all recovered, a 100 or so deaths is nothing to be worried about. Notice what i said earlier. However, it is better to prevent then deal with later. Millions are NOT going to die from this, just wash your hands and make sure your kids, and whomever else does too.

 

[xladydragon]

I find it ironic how there was all this craze about the avian flu killing us.. but it turns out it's pigs who spread the virus, and not the birds.
Honestly, I'm not that scared. If I let myself become scared about the swine flu, what about cancer and other things...? Just gotta live life like it's normal.

 

[Rudyru]

Geez, this is being blown waaay out of proportion. The swine flu has been around for an extremely long time. The strain has mutated, but it has not gotten stronger. The only people who have died from the flu are the usual suspects: The elderly, babies, those living in locations with horrible health care, and those with immuno-comprimised systems.

It's THE FLU. And that's all there is to it.

 

[xxManBeaterxx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rudyru Geez, this is being blown waaay out of proportion. The swine flu has been around for an extremely long time. The strain has mutated, but it has not gotten stronger. The only people who have died from the flu are the usual suspects: The elderly, babies, those living in locations with horrible health care, and those with immuno-comprimised systems. It's THE FLU. And that's all there is to it.

Im only answering this to educate everyone, not for the sake of arguing or targeting you, infact these would be very good questions! (even though they arent questions)

This is being blown way out of proporton? Why??? Well yeah the media likes do do that, but aside from that healthy people in their 20's-40's are dying like flies, not only the immuno-comprimsed. Only a small percent of people have the swine flu and already they cannot contain or CURE the infected. What will happen if MORE become infected? Will young healthy adults be its main target like the 1968 pandemic?

The swine flu has been around for a very long time: False. Its a very new non-mutated virus that has never been seen in pig to human transmission. Yes it is an influenza (sort of) but its a different strain of influenza one that is resistant to the anti-fluenza vaccine meaning this is the KING of all influenza. Also i hear people say, well since theres no antibiotic that can kill virus that means theres no cure. Thats correct, but there are antibiotics that can weaken the virus so your own immune system can do the rest, but this influeza seems to be resisting even that.

Because the swine flu has never been transmitted to humans before, it is a very new, possibly weeks old virus. Since its new, that means its NON-Mutated and this virus has 2 directions it can mutate towards. The first, it could mutate into something never seen before that vaccines and medicine cant control that could spread rapidly between human to human. Or secondly, the disease will fizzle out weakened by our own immune system and this whole thing was played out by a huge media storm. Therefore the swine flu is in a huge cloud of what if's and doubts, and nothing can be for sure until the disease is in its mutated form, which im guessing will take 2-3 weeks.

Oh.. yeah.. i should mention if you catch the swine flu early on, and go to the doctor you'll be ok, people are dying in mexico because of lack of resources, proper health care, and people are just waiting way to long to see the doctor. and remember the usa is not mexico meaning that our health care system is much better (i hope

)

For those wondering what a strain is, a strain is named as HxNx, x=variable, these are antigen differences in the H and N spikes, differerentiated by their protein coats. I think H has like 500 spikes and N i forgot lol, so its like finding a key and lock when u got 1,000 doors to unlock with 1 billion different keys, so it takes months to find vaccine.

 

[NeonKitty]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xxManBeaterxx Im only answering this to educate everyone, not for the sake of arguing or targeting you, infact these would be very good questions! (even though they arent questions) This is being blown way out of proporton? Why??? Well yeah the media likes do do that, but aside from that healthy people in their 20's-40's are dying like flies, not only the immuno-comprimsed. Only a small percent of people have the swine flu and already they cannot contain or CURE the infected. What will happen if MORE become infected? Will young healthy adults be its main target like the 1968 pandemic? The swine flu has been around for a very long time: False. Its a very new non-mutated virus that has never been seen in pig to human transmission. Yes it is an influenza (sort of) but its a different strain of influenza one that is resistant to the anti-fluenza vaccine meaning this is the KING of all influenza. Also i hear people say, well since theres no antibiotic that can kill virus that means theres no cure. Thats correct, but there are antibiotics that can weaken the virus so your own immune system can do the rest, but this influeza seems to be resisting even that. Because the swine flu has never been transmitted to humans before, it is a very new, possibly weeks old virus. Since its new, that means its NON-Mutated and this virus has 2 directions it can mutate towards. The first, it could mutate into something never seen before that vaccines and medicine cant control that could spread rapidly between human to human. Or secondly, the disease will fizzle out weakened by our own immune system and this whole thing was played out by a huge media storm. Therefore the swine flu is in a huge cloud of what if's and doubts, and nothing can be for sure until the disease is in its mutated form, which im guessing will take 2-3 weeks. Oh.. yeah.. i should mention if you catch the swine flu early on, and go to the doctor you'll be ok, people are dying in mexico because of lack of resources, proper health care, and people are just waiting way to long to see the doctor. and remember the usa is not mexico meaning that our health care system is much better (i hope ) For those wondering what a strain is, a strain is named as HxNx, x=variable, these are antigen differences in the H and N spikes, differerentiated by their protein coats. I think H has like 500 spikes and N i forgot lol, so its like finding a key and lock when u got 1,000 doors to unlock with 1 billion different keys, so it takes months to find vaccine.

