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New Flu Strain Appears In the US and Mexico
Combat Wombat writes with this excerpt from Reuters:
"A strain of flu never seen before has killed up to 60 people in Mexico and also appeared in the United States, where eight people were infected but recovered, health officials said on Friday. Mexico's government said at least 20 people have died of the flu and it may also be responsible for 40 other deaths. [The government] shut down schools and canceled major public events in Mexico City to try to prevent more deaths in the sprawling, overcrowded capital. ... Close analysis showed the disease is a mixture of swine, human and avian viruses, according to the CDC. Humans can occasionally catch swine flu from pigs but rarely have they been known to pass it on to other people. Mexico reported 1,004 suspected cases of the new virus, including four possible cases in Mexicali on the border with California.
Wow, with news at this pace, we would find out about the end of the world a week after!
The flu has (very likely) already hit Queens, NY. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/25/nyregion/25sick.html?_r=1&hp
New Scientist Magazine also has a good introductory article about it:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17025-deadly-new-flu-virus-in-us-and-mexico-may-go-pandemic.html
From the article:
Flu viruses are named after the two main proteins on their surfaces, abbreviated H and N. They are also differentiated by what animal they usually infect. The H in the new virus comes from pigs, but some of its other genes come from bird and human flu viruses, a mixture that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls "very unusual".
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When people start making comments like this, I can't help wondering if this was someone's science project that got out into the open instead of a strain that occurred naturally.
Goddamnit, Madagascar has already shut it's borders.
Insert witty
if you see any flying pigs then you know we're in trouble.
[...] I wouldn't be surprised to see this one learn to dodge bullets as well.
I'm afraid that once it has evolved this far, it won't have to.
The only way to be sure you are safe is a total body condom.
Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
As a citizen of Colorado I have the right to travel freely in all of the United States with no permission, whatever.
Unless the authorities institute a general quarantine. In which case your libertarian ass will be staying put.
Believe it? I caught it.
San Antonio area was one of the first hit, and for all the cases diagnosed, I guarantee ya there are dozens more that couldn't afford to see a doctor.
Didn't feel TOO much worse than the normal version of flu. Little less achy, but a LOT more power-hurling.
Don't tell me to get a life. I'm a gamer; I have LOTS of lives!
I would guess that if a serious flu comes through, you will not be able to avoid it.
However, if I understand correctly, flu typically kills by filling the lungs up with mucus, and preventing breathing -- a fatal pneumonia, if you will. However, such a symptom is entirely (and easily) treatable. The treatment is called PP &D, and it takes about 20 minutes to drain the lungs. In other words, in the time it would take the ambulance to get you and get you to the hospital, you could be in good enough condition to walk out the door.
I've done this on my kid, and it does greatly improve breathing function.
Therefore, my advice would be to simply be prepared to do PP & D on others, the price being that they learn to do it, and do PP & D on still others in a 2:1 ratio until the need is gone. That way, if you do get sick, you will have someone to do it on you, and the flu wonâ(TM)t be fatal.
Here are two good sources on how to to PP&D.
http://www.phoenixchildrens.com/emily-center/child-health-topics/handouts/CPT-55b.pdf
http://www.questdiagnostics.com/kbase/as/ug1720/how.htm