don't panic, but "SWINE FLU COULD SPREAD GLOBALLY"

Are you getting vaccinated? I have the impression people aren't really that eager (as say in the US). Friend and husband are in fact against the idea.

Lots of kids though and caretakers (I know cause my gran's caretaker is at home and apparently they cldnt get a replacement).

I'm not, no. Only one of the guys at work is, but he's in one of the risk categories (heart condition).

The headline in the local paper today "As H1N1 flu stresses MetroHealth, poll finds most people snub shots"

The hospital is basically running out of room for flu sufferers.

the fact that the vaccine itself is in such incredible short supply, takes 10 days to work, and if you're a kid under 10, you need a second one 29 days later, does make doing all of it seem a bit futile, considering, in california at least, the virus is all over the place. still got the vaccines though. it's not the sort of gamble I like to make.

<img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2603/4052849920_151eb84599_b.jpg";>

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2603/4052849920_151eb84599_b.jpg

A civil disobedience group has been condemned for targeting Birmingham hospitals as it tries to frighten people into not having the swine flu vaccine.

It comes as health bosses reveal two further deaths caused by the H1N1 virus in the West Midlands, taking the total to 15.

The People’s United Community (Tpuc) launched a co-ordinated attack against the vaccine at Edgbaston’s Queen Elizabeth and Selly Oak hospitals, City Hospital, in Winson Green, and Birmingham Children’s Hospital, this week. They roamed corridors in the evening, putting up posters and handing out leaflets to patients and relatives with the slogan: “Swine flu is not the biggest danger. It’s the vaccine.”

Britain’s health chief, Sir Liam Donaldson, said Tpuc had only targeted Birmingham so far while Helen Jackson, spokeswoman for NHS West Midlands, said: “The concern is that this group is giving out false information. This vaccine is to protect people and has been developed through robust trials that show it is safe and effective.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W95YZqb6DU8

It's like pig-ignorant, virulently anti-vaccine people dropping like flies during a pandemic they helped usher in. It's like raaaaaain on your wedding day.

So what's the best way to start treatment if I expect to come down with the regular flu within the next couple days? Been keeping an eye on the gf while she's bedridden and it's now confirmed she has it.

Regular/seasonal flu hasn't even started to hit yet, has it? Right now it's all swine flu, all the time. At least that's what I thought.

Stay hydrated, get as much rest as possible, lay in supplies (canned soup, gatorade, tissues, nyquil)

Yeah, expect to be on your back for a week at least. I don't know if I had the piggy variety, but it was all I could do to get up and use the toilet when I was down.

i'd really rather it not hit me at all obviously but i want to be ready just in case, and i really don't want to still be dealing with it by the weekend if i can help it. i've been looking forward to this weekend for a couple months!

gonna take bedridden time as an opportunity for meditation i guess. "if you have time to breathe, you have time to meditate."

every muscle ache and stomach twist is making me go "hmmmm" right now. hoping for the best.

OK this has been said one trillion times already but I still absolutely cannot get my head around parents who somehow think Jenny Mcarthy has more credibility than, like, people with actual expertise in this stuff???? WTF america, good luck.

Oh and my favorite bit of science communications these past few days is the very effective bit about flu vaccine containing less mercury than your average can of tuna fish.

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1934826,00.html?cnn=yes

thank you, Time Magazine, for your v. insightful story

H1N1 is a combination of influenza strains; one part originated in pigs, and another in birds. So far, only swine and ferrets, which are particularly susceptible to the flu, have become infected with H1N1.(See a photoessay about animal space travelers.)

WTF AT THAT LAST PARENTHETICAL

WHY YES I DO WANT TO READ ABOUT ANIMALS IN SPACE

The first one is pretty random, too:

Late last week, when the cat came down with flu-like symptoms — malaise, loss of appetite — its owners brought it to Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine for treatment. The family mentioned to the vet that they had also recently battled illness, which led to testing the pet for H1N1. (See a photoessay on rescued stray dogs giving back.)

how do you tell if a cat has malaise???? "My cat is somehow even lazier than before."

vaccinated this morning iirc

What, you woke up randomly outside a clinic and figured you were vaccinated?

The Today Show had a total hatemongering story about how Wall Street companies are receiving allotments of the H1N1 vaccination this morning; it was kind of stunning in its level of bias and downright hateful assumptions. (Basically, it was excoriating these companies for receiving vaccinations that were offered to them by the government and stopped just short of baldly stating that absolutely no high-risk ppl work for any Wall Street banks; this was followed up by a doctor who basically said, "Well, following the rules makes them look terrible and they should have donated all of their doses to my hospital.")

