131 replies to this topic

[A. J. Raffles]

PrejudiceSucks, on Oct 23 2005, 10:16 PM, said:

You could be onto something. Or something about the government 'playing chicken' when they don't know how to stop the virus spreading etc.

I don't know what'll be worse, the death toll or the predicable headlines.

Ah, yes. And of course the extremely predictable "The Plot Chickens" and "One Flu Over the Cuckoo's Nest".

Edited by A. J. Raffles, 23 October 2005 - 10:27 PM.

[PrejudiceSucks]

*Cries* Or indeed talking about the extermination of the birds using the headline "To kill a mocking bird" (subtly different from the book's name, but there you go).

And that's before we stoop to "Going cuckoo" levels. Eugh... or indeed the black market thieves who will be "Robin the vaccine" etc.

[A. J. Raffles]

Yes, and some clever person will probably come up with alternative lyrics to "Who Killed *rooster* Robin" as well...

[PrejudiceSucks]

Well we're in the money if people are stumped for ideas. Huzzah!

We can help "alieviate the tragedy" or somesuch.

[DeathDude]

Phew it's not in Canada yet, I think it's not, lest we repeat the last time something big happened coughsarscough. Geez let's hope the government gets with it this time around.

[Juni Ori]

Well... in this world full of different lethal diseases one lousy bird flu doesn't weigh much in my opinion. And as far as I know, it hasn't still quite yet reached pandemic scale.

Did you know that this H5N1, which is now scaring you to death, was first isolated in South Africa in 1961?
Did you know that H5N1 doesn't usually infect humans?
Did you know that H5N1 hasn't been observed to transmit beyond one person? (very rare)
Did you know that there was no human infection of H5N1 observed in Europe or in USA week ago?

@DD: Hmm... in February 2004 H7N3 reached Canada. Fortunately only mild eye infections caused. In November 2003 single accident of H7N2 in New York. And in 2003 in Netherlands 89 persons infected by H7N7. In 2002 in Virginia single accident of H7N2. People, we're in the middle of it already. It's only mutating. For worse? Surely. For how serious? Nobody knows, but no need to panic yet.

[Tulac]

H5N1 is lethal that's what makes it different from other bird flu's ofcourse if it would mutate so it would be able to cross from one human to another through than we'd have a problem on our hand, however if 117 people died in very poor countries wth low healthcare, why do they expect 150 million people to die in Europe, I don't know, I guess some media wanted to hype it, but health officials denied them...

[BeefontheBone]

117 people have died from catching the non-transmittable existing version - the extrapolations are for what would happen if it becomes transmittable (transmissible?) between humans.

[Juni Ori]

@Tulac: Otherwise a good point, but every viral respiratory disease (sp?) can be lethal. H5N1 happens to be much more likely to cause death, I agree.

@Beef: That was actually my point in my line: "Did you know that H5N1 hasn't been observed to transmit beyond one person? (very rare)" Poorly put on my behalf, so thanks for backing up.

[BeefontheBone]

The lethality of HN51 is slightly exaggerated in the media I believe, though it is much greater than ordinary influenza.

[Tulac]

But if H5N1 first appeared in 1997 then why is there such a hype about it this year?
(Although I remember that they also predicted millions of dead for March of this year)

[BeefontheBone]

It's on the increase I think. To be honest, I'm not sure - I stopped paying any attention to anyone other than the New Scientist's coverage of it ages ago.

[Juni Ori]

@Tulac: In '97 it was in Hong Kong, right? Well, to be honest, I believe media is using bird flu only to sell. Nothing else.

@Beef: As I said: "Did you know that H5N1 doesn't usually infect humans?" Truth remains that those poor souls who get infected have notably smaller chances to survive than those who doesn't, but still the death rate has been quite low. Is it big wonder that people die more easily in far east, in regions where they don't get good treatment early enough.

About Pandemia, different sources seem to have different views. In both cases pandemia needs to be notably wide spread. Major different views differ in does it have to spread between humans. In any case, I repeat, this is far from apocalypse. Like Ebola was.

[A. J. Raffles]

On a slightly different note: did you know that the term 'pandemia', which the media seem to have grown so fond of, actually first turned up around the middle of the 19th century and was only very rarely used until somebody rediscovered it during the late 1990s? [Gotta love the OED ]

[DeathDude]

Always gotta love it when the media tries to be fancy with their wording and such, sniff brings a tear to the eyes, not.