• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

H1N1 Hype

#45
If something good comes out of this it's that the general public learns a few things related to flu seasons:

-Maintain good hand hygiene
-Avoid sneezing/coughing at people
-Stay out of work/school if you're sick

I love it when people come to work/lectures to sneeze and cough all over the place, for example in a lecture hall with 50 so-far-healthy people. Thanks a bunch :rolleyes:
 
#46
Absentia said:
Come on now, how fast does the yearly cold that nearly everyone gets every year spread?
Click to expand...

They are two totally different things. You don't usually die from the common cold, but Influenza does kill. H1N1 will infect a wider range of people because of the lack of built up immunity (NO IMMUNITY to H1N1). This particular Flu virus affects teens and the twenty-something crowd much more than the seasonal flu, much like the Spanish Flu after World War I. Fortunately, it doesn't appear that the seasonal flu types and H1N1 can form a hybrid "super-flu" strain because H1N1 actually out competes the (two) seasonal varieties in those people exposed to both forms.

No one should panic, but I wouldn't be so quick to call H1N1 BS.
 
#49
vene-nemesis said:
A thought about vaccination: pharmaceutics havent dissclosed wich strain is being used for the vaccine.

Usually a vaccine needs to go through several tests that take long time to be fully investigated, 10 years or so i believe. It hasnt been a year since the discovery of swine flu on humans.

How convinient now that war/postwar is coming to an end there is this new "need" of a pharmaceutical product. Guess wich companies are yet to find out the meaning of economical crysis...
Click to expand...

H1N1 vaccine will be available in mid October 2009.
 
#50
KPAX said:
Well, how about Y2K?
Ozone hole?
Sars?
Global warming?
Yeah, it's BS.
Bureaucracies and government hyping it so they look relevant and the media selling it (they have to talk about something).
Most of us may get H1N1. I read it's supplanting the usual flu strains. I also read it's FAR MILDER than the normal flu strains that kill off thousands of people with weakened immune systems every year in the US and elsewhere. That's what happened in Australia which just went through the flu season. LESS people died than average because it's such a mild strain of influenza.
Click to expand...

Not quite true. The research is showing that H1N1 is reaching deep into the respiratory tract (lungs) than the seasonal flu, which has a higher percentage that stays in the upper respiratory tract (nasal passages). Secondary bacterial infections (pneumonia) are a major concern when virus infect the lungs.
 
#52
Every strain has its peculiarities. So what? We shall see what happens.
Hawaii Islander said:
Not quite true. The research is showing that H1N1 is reaching deep into the respiratory tract (lungs) than the seasonal flu, which has a higher percentage that stays in the upper respiratory tract (nasal passages). Secondary bacterial infections (pneumonia) are a major concern when virus infect the lungs.
Click to expand...
 
#53
PSPookie said:
Right, because sanitation and medicine are exaclty the same now as in 1918. I'm sure that having thousands upon thousands of soldiers huddled together in trenches didn't help to spread the bug either.

Seriously, the 1918 references are ridiculous.
Click to expand...

It is not at all ridiculous to take into consideration when evaluating the threat of a particular strain of influenza a prior worldwide pandemic involving the same strain of the influenza virus.

Many of the factors that contributed to the 1918 pandemic still exist today, and in some instances they are more significant now than they were then. For example, one of the factors that caused the 1918 influenza to spread worldwide so quickly was the movement of large numbers of people from one country to another as troops returned home from the war. Over 157 million people took international flights in 2008, which is more than double the number of European troops that were mobilized during the entirety of the war.

Of course medical technology and sanitation have improved in the 90+ years since that pandemic. Perhaps most significantly, an influenza vaccine has been developed and millions of people each year are inoculated against influenza. That hasn't stopped less lethal strains of influenza from infecting millions of people per year and killing several hundred thousand. A strain of H1N1 similar to the 1918 strain could still have devastating effects.
 
#54
Febs said:
It is not at all ridiculous to take into consideration when evaluating the threat of a particular strain of influenza a prior worldwide pandemic involving the same strain of the influenza virus.

Many of the factors that contributed to the 1918 pandemic still exist today, and in some instances they are more significant now than they were then. For example, one of the factors that caused the 1918 influenza to spread worldwide so quickly was the movement of large numbers of people from one country to another as troops returned home from the war. Over 157 million people took international flights in 2008, which is more than double the number of European troops that were mobilized during the entirety of the war.

Of course medical technology and sanitation have improved in the 90+ years since that pandemic. Perhaps most significantly, an influenza vaccine has been developed and millions of people each year are inoculated against influenza. That hasn't stopped less lethal strains of influenza from infecting millions of people per year and killing several hundred thousand. A strain of H1N1 similar to the 1918 strain could still have devastating effects.
Click to expand...

Good post!

Nice to see someone give good info on this.

Bottom line message of this post; get vaccinated! ;)
 
#56
vene-nemesis said:
So it is smart to be afraid of the desease but not about the vaccine.

Ill only add this: Thalidomine.
Click to expand...

Do you mean Thiomersal (Thiomerosol)?

Vaccines that are Thiomersal-free (single dose versions) will be available for children and pregnant women. Larger batches (multi-dose vials) will still contain a small amount of Thiomersal, a preservative that uses minute quantities of mercury in it's production.
 
#57
PSPookie said:
Right, because sanitation and medicine are exaclty the same now as in 1918. I'm sure that having thousands upon thousands of soldiers huddled together in trenches didn't help to spread the bug either.

Seriously, the 1918 references are ridiculous.
Click to expand...

I wasn't trying to draw a conclusion PS.
I was just bringing up something I thought may have a similarity.
So I'm not an influenza expert :D
 
#58
Hawaii Islander said:
Do you mean Thiomersal (Thiomerosol)?

Vaccines that are Thiomersal-free (single dose versions) will be available for children and pregnant women. Larger batches (multi-dose vials) will still contain a small amount of Thiomersal, a preservative that uses minute quantities of mercury in it's production.
Click to expand...

I think Vene-nemesis might have meant Thalidomide (changing just one letter)- in reference to being concerned about medicine/vaccines. That was a medical tragedy for sure. Still, it was not a vaccine per se, but you get the point. If I am not correct on my assumption Vene - my apologies.
 
#60
The morning sickness drug that produced "flipper babies" - in the 50's - mostly in europe.
One of the US FDA's better moments. I believe they didn't approve it but european countries did.
WorkinOnIt said:
I think Vene-nemesis might have meant Thalidomide (changing just one letter)- in reference to being concerned about medicine/vaccines. That was a medical tragedy for sure. Still, it was not a vaccine per se, but you get the point. If I am not correct on my assumption Vene - my apologies.
Click to expand...
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back