Swine Flu

[swamp]

Be careful.. scary..

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gGSyeznluvlTTO6A31IITVNX52FA

[ncboman]

Doan you folks sleep at night?

Seems like a lot of activity in the wee hours. :D

ncboman

[LampLighter]

Yeah we about to hit the sack now :p

[ncboman]

My crew's already on the job. ;)

ttt, Global Panic?

Why does the flu in Mexico warrant global panic?

Is there sumthin we're not being told? How'd all these virus types get into one package?

:rolleyes:

ncboman

[LampLighter]

I have no crew. Workman's Comp. too high.

[Bill Mc]

Flipping channels and stopped at CNN.

Well they were taking call about swine flu.

1st caller I heard ID imself as a Democrat. His quandery was way wasn't the order locked down.

2nd caller was a Reublican. Very similar response.

3rd caller was a Obama supporter. It's all Bush's fault. :rolleyes:

I kept fliping channels.

[TXAnn38]

Last I heard, that flu is already here, 20 confirmed cases in 5 states, including California, Texas, New York, Kansas and Ohio. There's some in Canada too.

Don't wanna panic, but it's a good idea to be aware of what's going on. *shrug*

Ann

[Dennis Keith]

Well, Pandemic occurred in 1918. I lost an Aunt and Uncle on Momma's side of the family. That episode killed somewhere around 50,000,000 folks. These folks today are throwing around a lot of big words with not so much to show for it. Fact is we loose around a 100 or so folks a day to car accidents. I don't see a need for PANIC anytime soon.

[TXAnn38]

Statistics this morning are saying that the U.S. has 64 confirmed cases in about 7 states. While I don't consider that as time to panic, I certainly want to be aware of what's going on and I want to take whatever precautions are available, including trying to stay away from people who might be sick and the all-important hand washing. So far, no one here in the States has died, most confirmed cases have been rather mild. And I read that Mexico is redoing the tests on their suspected swine flu deaths to make sure they really are from swine flu. But confirmed cases are continuing to rise, whether or not the person dies or has a light case and recovers fairly quickly.

I can remember before polio vaccines were available--when almost every summer, people would fall victim and either be crippled for life or die. When parents would keep their kids away from almost any place that might have large crowds--swimming pools, the traveling circus, even movie theaters--because of the danger of contacting polio.

Anyway, I hope that this will prove to be a short-lived outbreak with few fatalities world-wide--but I'd rather be prepared for the worst case scenario than to be caught unaware and unwittingly help to spread the virus. And, while I haven't pushed the panic button yet, I'm certainly not going to ignore the facts about what's happening.

Stay well, Ann

[Jo Ann]

I heard on the news this morning that a 23 month old passed away in Texas.

[Bayrat]

64 cases out of over 300 million people in this country.... time to worry ???

Not to make light of serious illness and death, but, .... it's all about, "the buzz".

This is exactly why I stopped getting a daily newspaper, and stopped watching the MSM evening news. I get tired of the media hype and distorion to pump up the sheeple's panic, to sell the MSM.

As Ann pointed out, we've had some worse bugs running around in recent history.

If you think about it, there are far more serious things for the average person to worry about.

More people are hurt and killed daily taking a bath.

How many will be killed driving to work.... just today?

How many from accidents in the work place, playing sports, etc.

I can remember some statisics being brought up during a driver training class in basic training in 1971. At the time the MSM media was just about non-stop news about how many solders were being killed in Vietnam, a tragicly high number to be sure, .... yet there was no mention from that same media of how many were being killed every year on American highways while on leave. Anyone here know the answer to that one?

20 years ago when it became very fashionable for the media to cover it, I can remember hearing that the Heart Assosiation folks were so upset that breast cancer research was getting so much more play in the media, thus more money for reseach .... but women were six times more likely to die of heart disease.


Not to start a debate about if it's right or wrong, but I have to wonder what would the public mind-set be like after just a month, or two if the media did the same daily "body counts" with abortions???

A friend once pointed out, the MSM media's motavation has nothing to do with freedom of the 'press', it's freedom of the 'profit'.

Rant off.

Bayrat

[TXAnn38]

I heard that child dying in Texas, too. Sure sorry for that child's family; it isn't easy to lose a child.

We'll be lucky if that's the only death.

Ann

[Bayrat]

Just heard that too.

I can't imagine (and don't want to) what it would be like. Came too close to loosing one of my kids in a highway accident one night.

To rant a bit more along that line, each of my four kids lost classmates in vehicle accidents that never got anything but a passing mention in local news papers. ... sadly, the death of one child from the latest media buzz will worry more people nationally, while far more kids die daily from more common place risks .... un-noticed.

And the media pretends to care.

Bayrat.

[Dennis Keith]

That death was a toddler VISITING with his family FROM MEXICO.

Flu in this country kills a lot of people every year, elderly, the very young, and those with compromised immune systems, that incldes those with HIV infections, but also includes those on Chemo-therapy as well.

The numbers are available on one of the government sites, and is surprisingly HIGH.

This bug still sounds like it might have been ENGINEERED to have as many COMPONENTS as it contains. But then What do I know, I'm not a Doctor, Lawyer or Indian Chief, and don't even play pone on T-V!:D

[Twanger]

Now 100 cases out of 300,000,000 people in the US.

I'm no doctor, but it sounds like the odds of getting swine flu are currently about the same as getting struck by lightning.

[Bayrat]

Dennis,


I'm not a Doctor, Lawyer or Indian Chief, and don't even play pone on T-V!