Did you read what I wrote? I'm sorry but your response here is grossly inaccurate. People in their 20s-40s are NOT dropping like flies. A 10% death rate (using overly generous estimates of death attributed to swine flu) is NOT dying like flies. Typical influenza that makes its rounds every dang year has a higher death rate. Please also note that NO ONE in a first world nation thus far has gotten anything but mildly ill from this bug so far, knock on wood.

I think it is a terrible disservice to call this the KING of all flus. Are you kidding me? Study the Spanish flu of the early 1900s and get back to me ok? The BIG ONE that we are all waiting for must not only have easy person-to-person transmissibility, but must also have a very high mortality amongst those affected. In the order of 80% to be a real true pandemic emergency. NOT a liberal estimate of 10%. SARS did not meet the transmissibility and mortality requirements, and thus, died out. Bird flu was seemingly more fatal, but did not transmit well, thus limiting it's effectiveness as a virus.

Simple epidemiology concepts would dictate that this is NOT the big one. Community aquired pneumonia and typical seasonal influenza have a higher transmission rate and death rate. HIV has a higher transmission and death rate. Smallpox and ebola, kill nearly everyone infected and transmit very easily. These are the characteristics of a bug that has truly damaging pandemic ability. The current swine flu does not.

Unless you have never gotten a cold in your entire life, you will be unable to completely prevent exposure to droplet borne infections. You can only REDUCE your exposure by washing hands, not touching your face, cough into your elbow, and avoid high traffic areas and others with cold and flu symptoms. A surgical mask will protect you from immediate infection from droplet borne virus, but NOT an airborne virus. Only specialized masks such as the n-95 or "duck bill" will (and only those viruses that are large enough to be non-penetrable through the filter) prevent inhalation AND only if the mask is properly fitted and fit TESTED in a chamber to ensure lack of a leak (I do this testing every two years, obviously, as a part of my employment).


PLEASE do not spread hysteria from inaccurate information. Educate yourself on the facts, and handwash. It's as simple as that, folks.

 

[TISH1124]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xxManBeaterxx This is being blown way out of proporton? Why??? Well yeah the media likes do do that, but aside from that healthy people in their 20's-40's are dying like flies, not only the immuno-comprimsed.

What? My sister is a pathologist and is in the medical field daily.... so I had to hurry and call her on this one....I think to say this is a gross exaggeration...Unless I misread something. Dying like flies?

 

[NeonKitty]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TISH1127 What? My sister is a pathologist and is in the medical field daily.... so I had to hurry and call her on this one....I think to say this is a gross exaggeration...Unless I misread something. Dying like flies?

Yeah it's garbage. The only reason these young people are the ones infected is because they are the ones who traveled to Mexico for spring break, and then brought it back to their friends. If you took a true cross section of the population in the US and exposed it to this flu I'm willling to bet that the standard "very young, very old, very sick" over-representation will apply. Theres no mention of the demographics of the infected versus the dead in Mexico, whether it is a true anomoly. Also we have yet (due to the early stage of this flu) to see numbers on people who are infected but remain carriers, do not develop the flu. If there are large numbers of carriers then that would further decrease the mortality rate.

 

[MrsMay]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ClaireAvril The worst is when people who are sick insist on coming in to work and spread their germs to everyone. STAY HOME IF YOU'RE SICK!! I am sure the company loses more money if you come in sick and spread your sickness around the office. And I think companies need to start broadcasting that to employees because I think some people feel as though its frowned upon when they call in sick. I may just call in sick tomorrow because I feel like sh*t.

I can honestly say that I have been guilty of this in the past, but the truth is that some of us dont have the luxury of calling in sick... If I'm not there to get my work done and we miss the deadlines then it reflects badly on me in my performance review and our parent company is not happy (to say the least). Sure, its not fair, but thats the way it is. If I am on sick leave/annual leave then my work just piles up until I return. If I could have taken sick leave then I would have, but unfortunately it's expected that unless we are on our death bed or in hospital that we wont miss our deadlines.

It's not right, but unfortunately that's the economic climate we currently live in.