Is any one starting to get worried about the Asian bird flu?
I was talking to the neighbor the other day and he was telling me that his mother who works in a local hospital was already put on alert. As well as notified that she would be legally ordered to work if an outbreak were to occur. They have emergency plans already in place and are starting to prepare to notify the public about stocking up on supplies, masks & other items. Apparently they are predicting this thing will become an epidemic with like 60% casualties & no cure as of yet. I guess his wife seen it on TV yesterday as well, I think it was Opra or something like that. They said it's supposed to be nasty but it will come. It might be a 1 year or 6 but it is coming.
I know this may sound like they are a little paranoid and everything is based on a worst case scenario. But what if ....
Maybe it will be a quickie & blow over like S.A.R.S.
What do you guy's think?

 

I have been following this for a while now and from everything I have read a pandemic is pretty well guranteed and is overdue. WHO yesterday was urging all companies to have contingincy plans in place for up to 30% of employees to be sick for maybe 6 months. Many companies already have plans in place for employees to work from home etc. One bank is planning for 50% of it's employees to be sick. There is all kinds of info on the internet about the coming pandemic.
Is this something to be concernded about? Yyes, specially if it hits as many have forecast, because not only is a health threat but it will cause major economic problems which will result in huge financial losses to many companies. Some smaller companies may lose everything.

 

Generally speaking I do not worry too much about stuff like this. If my time comes then it comes. However, since I now have a little boy who is almost three and another one on the way, then I may give these sorts of things more thought.

I think it's time for me to move to the country. At least then you're somewhat isolated from this kind of stuff.

Actually, I'm planning/hoping/praying to move to the country anyway. This just gives me another excuse to do it.

 

My sister works for a pharma company. She told me when it mutates to be contagious from human to human (all flus eventually mutate), she may not leave her house until the vacine is produced. She does think they will get a vacine ready before it mutates. But so far no luck.

Tamiflu is available to kill the bacteria, but it's not readily available to eveyone. She said only two country have supplied enough for their entire population The US is not one of them.

The senerio her company described to her was, if a single person in Times Square had the bird flu, by the end of the week 250,000 would be sick and 50% of them would die from it.

After she told me all this, it was a scary thing thinking about it. Especially with two rugrats running around.

I hope it doesn't come to that.

 

Some doctors who have worked with Tamiflu have reported that it does not work like it is supposed to, but this info was spiked by the news media.

 

Strange how things play out. All this war and fighting going on with trade and imports and exports...this thing could easily overshadow all that.

Hoss, I have my eye on a place, just like you are thinking about.

Scotty

 

We are keeping an eye on it since we have employees traveling to the far east, mainly Taiwan and China.
With my luck, it will hit while I'm over there.

MikeyB

 

I was at Sam's Club Sunday afternoon and saw a sign advertising their pharma prices... The one that was the MOST expensive listed was Tamiflu!!!
Tamiflu 75mg tablet X 10 = $73.99...
I can see why they wanted the news media to spike that story!!!

K.

 

I remember when SARS was going to be the end of life as we know it, and we all know how that turned out. If you ask me, 24 hour news channels run out of stuff to report. So they tend to sensationalize issues to keep viewers tuned in.
AJ

 

Mass hyteria caused by too much media attention.

Will we get another flu pandemic? Of course, we have had them before and we will have them again. They are not new.
Will people die? The flu kills 1,250,000 people a year already. Just because the news wakes you up you now pay attention to what kills us?
Will man survive? Unfortunatly.
Can we be prepared? Only if we stop suing Doctors, and pharmicutical companies for outragous somes of money because someone dies. Until there can be profit in making vaccines companies won't / can't make it. Currently, all flu vaccines are made outside the US due to past lawsuits.

How can we prevent getting sick? Wash your hands before you eat. NEVER chew on your fingernails, Do not touch your mouth, eyes, or nose without properly washing your hands. Wash your hands after using the bathroom EVERTIME! Wash your hands when you go out to eat and don't touch anything before you eat or use a knife, folk, & spoon. Hand to mouth contamination is 90% of how we get sick. No more hand shaking! Your momma was right after all!

 

I think a few good points already made here are worth saying again.

Hoss - couldn't agree more, keep the faith and know that you won't go until it's your time, and when it is, go knowing you lived your life the best way you could.

Geico - Basic hygene that we are taught as tot's, but somewhere along the line we seem to forget would go a long way towards staying healthy.

For people that think they can just isolate themselves and avoid it. Wish it were that easy. This flu virus, once it get's started won't go away, your body will just build it's own immunity to it eventually the same as it has the thousands of other strains that you don't get every year. The vaccines are just to help your body get a head start to that immunity. So unless you plan on spending the rest of your life in a bubble isolation doesn't work. As far as moving to the country, if this pans out as a true pandemic, don't worry about buying a place right now. Sounds morbid, but if you are one of the survivors there will be plenty of places in the country available when it's over, just pick out your home and move in.

 

Last I paid attention to this as a week or two ago, at that time the WHO was reporting that the effects of the pandemic were being " over-stated".
They reported a British study that had found that in the populations were the Avian Flu had been confirmed, they were finding that while there were deaths, there were also vast numbers who had been exposed, had the flu and got over it, many without medical attention at all.
The report stated that most who contracted teh Avian Flu, didnt realize it, and had minor symptoms.
I dont beleive this is the " Mr. Trips" flu of Stephen Kings " The Stand" or the end of life as we know it.

Geico, good advise, but it should be applyied ALL the time, regardless of the pending pandemic or not....least thats what I tryed to teach my kids, tho I admit to being a bit of a slob myself.....

What comes will come, I aint gonna spend my time worrying about the things that only our Creator has control over.......

 

After re-reading my post I think I may have been a tad overbearing. Maybe cause I'm just getting over the dang FLU!?

I HATE BEING SICK!

 

Just caught some of the Oprah Show with her expert, Dr Olsterholm (sp?). Here's a few highlights:

- If the vaccine is found, only 300 million dose can be produced in the first year. 6 billion world population.
- He said it's not if, but when it's gonna happen. There were three pandemics in the last century. There's a 20-50 year cycle for these things to occur. It could start tonight or 10 years from now.
- If compared to 1918 flu it could kill 170-300 million. The 1918 flu killed 100 million.
- He said that it's not just the flu we should be concerned about, it's also the economy. Supplies will very limited.
- he said to prepare, have at least 6 weeks of supplies.

There was a lot of other info, but I didn't catch everything. I may also have paraphrased incorrectly, so correct me if you must.

One more thing.. There's also a story I saw a while back about Kim Chee (Korean pickled cabage) fighting the bird flu bacteria. Google it if your curious about it. Kim Chee breath will definitely keep anyone with the flu away.

 

I've tasted that cabbage, give me the flu, it's safer.