Smoochy Girl

A pandemic (from Greek παν pan all + δήμος demos people) is an epidemic of infectious disease that spreads through populations across a large region; for instance a continent, or even worldwide.

As of this morning, after 2 weeks of it appearing, there have been :

CONFIRMED CASES
Mexico: 168 suspected deaths - 12 confirmed
US: one death, at least 109 confirmed cases
New Zealand: 3 confirmed, 13 probable cases
Canada: 19 confirmed cases
UK: 8 confirmed cases
Spain: 10 confirmed cases
Germany: 3 confirmed cases
Israel, Costa Rica: 2 confirmed cases each
The Netherland, Switzerland, Austria: 1 confirmed case each
(taken from BBC online)

There are more people dying on SZR daily than people dying of the bloody flu. Why don't they ban cars??

Don't you all wish for some outstanding scandal to happen, so that all this BS can go to a small paragraph in the back page of the daily scrap?

And what I really want to know is - if the authorities stopped pork to cover all bases (which shows how stupid they are), does anyone feel reassured that they would know what they were doing if anyone really does come down with this flu - I think not

Morecambe Mindy

There's plenty of sand out there, do what I'm doing and stick your head in it til its all gone away.

Kim67

Here's an balance informative article from the Australian Lung Foundation if you're interested.

http://www.lungfoundation.com.au/ima...wine%20flu.pdf

Smoochy Girl

Interesting reading - my favourite being the last para:

What other examples of swine flu outbreaks are there?
The most well known outbreak of swine flu was 1976 one among soldiers in Fort Dix, N.J. The virus caused illnesses in at least four soldiers and one death; all were previously healthy. The virus was transmitted in close contact at a basic training camp. It was thought to have circulated for a month and disappeared. The source of the virus, the exact time of its introduction into Fort Dix and factors limiting its spread and duration are unknown. The outbreak may have been caused by introduction of an animal virus into a stressed human population in close contact during the winter.

Wow - 4 got sick and 1 died

It's all so hilarious really - whoever is worried, has obviously nothing better to worry about ......... after all whoever heard of a flu in temperatures of 40 degrees plus ??

shiva

whilst i agree that the global media machine is making a meal of this, there are very very good reasons to fear a global pandemic.

again from wikipedia

Influenza
Main article: Influenza pandemic
The Greek physician Hippocrates, the "Father of Medicine", first described influenza in 412 BC.[25]
The first influenza pandemic was recorded in 1580 and since then influenza pandemics occurred every 10 to 30 years.[26][27][28]
Influenza pandemics in 1729-1730, 1732-1733, 1781-1782, 1830, 1833-1834, 1847-1848.[29]
The "Asiatic Flu", 1889–1890, was first reported in May of 1889 in Bukhara, Uzbekistan. By October, it had reached Tomsk and the Caucasus. It rapidly spread west and hit North America in December 1889, South America in February–April 1890, India in February-March 1890, and Australia in March–April 1890. It was purportedly caused by the H2N8 type of flu virus. It had a very high attack and mortality rate. About 1 million people died in this pandemic."[30]
The "Spanish flu", 1918–1919. First identified early in March 1918 in US troops training at Camp Funston, Kansas. By October 1918, it had spread to become a world-wide pandemic on all continents, and eventually infected 2.5 to 5% of the human population, with 20% or more of the world population suffering from the disease to some extent. Unusually deadly and virulent, it ended nearly as quickly as it began, vanishing completely within 18 months. In six months, some 50 million were dead;[31] some estimates put the total of those killed worldwide at over twice that number.[32] An estimated 17 million died in India, 675,000 in the United States[33] and 200,000 in the UK. The virus was recently reconstructed by scientists at the CDC studying remains preserved by the Alaskan permafrost. They identified it as a type of H1N1 virus.[citation needed]
The "Asian Flu", 1957–58. An H2N2 virus caused about 70,000 deaths in the United States. First identified in China in late February 1957, the Asian flu spread to the United States by June 1957. It caused about 2 million deaths globally.[34]
The "Hong Kong Flu", 1968–69. An H3N2 caused about 34,000 deaths in the United States. This virus was first detected in Hong Kong in early 1968, and spread to the United States later that year. This pandemic of 1968 and 1969 killed an estimated one million people worldwide.[35] Influenza A (H3N2) viruses still circulate today

