FYI - Bankers Hall Confirmed a case of Swine flu

[Wookie]

Wow, the Spanish one moved fast, just reading up on it: (crap, I just sneezed again)

The influenza strain was unusual in that this pandemic killed many young adults and otherwise healthy victims; typical influenzas kill mostly infants (aged 0–2 years), the elderly, and the immunocompromised. Another oddity was that this influenza outbreak was widespread in summer and fall (in the Northern Hemisphere). Typically, influenza is worse in the winter months.[citation needed]
People without symptoms could be stricken suddenly and within hours be too weak to walk; many died the next day. Symptoms included a blue tint to the face and coughing up blood caused by severe obstruction of the lungs. In some cases, the virus caused an uncontrollable hemorrhaging that filled the lungs, and patients drowned in their body fluids (pneumonia). In others, the flu caused frequent loss of bowel control and the victim would die from losing critical intestinal lining and blood loss.[citation needed]
In fast-progressing cases, mortality was primarily from pneumonia, by virus-induced consolidation. Slower-progressing cases featured secondary bacterial pneumonias, and there may have been neural involvement that led to mental disorders in a minority of cases. Some deaths resulted from malnourishment and even animal attacks in overwhelmed communities.[citation needed]

[photon]

Wow, at work they asked my wife to go do a test for this on her own time. She refused after calling the healthlink and somewhere else, they said there's no point unless you have symptoms.

Now they've told her to work from home this week and next. That's not legal is it? She's a contractor BTW.

They are seriously off the deep end afraid at her office. Crazy.

[Khel]

Originally Posted by photon

Wow, at work they asked my wife to go do a test for this on her own time.

Didn't you already post the test?

http://doihavepigflu.com/

[malcolmk14]

Originally Posted by khel

didn't you already post the test?

http://doihavepigflu.com/

hahahaha.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by Khel

Didn't you already post the test?

http://doihavepigflu.com/

That's not what this website tells me!

http://doihaveswineflu.org/

I had a lady in my store say: "Well, the good thing is that they're making people that are sick stay at home until they're better. It's not fair to people like me, who are immocompromised (she is a cancer survivor from what I know) that might catch it and get really sick"

Uh, Yeah. So you feel safe enough to come to the mall and bitch to mall employees about how rough your life is.

Life sucks. Get a f-ing helmet.

[Fozzie_DeBear]

[twotoner]

Realize that we are at the early stages of this. A few months out once the virus has had a chance to mix with other flu strains that are resistant to the tamiflu and relenza, this thing could turn quite ugly. Or it might just go away.

Read this on a site, to some degree I think it applies.
"Mental Distancing" is at work
There is a pretty well studied apsect that with a new emerging disease, especially where it has frightening potential, many people will perform the equivalent of unconscious "mental distancing" from the disease. They will look at all the available aspects of the disease, how it is transfered, what types of people have it, what type of conduct makes you vulnerable, where it "starts", whether it is supposedly not as severe in locations more like their own - and they will fasten on those apsects that allow them to distinguish themselves from that defined category of people that they see or hear are being infected and dying.
They cannot reconcile the facts with their view of reality, so they fasten selectively on those facts (or non-facts) that allow them to retain their reality.
Until folks see someone (or a group of someones) contract this virus, get treatment by a Dr like theirs, be admitted to a hospital like theirs, and recieve drugs like they imagine they would, many people will continue to believe this is a disease that will not, can not, affect them in a serious way.

[Wookie]

Originally Posted by twotoner

Realize that we are at the early stages of this. A few months out once the virus has had a chance to mix with other flu strains that are resistant to the tamiflu and relenza, this thing could turn quite ugly. Or it might just go away.

Read this on a site, to some degree I think it applies.
"Mental Distancing" is at work
There is a pretty well studied apsect that with a new emerging disease, especially where it has frightening potential, many people will perform the equivalent of unconscious "mental distancing" from the disease. They will look at all the available aspects of the disease, how it is transfered, what types of people have it, what type of conduct makes you vulnerable, where it "starts", whether it is supposedly not as severe in locations more like their own - and they will fasten on those apsects that allow them to distinguish themselves from that defined category of people that they see or hear are being infected and dying.
They cannot reconcile the facts with their view of reality, so they fasten selectively on those facts (or non-facts) that allow them to retain their reality.
Until folks see someone (or a group of someones) contract this virus, get treatment by a Dr like theirs, be admitted to a hospital like theirs, and recieve drugs like they imagine they would, many people will continue to believe this is a disease that will not, can not, affect them in a serious way.

I don't know, I think it works in different ways.

Kinda like the Earth Blowing up and killing us all. I'm scared of Cancer, I'm scared of being in an accident. I guess probably because it seems alone. But if some disease comes and wipes most of us out.... for some reason that doesn't scare me as much. Maybe it's because I'm older than when I was a kid... or maybe because it's the reality that there is nothing that one can... oh no wait, it's cause everyone is going with me!

I was smiling to myself earlier these past few days. Thinking about how all these jokes, comments, complaints, blah blah blah.. and how in 1, 3, 10 months this could be something that kills a large portion of us. It's almost funny.

Surely if something does start, it could very well go down like this. Some funny comics, some good jokes, late night TV, new stories, people laughing, humorous emails... Then it becomes very real.

##########, I just sneezed again!