Yeah, but have you slept in a Holiday Inn ? :D

Bayrat

[ncboman]

Last week the news was that all the drugs in our drinking water is gonna kill us all. :rolleyes:

Tonight I read that there was one sick child for every 87,000 students, so many schools decided that was reason enough to close.

People in mass are dumber than chickens chasin a bug.

... unless the Obamanation has had an accident and doan wanna tell nobody straight up. :cool:

ncboman

[Altjaeger]

Does seems a little over blown doesn't it? :(

[TXAnn38]

I've lost faith in statistics these days. The CDC states that there are 36,000 deaths from flu and flu related illnesses in the US every year. That seems to be a LOT--and I wonder how many are confirmed cases, at that.

We have one confirmed case of Swine Flu death (pardon me, H1N1 flu) in this country so far, and while that is certainly tragic to the child's family and friends and we should all take the precautions we would in a normal flu outbreak, we are probably way over-reacting.

Would you call it "pandemic hysteria" ?

Ann

[ncboman]

Would you call it "pandemic hysteria" ?


No, I call it media driven hysteria

... and in the case of school closings, school administrators with calluses on their knees.

ncboman

[Bayrat]

The wrong people have their fingers on the panic button .....again!

Bayrat

[cdpa]

how come a 120 cases of flu command our undivided attention of the news? there are 300,000,000 people in the good old U.S.A., so why the big hype? you do the math.

[snake river rufus]

I've lost faith in statistics these days. The CDC states that there are 36,000 deaths from flu and flu related illnesses in the US every year. That seems to be a LOT--and I wonder how many are confirmed cases, at that.
Ann

As Dennis Keith stated most of those people are nearing the end of their natural life in any event. A flu virus is just the final illness.

[ncboman]

:D


There was no information online from the Baptist Church.



Swine Flu Impacts Church And Other Religious Services

When worshippers clasp hands to "pass the peace" or share the communion cup and offering plates, religious leaders around the country want to be sure they don't also pass on swine flu.

Catholic churches in many dioceses with confirmed cases of the flu will not offer communion wine, and parishioners have been urged to bow or nod instead of offering a handshake.

Imams have been told the Friday communal prayer can be canceled and done privately. One rabbi is making hand sanitizer available to stave off germs that could be passed when the Torah is touched as it is carried throughout the synagogue.

In San Antonio, the University United Methodist Church ordered more than 3,000 individually wrapped communion wafers and juice packets for this week to avoid having to skip communion, which many Protestant churches serve the first Sunday of the month.

"In a time of fear, we just wanted people to have assurance we were doing everything we could do," said Shauna Forkenbrock, a church spokeswoman.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state officials have confirmed dozens of cases of swine flu across the country, though just one death in the United States has been reported, in Houston. In most confirmed U.S. cases, the patients are recovering.

But with warnings that the virus is spreading, houses of worship are cutting back on activities that require close contact.

In Miami and Austin, Texas, Roman Catholic officials have cut off serving communion wine, and many others are considering doing the same.

In the Diocese of Dallas, officials are assuring parishioners that "it's not a sin" to miss Mass if you're sick.

The Dallas diocese also is asking parishioners not to be offended if people don't want to shake hands during "the sign of peace," when parishioners traditionally greet one another. It's suggesting a slight bow of the head as a substitute.

Parishioners got similar advice from the Miami archdiocese, and that has been disheartening for Adelina Ramirez, 56, who spent her lunch break on church grounds.

"That part when you go up to the priest, and he offers you the bread and the wine, which stand for everything that is Jesus Christ, it is such an important part of Mass," she said. "Shaking the hands of whomever is sitting near you and wishing him or her that God be with you is just as important."

The communal Friday noon prayer for Muslims also could be affected if the flu worsens, said Ibrahim Hooper of the Council on American Islamic Relations.

Islamic scholars consulted by CAIR said that the prayer time, when worshippers are often packed shoulder to shoulder, toe to toe, can be canceled, and done privately, in regions where flu cases are confirmed, Hooper said.

Hooper hadn't heard of any cancellations as of Thursday afternoon.

"At least we wanted to make sure that imams or the prayer leaders knew that was an option and that they were informing congregations as the crisis unfolds," he said.

Synagogue worship on Saturdays, when the Torah is removed from the ark and carried around the synagogue, offers chances for germs to spread. Worshippers touch the Torah with their prayer shawl,
prayer book or hands. Then, they kiss whatever they used to touch the Torah.

Rabbi John Franken at Temple Ohabei Shalom outside of Boston said the temple is making hand sanitizers available and posting cautionary igns in the bathroom and Sabbath bulletins. But so far, it has not forbidden touching the Torah or other objects used in common worship.

Rabbi Mayshe Schwartz of The Chai Center in the Boston suburb of Brookline said he didn't want to overreact.

"Unfortunately, more people will probably die this weekend in car accidents of drunk drivers than of swine flu," Schwartz said. "The job is to create calm, not to create fear."

Catholic Bill Spain, who visited St. Anthony Shrine in downtown Boston on Thursday, said he wasn't fazed by the various precautions his church could take. He said that he won't stop taking communion, or dipping his hand in holy water, but that if he can't shake hands at Mass for a while, so be it.

"So for one week we can just nod. I think that's great," said Spain, 71. "I'm still going to kiss my wife, so there's no problem with us."

http://www.witn.com/home/headlines/44227272.html