Found out today that apparently most major Irish pharmacies don't carry the breathing masks at all. You have to have them specially ordered if you want one. So essentially if it does break out here we'll have to ask it to wait for 8 to 10 business days so we can be ready. This country is useless.

But the problem is, there is no anti-virus, and humans don't have a way of curing viruses I mean, I'm sure you know that, and were referring to flu vaccines. But if there was an anti-virus drug, HIV would be cured, perhaps cancer, ebola, you name it.

We do have ways of combating viruses! For one thing, there's our immune systems which can often develop a resistance to viral infections naturally (and it appears as though that's what's happening outside of Mexico, considering nobody but Mexicans have died from it). For another thing, there are anti-viral drugs which slow down the multiplication of the infection. Not to mention the new-fangled inferon drug treatment, which attempts to stimulate the immune system and make it combat a range of pathogens.

I'm no longer worried about this, although it is sad that Mexico have been dealt such a nasty hand at this table.

This is true. It does seem that the immune systems of Mexican citizens is much weaker than that of others around the world. I really hope this doesn't become what they claim it will.

But the problem is, there is no anti-virus, and humans don't have a way of curing viruses I mean, I'm sure you know that, and were referring to flu vaccines. But if there was an anti-virus drug, HIV would be cured, perhaps cancer, ebola, you name it.

We do have ways of combating viruses! For one thing, there's our immune systems which can often develop a resistance to viral infections naturally (and it appears as though that's what's happening outside of Mexico, considering nobody but Mexicans have died from it). For another thing, there are anti-viral drugs which slow down the multiplication of the infection. Not to mention the new-fangled inferon drug treatment, which attempts to stimulate the immune system and make it combat a range of pathogens.

I'm no longer worried about this, although it is sad that Mexico have been dealt such a nasty hand at this table.

Oh sure, those are good points. But technically speaking, as far as I know... there is no shot or drug, or pill etc. that will kill a virus, cure a human from a virus, exterminate a virus inside the human body. We have a nurse on board, is my understanding correct?

Ya know...virus cure = hopefully cure for all sorts of nasties: HIV, ebola and so on.

Yes, Devy - I've been an ER nurse almost 15 yrs. You are right...there is absolutely nothing that actually kills viruses for us. Our bodies have to do it themselves and we merely have some things that help that process. They don't work for everything and they don't work for all people. Anti-virals like Tamiflu are only effective in early stages of the infection, for example. This is not scare tactics...just simple medical fact. In viruses, prevention is by far the safer angle. To prevent catching the flu it is recommended that one is frequently washing hands with soap and water or using hand sanitizer and avoiding folks who have symptoms. The folks with symptoms owe it to the rest of us to stay INSIDE...but human nature being as it is (we're a selfish bunch of bastards, over all), it is hard to expect people to do that willingly.

The problem with a new virus is that NO ONE has immunity to it...and it is medically unclear why no one outside of Mexico (with the exception of the Mexican toddler on vacation in Texas) has died from this. It is possible that because aspects of this virus are not new that some have the right immunity to keep it at bay. It is also possible that the severity of the problem in Mexico could be related to the fact that the medical care in Mexico is not as widely available to folks as it is in the US, Canada, Britain and Europe. There are also cultural differences in how folks care for illnesses. In Mexico, for example, folks wrap up warmly with fever...which actually makes fever worse. Even if one takes medicine for the fever, mechanically warming someone while trying to use chemicals to cool them just doesn't work. Low grade fevers are good for us when fighting illness...higher fevers are actually counter productive. I wonder if some of the deaths have been related to heat stroke like complications from the fever or from fever becoming too high to be helpful.

The standard "high risk of serious complications" crowd is usually folks with chronic illnesses and kids younger than 5 and adults over 50. With a virus to which no one is immune, though, the folks usually deemed safe from major complications don't get off easy. In some cases, their response to the new virus can be more aggressive than those with weaker immune systems thanks to a cytokine storm.

I've been more than watching the news related to H1N1 - I've been inundated with it from every angle. Lay media, the CDC, the hospital, the Emergency Medical Services hierarchy in Ventura County, the Emergency Nurses Association, and my union is now even in on the information dissemination...yippee. Sure. Some folks are working on creating a vaccine...but it takes YEARS for the creation and testing of such things...which is how drug companies justify charging an arm and a leg for new medicines. Rushing to vaccinate with an untested vaccine can lead to the same mess the US experienced in 1976. Would you really like to take a chance on having a vaccine in your body which no one really knows is safe? That seems almost as scary as the flu itself.

Is swine flu the past tense of 'pigs might fly'?

Is swine flu the past tense of 'pigs might fly'?

Not as good as "divine pork of god", but I like it.

OK, that is the single best laugh I have had all day! past tense of fly...classic.

http://migre.me/QNQ

Awesome.

First case of swine flu confirmed in Brazil, and the guy is on a hospital on my university's campus!

In less than a week swine flu went from whole-world-ending-apeshit-we're-getting-loads-of-front-page-coverage-out-of-it to completely not being mentioned in the media. If that doesn't just prove how sensationalised and over-hyped it was...

It does. It absolutely does.

Any-one notice drug companies stock prices? I think they managed to flog off all the excess Tamiflu and made a killing.
Wait for the next drug to be invented/marketed before the next outbreak.

Does that prove anything about Swine Flu? Or Just about the short attention span and sensationalism of the world's media.
Number of confirmed cases has gone up but media interest has drifted back to proper news like 'David Beckham went shopping in Milan'.

Well they have to keep on top of things, Billy!

Well I think it was these kind of reports that rung the death knell for it in the media coverage:

"Swine flu no worse than regular flu, Napolitano says"

Coupled with all the statistic that regular influenza deaths, according to a WHO, "exceed a few hundred thousand people a year", no wonder it's fallen off the front page.