29 UK Swine flu deaths and counting....

[AvadaKedavra]

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8154419.stm

Big jump from just Monday.

55,000 (suspected) cases now too, another huge jump from the 10,000 figure bandied about.

[TitsalinaBumsquash]

Really worried.

[Wheelybug]

If you put it in perspective though 29/55,000 is much better than 17/10,000.

[AvadaKedavra]

oh yes, most definitely Wheelybug.

Heard of the first person I vaguely know up here (far north of Scotland) so no doubt it'll be taking a hold soon enough, naively thought it probably wouldn't get this far north

[Hulababy]

These are deaths where the person has contracted swine flu. May not mean SF is the cause of death, such as the GP who died of natural causes.

I think most are with underlying health problems too.

[Meglet]

Ds's nursery had its first confirmed case today, one of the staff.[Worried]

[cocolepew]

DD (7) and me have it she's getting better and I'm just taking it, I'll try not to die though . I'm hiding all death reports in case my other DD has a breakdown.

[billysitch]

I am really trying not to worry with a 6 week old baby and a 4 year old who's school adjoined to his preschool have 2 confirmed cases this week. It seems to be taking hold here in Southampton.

Can anyone tell me what are underlying health issues, for instance are they people with terminal illnesses who have a depleted imune system or does it include asthma and those of us in remission but otherwise healthy, and is a baby more at risk if it is not breastfed? All questions I am thinking about.

I am so glad I am breastfeeding my newborn, at least I feel I am doing as much as I can, but with the summer holidays coming up I am not intending to be holed up in the house 24/7!

Hmmmmmmmm questions questions....

[TitsalinaBumsquash]

billysicth my son has Cystic Fibrosis and one of the staff at his nursery has been treated for it so i have done a lot of talking with his Health Care team and they have said the fllowing.

The Media have hyped this up to a ridiculous proportion, yes 29 people have died but hundreds of thousands have had it and some are just getting "sniffles" the majority are getting a mild cold type thing.
The ones we are hearing about are the ones dying and most of them have underlying health conditions.

The complications are the same as any flu, if it goes the the chest you can get Pneumonia (sp?) which is what can be fatal also dehydration due to fevers ect.

They said that hand hygeine i the vital thing but basicly if your going to get it you will.
At the moment it is mild and easily treatable.

I wouldn't worry to much if i were you, i think were all going to get it mildly or not and thats good it builds up the immune system and gives researchers more to base this vaccine on.

Most people are at no more risk of catching it as anyone else its people with underlying conditions that are at more risk of having complications if/when they do catch it. Luckily for us we have a fantastic health care service and researchers working thier fingers to the bone to come up with new cures and treatments.

[Wheelybug]

Billysitch - I know of one death (and I mean know sadly) and she was v.v. seriously ill - normal flu could have killed her.

My whole immediate family are high risk one way or another but its not worth worrying about until there is something to worry about.

Actually i had wondered about the bf-ing thing too but don't know the answer.

[poface]

I'm really scared now.If they are predicting 21 - 65 000 deaths in the UK this winter, that is many many more than normal flu kills.

[Wheelybug]

good post titsalina

[bubbleymummy]

poface, try not to worry too much about the prediction figures. They are pretty much guesstimates! How many deaths were predicted for CJD? hundreds of thousands? I think there were less than 300 in all. THey don't always get it right...thankfully!

[poface]

thanks bubbley. But as an asthmatic with 2 small children this is scaring the crap out of me now. 12 deaths in just 4 days. Terrifying.

[bluemousemummy]

Trying not to stress but have a 4 month old baby and a 2 and a half year old, both disgustingly healthy mind you! Does anyone know what vitamins/minerals/supplements you can take to boost your immune system? We have a pretty good diet most of the time but any extra help can't hurt...

[imaynotbeperfectbutimokmummy]

terrified here, my DD2 is just 4, although she does seem to have the constitution of an ox. I am worried about her starting school in september. I have been ill for nearly a week with some sort of viral "disease", i was in bed all day Sat and Sun, aching but no real temp, awful headache. Then felt weak and sick ever since, bad tummy - I was kind of hoping that was it. DD had it first and she did have a high temperature, it came on quickly too, she bounced back after a day.

So now im worried because our immune systems have taken a battering already. My mum has serious underlying health issues, so much so that she has not been able to have flu vaccine in the past as she reacts quite badly too it.

This is escalating my health anxiety to unmanagable levels

[Mintyy]

I think this is a really ill-judged thread - especially the thread title op.

1. There's already a huge number of threads on swine flu on Mumsnet.

1. "and counting ..." is ghoulish and scaremongering in the extreme.

1. There are many posters who have terrible health anxiety and many others who have more tangilbe reasons to be anxious about swine flu - and the existence of this thread does nothing to alleviate those fears. It only serves to wind people up even further. What purpose does that serve?

I really don't understand why you posted it?

[monkeytrousers]

Just as a corrective, can you count the recoveries alongside too?

[monkeytrousers]

Yes, passionatly behind TitsalinaBumsquash

[bubbleymummy]

If we look on the 'glass is half full' side - based on the 55,000 cases number (which is probably an underestimate) at the least there have been 54,971 people who have had it (including those with asthma and underlying health conditions) and have made a full recovery. The numbers look even better from a worldwide perspective. They can make predictions all they want but just look at the true figures for a bit of reassurance...

[BananaFruitBat]

FWIW poface, someone I work with is severely asthmatic and she caught Swine Flu. She's been given Tamiflu and came back to work yesterday (after a week off). She's fine.

[AitchTwoOh]

ffs what a tabloid thread title. i think that swine flu threads should have their own section, this is fucking ghoulish.

[AvadaKedavra]

Mintyy

1. Everyone is free to post what they like. If you don't like, then hide it and don't read/reply.

1. It's a given that it won't remain at 29, so and counting... is not ghoulish imo.

3.I posted it (in the news topic) as it is news
Any any post on any other subject could possibly cause someone to feel anxious. Doesn't mean they should be posted.

monkeytrousers yes - recoveries are fairly obviously the 55k minus the 29.

[AvadaKedavra]

*shouldn't

[AitchTwoOh]

and mintyy is free to post what she likes, no?