Swine Flu. Are we in big trouble with this then?

[Meglet]

This sounds worse than the bird flu that thankfully never really happened.

news.bbc.co.uk/mobile/bbc_news/top_stories/801/80183/story8018356.shtml?

Sky news have a press conference on now about possible cases in new york. When do we start panic buying .

lol i dont keep my kids in bubbles, just petrer lol.

i was worried the other week when dd1 informed me a girl in her class was sick in the corridor in front of herand sent home. ut remidned dd's of handwashing etc, and so far we havwent hd any tummy bugs. and there was some nasty ones going round.

coughs and colds we have had loads.

I feel sorry for all the GP practices in Painton - everyone interviewed for the news seemd to be about to hot-foot it to their local GP with their hysterical-but-entirely-well-child!

misdee, in your case you are exempt from the hysteria label. Of course you are going to be worried about sickness bugs.

For the rest of us though, I still don't see how this is so different to various other sickness bugs that sweep through schools every so often. Sickness and diarrhoea MAY be among the symptoms of swine flu, but in many cases this isn't the case.

"The symptoms of swine influenza in people are similar to the symptoms of regular human seasonal flu and include fever, fatigue, lack of appetite, coughing and sore throat. Some people have also reported vomiting and diarrhoea.

Testing has shown that the human swine influenza H1N1 can be treated with the antivirals oseltamavir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza)." - Guardian

Oh hi KM! I'm around, working f/t all this week with kids who have severe learning difficulties, so I'm knackered and Mumsnet is far too much like hard work sometimes.

How're you?

Oooh, somewhere nice? Does Sven need looking after while you're away.

Uh-oh, I hear the telephone, that's me away for an hour now. Bugger!

Sister, have to go. Before I do, back to the point, have you seen this

I had fajitas and nachos for tea.. worried now...

i'm slightly worrying as i'm eating frazzles

Hmmmm, someone sent me this link today about thow to prepare for a pandemic.

www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/individual/checklist.html

Soon afterwards while ordering an Ocado delivery for a big bank holiday BBQ I found myself buying extra tinned food and water, just in case.

Dont judge me!

PS - There was vodka in the order. I reckon vodka would be excellent in any zombie situation:

• you could drink it for Dutch courage
• you could disinfect things with it
• you could neck some sleeping tablets with it for a dignified end if zombies are at your front door
• you can bribe your way out of sticky situations with it.

Vodka! The drink of sieges.

bank holiday barbecues would be the first thing to go in a real emergency. However the biggest's emergency around is likely to be pancreatitis from too much vodka

WHO chief Margaret Chan said ?it really is all of humanity that is under threat in a pandemic.?

Surely that statement is guaranteed to cause panic? Is it humanity that is under threat from Swine flu or rather something like 1-5% of humans?

no-one is answering my how many swines died question

well, upwind, if 1-5% are at risk of flu death, I think that is pretty serious, if not a reason for panic. Who would you choose to be in that percentage?

rhubarb, this is different, because most bugs that go round, the population has some residual immunity to (hence kids often get them but their parents don't). In the case of a novel flu virus this is not the case. While the cynics and naysayers are right to stem hysteria and panic, no-one should delude themselves that this is 'only' the same as every other bug. The reality is that we just don't know yet.

It IS mild, but flu has the potential to mutate rapidly either to fizzle out or become more serious. This is indeed what happened in 1918 (leaving aside all the general public health issues that made that a bad pandemic) when a weak first wave in spring, turned into a horrific second wave the following autumn.

There is anti-viral treatment but many flu viruses develop resistance to them, and will be more likely to do so with over-use (which is why I think it is unwise for the NHS to administer these without symptoms, or for people to try and buy them privately). There might be a vaccine in 4-5 months.

The key difference with a pandemic flu and 'normal' viruses is that it culls the fit and healthy.

So I don't think it is wise for people to just go 'yeah yeah whatever'. The WHO are not stupid people, and all the conspiracy theories are frankly ridiculous. But neither is it sane to run around like Chicken Little. Wash your hands, don't clog up the NHS unnecessarily, stay home if you have symptoms, prepare for social and economic disruption and school closures. That's about all we can do.

I bet there are a lot of people ordering extra supplies from Ocado and Tesco Direct as they'd still feel a bit silly in a store in case they bump into friends with a trolley full of hand sanitiser/ water/ tins.

Apparently the paper masks are pointless but respirator ones are not.

.......natural selection?.....

can I ask a few questions:

1. I understand that there are medicines to treat "swine flu" but would people be given medicines AS they were sick or BEFORE (if this escelated I mean)

2. Why is the number of Mexican deaths reported so widely different dependng on where/what you read, is it numbers in their 20's or 150's?

flymetothemoon - fortunately I have a fully functioning respirator (& NBC suit).

paper masks offer no real protection.in fact they get nicely moist and are a germ bus as droplets collect and drop if not changed frequently...

"I bet there are a lot of people ordering extra supplies from Ocado and Tesco Direct as they'd still feel a bit silly in a store in case they bump into friends with a trolley full of hand sanitiser/ water/ tins."

Nah, I felt pretty silly ordering it online too.

I am actually a very rational person, but been watching too many movies like 'I am Legend' which scared the bejesus out of me.

Elf,

1. I understand that there are medicines to treat "swine flu" but would people be given medicines AS they were sick or BEFORE (if this escelated I mean)

There are anti-viral medicines which help to limit the extent of the illness, reduce viral spread and reduce the risk of complications but there is no complete 'treatment' as such, until a vaccine can be developed.

As I understand it, the govt/NHS is planning to administer anti-virals when people are symptomatic as the evidence for a preventative effect is limited. Some health professionals may receive preventative doses of anti-virals but they won't be widely available (and shouldn't be as the virus can develop resistance to them)

All the research seems to suggest that administering anti-virals within 1-2 days of symptoms beginning has a very positive effect on the length and severity of the illness

2. Why is the number of Mexican deaths reported so widely different dependng on where/what you read, is it numbers in their 20's or 150's?

The difference is mainly the difference between confirmed and unconfirmed deaths. confirmed means samples (eg of mucus) have been taken from the sick and tested accurately for evidence of the H1N1 virus. The unconfirmed figure is deaths that doctors suspect are due to the flu virus (or rather secondary complications such as pneumonia) but have not been confirmed by formal testing. On this issue, I am inclined to broadly believe the higher figure.

I'm not worried for me as such, but whenever there is anything like this going on, I worry for my dd, as I suppose all other parents do.

Should probably back away from the news at the min in general, my gran died today so am feeling a little sensitive.