NationStates Jolt Archive

I was watching ABC news a few days ago, and one of the leading experts on bird flu--I don't remember his name, and the searches on the ABC news website failed to find an article on the story, for whatever reason--who feels that it will be coming to the U.S. quite soon. More to the point, it will mutate into an incredibly virulent illness that shall be over three times as worse as the 1918-1920 pandemic of influenza. He even advised stocking up three months worth of food and supplies in one's house and the like, to avoid possible infection. Now, I know jack shit about most medical matters, but doesn't it seem a wee bit extreme to assume this stuff? This is 2006. Our medicine has advanced by quantum leaps and bounds, vastly beyond 1918. And, of course, there is the poultry industry, which has no wish to see bird flu affect their profits. Methinks that while bird flu will certainly be serious, it is not cause for THIS much alarm. Thoughts?

Didn't they say the exact same thing about SARS?

Didn't they say the exact same thing about SARS?

SARS was contained. That's why we dodged that bullet. H5N1 hasn't been contained. It's spreading like a wildfire across Eurasia and Africa. Guess where it'll go next!

SARS was contained. That's why we dodged that bullet. H5N1 hasn't been contained. It's spreading like a wildfire across Eurasia and Africa. Guess where it'll go next!
VULCAN! *shot*

But seriously, as I said, I don't doubt that we will face some severity. I just doubt it will be anywhere near as much as the expert claims.

SARS was contained. That's why we dodged that bullet. H5N1 hasn't been contained. It's spreading like a wildfire across Eurasia and Africa. Guess where it'll go next!

Pfft.

H5N1 is just another fad- like bellbottoms or Peter Andre.

As of right now, the United States is not prepared for an outbreak of that scale- nor will we be prepared in the near future. It takes time to create a vaccine and to distribute it to a country's population.

But will this be as a big deal as they're saying it's going to be? Personally, I don't think so. Just more fearmongering.

VULCAN! *shot*

But seriously, as I said, I don't doubt that we will face some severity. I just doubt it will be anywhere near as much as the expert claims.

This one may be a bit alarmist, but there is truth to what he claims. If this starts spreading between humans and proves to be as deadly as it has so far, both likely developments, then expect high numbers of deaths.

Pfft.

H5N1 is just another fad- like bellbottoms or Peter Andre.

And those still continue to plague us, even if Peter Andre only if you look for him in tabloids.

Mostly in urban centers. I feel somewhat safer, as I'm rather isolated out here in rural Colorado.

Query: do you think they would close down the schools and/or banks?

Last I heard, it's killed less than 100 people in two years. And they all had far more contact with birds than most people. Maybe it COULD turn into something bad. Maybe I could also win the lottery and get hit by lightning.

Mostly in urban centers. I feel somewhat safer, as I'm rather isolated out here in rural Colorado.

Query: do you think they would close down the schools and/or banks?

Oh, they'd probably close down schools as this has proven to be dangerous to children and young to middle aged adults. It isn't like your ordinary flu that just kills the weak and elderly - it kills young, healthy people.

Last I heard, it's killed less than 100 people in two years. And they all had far more contact with birds than most people. Maybe it COULD turn into something bad. Maybe I could also win the lottery and get hit by lightning.
This is why I find it hard to believe these alarmists. Of course, my parents, being the loveable morons they are, are complete believers of it and are already starting to plan bulk supplies into the budget. ~_~

Fass: That might create somewhat of a problem, then. =/

Last I heard, it's killed less than 100 people in two years.

What is significant is how many people it infected and which died. The mortality rate lies around 50% as of October 2005 (this is moving down, but that can actually be bad news, too, as it thus gains the ability to infect more people in not killing its host) and it has affected young and otherwise healthy people.

And they all had far more contact with birds than most people. Maybe it COULD turn into something bad. Maybe I could also win the lottery and get hit by lightning.

Do you know how flu viruses work? They have segmented DNA that can basically "jump" around between different flu virus strains. It is easily conceivable that it may acquire the ability to spread from person to person from another strain that already has this ability. There is most certainly cause for concern here. To dismiss it is foolish.

Absolutely right. But at the same time, the fear-mongers just aren't being honest - they treat the possibility of this virus mutating into a human-to-human strain as a given, which it most decidedly isn't.

H5N1 is a threat, and reasonable precautions have been taken against it. We can't distribute vaccine, because there is no vaccine for a H-T-H strain - and the vaccine we've got for the current H5N1 may very well not work against a mutated strain. In fact, it almost certainly won't.

I'll start being woriied when and if there is an outbreak of H5N1 among humans. Until then, it's a back-burner issue.

1.) We, individually, can't really do anything about it.

2.) We're all going to die anyway.

So why worry?