Swine flu?

[anasporn]

where to begin ...? I just can't believe how BULLSHIT is out there on teh interwebz. Here I am, hunting for accurate and maybe even halfway scientific info - and about to pull my hair out when I really want to bitchslap damn near every journalist and keyboard warrior with a fucking blog.

FACTS found so far:
1. This is a new mutation of Influenza A (H1N1). Yes, Influenza A has been around forever, and H1N1 has been around for quite a while .. in fact about 4-5 years ago they exhumed bodies from the 1918 Influenza pandemic and ran DNA tests to determine it was A/H1N1.
2. Because this is a new mutation presenting new combinations of epitopes, current flu vaccines are useless. Of the FOUR antiviral medications currently developed, H1N1 has resistance genes to TWO of them, leaving only Tamiflu (R) and Relenz (R) to combat A/H1N1 strains.
3. Reports out of Mexico are contradictory and unclear as to whether the two previously mentioned antivirals are effective against this new permutation of A/H1N1. Even if it is effective, antivirals must be administered within 36-48 hours of symptom onset ... and most people wait an average 2-3 days before seeking medical attention for flulike symptoms.
4. This new A/H1N1 is transmitted from human-to-human contact like the common cold (rhinovirus) with incubation period listed from as short as 24-48 hours up to the more standard 3-5 days.
5. Symptoms are the standard influenza ones: fever, muscle aches, cough, runny nose/congestion.

Beyond these facts are unconfirmed reports and even wild speculation. I want to strangle the media. I'm not asking for the fucking DNA sequence on it, just some actual scientific FACTS.

[stuveltje]

Originally Posted by anasporn

where to begin ...? I just can't believe how BULLSHIT is out there on teh interwebz. Here I am, hunting for accurate and maybe even halfway scientific info - and about to pull my hair out when I really want to bitchslap damn near every journalist and keyboard warrior with a fucking blog.

FACTS found so far:
1. This is a new mutation of Influenza A (H1N1). Yes, Influenza A has been around forever, and H1N1 has been around for quite a while .. in fact about 4-5 years ago they exhumed bodies from the 1918 Influenza pandemic and ran DNA tests to determine it was A/H1N1.
2. Because this is a new mutation presenting new combinations of epitopes, current flu vaccines are useless. Of the FOUR antiviral medications currently developed, H1N1 has resistance genes to TWO of them, leaving only Tamiflu (R) and Relenz (R) to combat A/H1N1 strains.
3. Reports out of Mexico are contradictory and unclear as to whether the two previously mentioned antivirals are effective against this new permutation of A/H1N1. Even if it is effective, antivirals must be administered within 36-48 hours of symptom onset ... and most people wait an average 2-3 days before seeking medical attention for flulike symptoms.
4. This new A/H1N1 is transmitted from human-to-human contact like the common cold (rhinovirus) with incubation period listed from as short as 24-48 hours up to the more standard 3-5 days.
5. Symptoms are the standard influenza ones: fever, muscle aches, cough, runny nose/congestion.

Beyond these facts are unconfirmed reports and even wild speculation. I want to strangle the media. I'm not asking for the fucking DNA sequence on it, just some actual scientific FACTS.

Yes i agree about the bullshit around this issue, but facted, alot of people died within a month,and fact you wont die fast from a normal flu....this one will and can kill you, it all starts with a normal flu, the same sypthomes, now its up to you to go to a doc, with the warnings from the countries, people will know it can be worser then a normal flu,my point is........alot will think it will be a normal flu, but now with the warnings . they know better, they will get a check up sooner, and again dont compair this with a normal flu, because you wont die that fast from a normal flu.
Btw and here we go with different info, the info i read is: the swine flU: consist a part of the orginal swine flu, bird flu and a human flu, now on this part i do say its hard thati have to i read that egypt is going to kill every pig in their country, even animals do carry the diseases they dont have to be sick, but in holland they did the same that time with the bird flu, on this moment to many things and info are going around on the net, but you cant get around the fact that alot of people died within a month because of that so called" 5 years around" damn flu, name me an other year this flu hit so many deaths in a short time.

[anasporn]

Originally Posted by stuveltje

Yes i agree about the bullshit around this issue, but facted, alot of people died within a month,and fact you wont die fast from a normal flu....this one will and can kill you, it all starts with a normal flu, the same sypthomes, now its up to you to go to a doc, with the warnings from the countries, people will know it can be worser then a normal flu,my point is........alot will think it will be a normal flu, but now with the warnings . they know better, they will get a check up sooner, and again dont compair this with a normal flu, because you wont die that fast from a normal flu.
Btw and here we go with different info, the info i read is: the swine flU: consist a part of the orginal swine flu, bird flu and a human flu, now on this part i do say its hard thati have to i read that egypt is going to kill every pig in their country, even animals do carry the diseases they dont have to be sick, but in holland they did the same that time with the bird flu, on this moment to many things and info are going around on the net, but you cant get around the fact that alot of people died within a month because of that so called" 5 years around" damn flu, name me an other year this flu hit so many deaths in a short time.

Stu, this IS influenza ... technically it is Influenza Type A (H1N1) which was originally a bird strain, but birds, pigs, and humans pass the influenza virus amongst the three species very easily (which is how it has elements of all three). There are other mammal species which can contract influenza as well, but for some reason influenza virus is very well-adapted to humans, birds, and pigs in particular.

Another flu that hit hard and fast when it emerged was H5N1, usually called "the bird flu" in Asia. In 1957 H1N1 hit and was called "the Asiatic Flu" and in 1967 H3N2 hit and was called "the Hong Kong flu".

Each time a new variation emerges that the population's immune systems do not recognize, it has the potential to be a pandemic and to kill quickly ... not just the usual children, elderly, and immunocompromised but otherwise healthy young adults via a "cytokine storm" which used to be misdiagnosed as secondary pnuemonia infection.

People often shrug off and say "Oh it's just the flu" without realizing that even in this day and age, the influenza virus kills between 200,000 and 500,000 people around the world. Also, there is no such thing as "normal" flu, because Influenza is broken down into three types (A, B, and C - which does not affect humans currently) and then broken down by the chemical composition of the viral envelope (H1N1, H3N2, H5N1, etc) and then broken down further by specific DNA-typed strains which I won't bother to attempt to list because that system gets complex fast. The "short" name for this one right now is Influenza A/Mexico/2009 (H1N1) and next to no one has immunity against it (somatic hypermutation suggests there will be a very small percentage who have immunity due to random genetic luck).