As a vital front line health worker*, I should be near the front of the queue for vaccines and such.
*background worker mostly avoiding patients
( my other username is a porsche , posting shit pictures so you don't have to, Thu 11 Jun 2009, 18:10, archived)

'By Christmas' is when it's due, apparently
The second wave will probably have killed us all by then.
( Methylene Blue - electrohead, Thu 11 Jun 2009, 18:12, archived)

It seems to be about as serious as regular flu.
People do die from it, but generally old people or people with poor immune systems.
I'm not worrying.
( my other username is a porsche , posting shit pictures so you don't have to, Thu 11 Jun 2009, 18:13, archived)

Well, people are in intensive care with no underlying problems
I'm not too worried, I'll worry more when Madagascar gets it. (Joke)

But I do know one or two people with it who feel like they've got 'the cold of all colds'.
( Methylene Blue - electrohead, Thu 11 Jun 2009, 18:15, archived)

Yep, that's what flu feels like.
People can end up in intensive care from a simple cold, these things happen.
Looking at the statistics, it's not worth worrying about. Yet, anyway.
( my other username is a porsche , posting shit pictures so you don't have to, Thu 11 Jun 2009, 18:16, archived)

I agree
But this is going to cause some agitation. I saw a bloke in King's Cross station wearing a mask about 2 weeks ago.
( Methylene Blue - electrohead, Thu 11 Jun 2009, 18:19, archived)

Maybe. Depends how the media plays it.
From what I've seen today, they've been very eager to point out 'pandemic' doesn't mean doom.
( my other username is a porsche , posting shit pictures so you don't have to, Thu 11 Jun 2009, 18:21, archived)

Mercifully so
There was almost a media blackout once a fair few people had it though.

But yes, like many people say, we're much more prepared this time, so hopefully the casualties will be the bare minimum.
( Methylene Blue - electrohead, Thu 11 Jun 2009, 18:22, archived)

bollocks.
Even Spanish Flu didn't wipe us all out, and we didn't have antivirals back then, or much knowledge of viruses at all, or well-equipped state-funded hospitals and medical research facilities.
( Moon Girl Technologies horrendous beanbag, Thu 11 Jun 2009, 18:16, archived)

Have you heard of exaggeration?!
Of course it's not going to wipe us all out. We have antibiotics which will probably cure most of the pneumonia that arises as a second result.
( Methylene Blue - electrohead, Thu 11 Jun 2009, 18:18, archived)

I've heard of you coming out with incredibly stupid things.

( Moon Girl Technologies horrendous beanbag, Thu 11 Jun 2009, 18:19, archived)

Likewise.
But your well-equipped state-funded hospitals haven't done much of a job with MRSA, have they?

Sure, they'll probably be more alert with a pandemic, but still, they're not magicians.
( Methylene Blue - electrohead, Thu 11 Jun 2009, 18:21, archived)

Yes, they've done a fantastic job.
MRSA lives very happily on healthy people's skin, it's easily spread and resistant to various treatments.
It's very difficult to stop it getting around.
( my other username is a porsche , posting shit pictures so you don't have to, Thu 11 Jun 2009, 18:23, archived)

Aye
right after all the undercover news reports about people slacking off.

Either way, we have to put our trust in these people; but NHS Direct are telling people with flu-like symptoms to go to a+e.*

*Three people I know have been sent to A+E
( Methylene Blue - electrohead, Thu 11 Jun 2009, 18:28, archived)

a friend of ours was actually isolated after displaying 'flu-like symptoms,
but it turned out he didn't have it.
( Moon Girl Technologies horrendous beanbag, Thu 11 Jun 2009, 18:29, archived)

hand hygene and proper cleaning help to stop it spreading
but between 3 and 7% of people have it and dont know
they then go out into the community and spread it about
It's not just a hospital problem
(MRSA that is)
( Giant bunny jumping out like a large happy tourettes rabbit, Thu 11 Jun 2009, 18:31, archived)

Actually, much of the news coverage was based on a single bloke running a lab out of his back garden.
All the positive tests for MRSA from things like doorhandles, windowsills etc came from his lab, and couldn't be replicated in real labs.
This isn't to say it's not a real issue, which does kill people and is dealt with seriously, but much of the media circus was based on a single phoney.
( my other username is a porsche , posting shit pictures so you don't have to, Thu 11 Jun 2009, 18:31, archived)

Ah, that's interesting, I din't know that
I was saying a similar argument with the report 11 years ago with autism being caused by mercury, and how (as far as I know, more might have been released) nobody could replicate this, and how the only girl who got compo was the girl with the mitochondrial disorder.

Got to love the media.
( Methylene Blue - electrohead, Thu 11 Jun 2009, 18:35, archived)

This probably explains it better than I did.
www.badscience.net/2005/11/how-many-microbiologists-does-it-take-to-change-a-tabloid-story/
( my other username is a porsche , posting shit pictures so you don't have to, Thu 11 Jun 2009, 18:43, archived)

MRSA isn't an international emergency that threatens all human life.

( Moon Girl Technologies horrendous beanbag, Thu 11 Jun 2009, 18:23, archived)

*sigh*
I did just imply that by saying "they'll probably be more alert with a pandemic"
( Methylene Blue - electrohead, Thu 11 Jun 2009, 18:25, archived)

"more alert" hardly covers it.
MRSA isn't in the same league.
( Moon Girl Technologies horrendous beanbag, Thu 11 Jun 2009, 18:28, archived)

You're assuming that the pneumonia will be bacterial...

( Wicca'd Witch needs ideas for a new sig on..., Thu 11 Jun 2009, 18:22, archived)

Yes, I am, not the best idea
But bacterial infections are common with colds and flu, not just pneumonia.
( Methylene Blue - electrohead, Thu 11 Jun 2009, 18:24, archived)