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandemic

yes i really do think that we should dismiss it as a laugh, FFS wise up people, pandemics are endemic in nature and are are one of THE major driving forces of evolution. I'm not saying this is the next big one or to panic now but please remember that these can, have and will continue to happen and our currently highly mobile global population is now more exposed to the risks than at any other time in history.

remember also that a place like the UAE where the vast majority of the population live in an extremely high density with little in the way of hygene control and the rest of us work in areas with central ac means that we are at a greater than average risk of a major outbreak of something here........why do you think they screen for TB so stringently

AnotherWorld

This happened after the economic crash of 2008. It is a smokescreen possibly being generated to enable the CDC to declare a level 6 threat. Martial law can be declared. This is to offset the blame of the government for the upcoming and bigger economic crash that will happen in the USA and around the world since it is "on the verge". They can blame the crash on the "pandemic".

Singhiz Thing

ok I've been lurking for a while now but this just gets my goat...

Yeah I bet the friends and relatives of the person who died were rolling around on the floor laughing about it too.

What does outside temp have to do with it??? you do know that people regularly get colds and flu in the summer even in hot countries? 40-degree heat won't make any difference at all. You could be in 60 degrees outside, if someone with the flu sneezes and you breathe it in you'll still be infected.

like shiva says Dubai has perfect conditions for spreading swine flu like wildfire. Most people who get it will recover but some will die and real flu is a horrible thing to have any time... lots of people think that the flu is like a bad cold, but it's much much much more serious than that...

Jeeper

I think she was laughing at it being a 'pandemic' and world news.
People die every day and it doesn't make news......I doubt she was laughing at that person.


I agree with some people saying that only x people have died sinc this broke out and more people have died in car crashes globally in that time....so there's some perspective to be had.

But this does have some potential behind it to get much worse.

Blue Cat

exactly Jeeper, no one is mocking loss of life just the fact that the press are making such a drama out of it, even the Doc on Sky News said take Paracetamol!!

Smoochy Girl

Thank you Jeeper and Blue Cat - you understood where I was coming from. The panic buttons that are being pressed are all for nothing. Mentioning the millions that died in previous pandemics is stupid - they didn't have the drugs, hospitals and everything else we have now.

The problem is they've been crying wolf every other year or so now for some years and call me whatever you want - I do not believe this is a pandemic. Is there a chance of it becoming one? Sure there is .....but then teach people what to do rather than harping on about what might happen. Have they stopped people entering the UAE from the countries most effected?? Of course not ! And they won't either.

So yes it does have the potential to become much worse as Jeeper said, but sorry I'm afraid I am cynical and I'm tired of all the gloom and doom about something that has killed a miniscule amount of people

I don't see many people worrying about the poor Indian Labourers who haven't been paid for months, left in their labour camps to starve or die of thirst HERE where we all live. Is there any of you out there worrying about the poor bastards who are dying or commiting suicide because of the hardships they are facing?? I bet there aren't ........... but let's worry about the pandemic that might hit us instead!

Sabriyyah

Swine flu has come along at a very convenient moment - it has successfully diverted everyone's (well the world media anyway) thoughts away from the major crises of the moment - Pakistan, world recession, AIDS, Sri Lanka etc. etc.It means that governments can sneak through all sorts of 'news' that their populace wouldn't like too much. For example, did anyone notice the article about Dubai World investing in a casino in Las Vegas? I bet the Dubai government is hoping that none of the Emiratis did!

shiva

dubai have had a joint venture with MGM (owners of the MGM grand casino)for about 2 yrs now, old old news

Eva

Oh yeh, I've been there
Follow the yellow Brick Road to reception.....