Been glued to the news this weekend and online about the national health emergency crisis regarding this new flu outbreak. we are in tx and there are 2 cases in san antonio young boys. seems to be spreading slowly at this point to several other states as well. there has been worry for yrs that something like this could happen. mexico city is basically in a shutdown mode with 20million population!!!. this could turn ugly i sure hope our govt is taking it seriously. they havent shut the borders yet from mex which in my mind is a big mistake for all our border states -divvi
The US government is taking it very seriously. They have just declared a Public Health Emergency. Here is the latest article - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30398682/
with all of our migrant workers coming /going without any supervisions on our border states and no stopping of air traffic influx things could get critical fast. i heard they dont think they will be able to stop the rampage in mexico as it wasnt caught early enough. we are talking millions here. no our flu vaccine isnt the correct one for this but experts say it MAY give some added protection but no guarantees. this is all we need on top of our own daily stresses with AD... divvi
Currently the treatment of choice is Tamiflu. I read the government has released a large amount of this drug for states that need it. I just checked and had a full bottle of Tamiflu that the doctor prescribed for me in November when he feared the brochitis might develop into flu. (It was important to start the Tamiflu within the first 2 days of flu symptoms).
Our "in home physician" is really good at prescribing 'just in case', and we will have the script to use if we need it. I always have azithromycin (Z Pak) in reserve. That and the drugs they have prescribed for DH during different phases of his AD..my drug box looks like a little pharmacy of its own.
I am in the San Diego area where this first showed up. Tonight a local lab reported that as soon as the CDC has the genetic makeup they can make a vaccine and have it ready in 9 weeks. I think that is good news since even if (when) this mutates a vaccine will offer some protection. The thought about this flu causing death in Mexico among the age group not usually affected is that perhaps they were those who didn't get a flu shot and even though what was available this year isn't quite right it may help some. Still, this is serious and spreading around the world...
frand, just a minute ago, the TV said that the flu shot did not contain the proper vaccine to have prevented this particular virus. I'm sure that you are right, however, the poverty level is so broad spread in Mexico City, I'm sure millions of people did not get their flu shots there. I've wondered how the pharmeceudical companies know in advance the types of viruses they will be fighting and thereby putting the appropriate anti-virus vaccine in the mix.
Update | 1:38 p.m. | C.D.C. Briefing A CNN reporter asks if Dr. Besser’s advice to not kiss people as a token of greeting only applies to people in areas where the virus has been identified. He says that the C.D.C. is not calling for “a ban on affection,” but suggests people in areas where the virus has been identified should probably pass on kissing each other hello or goodbye for
I guess I have the pig bug too. All the symptoms seem to fit my sinnus and runny nose things that I seem to have most of the time. I have always said that I don'[t know the difference between allergy, sinnus, cold, flue larrengytis, cough, etc. I read elsewhere about the runny nose and Carol and I both use kleenix and have boxes all over the house. Wish I could get her to use a trasn can.
Maybe this will help find a way to protect our borders. Bill
doneit i heard that too and they are trying to protect the pigs from catching it from the humans who care for them! poor things. they start getting it and they will slaughter them all like in egypt. divvi
Went to a cook-out last nite. One of the girls there- boyfriend works at a hog farm. Anything man can get- they can pass to a pig.
Employees have to take a shower before entering the farm, and once again before they leave. All employees must get a flu shot, the hogs get two shots a year
i was also toldby my vet that we can pass throat infections to our pets, ie-dogs. my poor little male was on deaths bed a few yrs back with dog-flu like symptoms and she told me to take care while caring for him or i could get it too. the infections were massive and he had a trache tube for a week due to closing of the throat it was so bad. you can imagine the vet bill but the little guy is super ok now..and 91yr old doggie yrs..:) divvi
I have also heard that piglets are suseptible to everything in their enviorns, and need to be kept cool (or warm in winter), and cannot be handled very much at all. Years ago, a member of our church who was a farmer said his pigs were the most labor-intensive livestock on the farm and they could not leave for a weekend without having someone available to keep an eye on them. I had no idea these big ole animals were so suseptible to illnesses. Imagine having a pot bellied pig as a house pet. I don't think of them as very cuddly.
Ok as someone who's 18 year old son came home from college with the swine flu last Friday night, I have two pieces of advice -
1) Get Tamiflu at the first sign of a high fever
2) Watch for respiratory complications and do not hesitate to go to the dr/ER at the first sign of them. His went directely into pnuemonia and he required an antibiotic also.
Divvi has been concerned about adjuvants in swine flu vaccine. There's an article about it in today's NYTimes Science section: http://tinyurl.com/n4qq6a
Upshot: Adjuvants are NOT going to be in US swine flu vaccine. They would have been necessary if the vaccine and the flu virus were not a good match (which would happen if the virus was mutating a lot) but this is not the case.
Thanks Briegull. i read the entire article. now one must decide if you want to believe it or not.
all countries with exception of the US are getting adjuvants with their vaccines to offer more doseages. seems strange we would not - but lets hope that its true. at least the FDA has admitted their is discrepancy and issues that should be addressed with the additives in vaccines prior to authorizing it- we may here more on this topic as it unfolds. :) divvi
This is from the web-site vitamindcouncil.org, a site given to me by the nutritionist at our clinic as a reliable source of info on vitamin D. Dr. Cannell emphasises elsewhere that there have been no studies done on this and it is strictly anecdotal information but worthy of consideration.
"This is an announcement to alert readers to a crucial email I received from a physician who has evidence vitamin D is protective against H1N1. I ask you, the reader, to contact your representatives in Washington to help protect Americans, especially children, from H1N1 before winter comes.
Dr. Cannell: Your recent newsletters and video about Swine flu (H1N1) prompted me to convey our recent experience with an H1N1 outbreak at Central Wisconsin Center (CWC). Unfortunately, the state epidemiologist was not interested in studying it further so I pass it on to you since I think it is noteworthy. CWC is a long-term care facility for people with developmental disabilities, home for approx. 275 people with approx. 800 staff. Serum 25-OHD has been monitored in virtually all residents for several years and patients supplemented with vitamin D. In June, 2009, at the time of the well-publicized Wisconsin spike in H1N1 cases, two residents developed influenza-like illness (ILI) and had positive tests for H1N1: one was a long-term resident; the other, a child, was transferred to us with what was later proven to be H1N1. On the other hand, 60 staff members developed ILI or were documented to have H1N1: of 17 tested for ILI, eight were positive. An additional 43 staff members called in sick with ILI. (Approx. 11–12 staff developed ILI after working on the unit where the child was given care, several of whom had positive H1N1 tests.) So, it is rather remarkable that only two residents of 275 developed ILI, one of which did not develop it here, while 103 of 800 staff members had ILI. It appears that the spread of H1N1 was not from staff-to-resident but from resident-to-staff (most obvious in the imported case) and between staff, implying that staff were susceptible and our residents protected. Sincerely,
Norris Glick, MD Central Wisconsin Center Madison, WI
This is the first hard data that I am aware of concerning H1N1 and vitamin D. It appears vitamin D is incredibly protective against H1N1. Dr. Carlos Carmago at Mass General ran the numbers in an email to me. Even if one excludes 43 staff members who called in sick with influenza, 0.73% of residents were affected, as compared to 7.5% of staff. This 10-fold difference was statistically significant (P<0.001). That is, the chance that this was a chance occurrence is one less than one in a thousand.
Divvi, I checked this with my friend who is a high-up statistician for NIH. She did some poking around and confirms: the US vaccine will not have the adjuvant.