I sort of thought I was watching Fox News as it was going on.

i think i now hate anti-vaccine people now more than i hate anyone, and yes that includes Osama Bin Laden

They stopped just short of "REMEMBER THOSE WALL STREET BASTARDS WHO STOLE ALL YOUR MONEY? WELL NOW THEY'RE STEALING YOUR VACCINES!" It was kind of incredible.

There is this guy who keeps calling here demanding to know why we're keeping information about when MA will receive more vaccines a secret and not telling anyone. He's a huge conspiracy theorist. I actually hung up on him yesterday because he started cursing at me. ugh.

tell him that agents will deliver the vaccine to his house and that he should check under the cushions in his couch every day for the next 2 weeks

He has called so many times that when he called yesterday I was actually said to him "Oh hello we spoke the other day because I recognize your voice and your frequent and persistant use of the word "secret".

Tomorrow is my last day here. If he calls maybe I will do just that Dan.

Ned that is what happened!

ENBB I think you should tell this caller about gbx's mystical experience and how it changed his life.

i think i now hate anti-vaccine people now more than i hate anyone, and yes that includes Osama Bin Laden

― TGAAPQ (Mr. Que), Thursday, November 5, 2009 7:32 PM (44 minutes ago)

^^^this

If the guy calls again, just tell him he's already been given his shot and see how he reacts.

I work at a hospital and the number of inpatients with flu-like symptoms has dropped off fairly substantially, in the last few weeks. One would hope that this could be a sign that we're coming down from the first peak (at least in Oregon).

Yeah, it's the second wave I'm more concerned about at this point -- anecdotally there seem to be a lot less under the weather folks around here than last month.

I got to give a whole bunch of H1N1 vaccines over the weekend. If you give shots you get one for free at the end!

Best part: actually getting a couple of people who were looking away, bracing for the pain, and then turned around after they heard the needle go into the sharps bucket, like, "That's it?"

Worst part (1): telling an 8 year old girl that it totally wouldn't hurt, and then for the only time ever putting the needle in and hitting the bone (which hurts). So I am a liar and a bad person, and I totally jinxed myself.

Worst part (2): giving the shot to small kids, since they can't understand you when you tell them to look away, so they watch you bring the needle up and could not hate you less, until the needle goes in and then they immediately burst into tears. Especially when they are younger than 2 or 3, when you have to give the shot in their leg instead of their arm. It is a good way to feel like a bad person for making a child cry.

awwwwww

*could not hate you MORE.

(I am starting to believe that medical school erodes your ability to use the English language properly.)

My kids cry for, like, 10 seconds, then light up when they get a lollipop. Then they spend the rest of the day skipping around, singing about their shot, and showing off their band aid.

^^^ i also did this

This is in Belgian papers as "whole Alaskan island has the flu"

http://www.adn.com/swineflu/story/1003193.html

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=65.757887,-168.950028&spn=0.003322,0.013937&t=h&z=17

(click "map" to make it disappear btw)

Is it just the US thats being hit hard with this? it doesnt seem to be rating much of a mention in Aus anymore and I dont know anyone much who's been genuinely sick (there were some people who went "oh no i have the flu" and were back at work fine 3 days later so theres no way they had h1n1).

Aus as in Australia? It's not flu season there anymore. In fact, this year's seasonal U.S. flu strain - the one they target with the seasonal flu vaccine - originated in Melbourne, way back when.

Oh ok - I would have thought flu strains were global these days what with air travel and such, but fair enough.

On the down side, we just met someone whose friend's five-year old son died two weeks ago of asthma aggravated by H1N1.

^^^^very sad, and drives home the importance of immunizing children, especially those at high risk for pulmonary crises.

Wow, very sad.

Doctor confirmed last week that I didn't have it, but the lurgey I did suffer with still left me feeling like crap for more than a week.

whatever the fuck I've got is driving me fucking crazy

no fever but so fucking tired all day

Hello, SFT.

Include me into yr portal!

I phoned the info line, and the symptoms list was "Temperature", plus one of the following. etc etc.

Have to say, if I had to choose two I had to have, I got the right ones. Sore throat, runny nos, dry coff.

You can keep the listless/tired, and the Diar/Vom.

I went to bed at 11:00pm, and woke at 01:00 in a damn swimming pool of my own making!

How long does it go on?