Seattlest Pix 09Nov24
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Thanksgiving Pairing Suggestion: Sides with a Pint
Et tu, Rachel? "Rachel the pig" is safely quarantined in our Seattlest Flickr pool thanks to Life as Art.
Public officials in the U.S. and around the world are issuing warnings about an ongoing outbreak of swine flu that has pandemic potential. Centered in Mexico, this outbreak has already spread to the United States and Canada. Forty cases have been reported in U.S. in New York, California, Texas, Kansas, and Ohio.
Locally, we direct you to the UW's pandemic plan page, and to the King County Health Department, which is reporting no cases thus far. Today, the U.S. has advised Americans not to travel to Mexico. Major airlines, including Alaska Airlines, have said travelers can reschedule or cancel ticketed flights to Mexico without incurring penalty fees.
There is no doubt it’s a deadly strain: there have already been nearly 200 deaths in Mexico and more are likely. The question is how deadly this outbreak will ultimately turn out to be. The CDC has said that this strain of influenza is genetically different from strains they have seen before.
Most influenza outbreaks are variations on known strains. That makes it easier to develop vaccines. When a genetically new strain emerges, it’s called an antigen-shift. It’s usually trouble because most humans don’t have a built-in immunity to it and no vaccine is ready to be rolled out. The massive 1918 influenza, which killed an estimated 60 million people worldwide, was an antigen-shift influenza, as was the 1968 Hong Kong flu, which killed one million people.
Most disturbing is the way this outbreak is causing fatalities. Influenza usually kills the weakest members of society, the very young, the very old or those with weakened immune systems. But this outbreak is killing the healthy people, 20 to 40-year olds. It’s this factor that is causing the most fear among health officials because it is eerily reminiscent of the 1918 flu.
We may be okay: One bright spot is that the 40 or so cases in the U.S. have not been as severe as those in Mexico. No deaths and only one hospitalization so far. (Officials are advising not to read too much into that and caution that the situation may worsen in the U.S.)
However, it’s possible that better healthcare, better access to medicine, and better treatments may lesson the impact here in the states. That was true in the 2003 SARS outbreak and with luck it could be true here as well.
Also, years of warning about pandemics have resulted in better communications between nations, better contingency plans, and swifter action. The CDC has been preparing for this situation for years. No we’ll see if the preparation pays off. They’ve caught this early and are moving fast.
Look for the U.S. to ban travel to Mexico if the situation gets worse. And, despite a disastrous attempt to vaccinate the U.S. population in the Swine Flu epidemic of 1976, look for the government to push for fast and wide vaccinations if a vaccine is developed in the near future.
What you can do: It’s pretty simple. Wash your hands frequently, with an alcohol-based cleaner if possible, and don’t touch your hands to your face. If you get sick, cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze and stay home from work or school.
The U.S. is also keen on "social distancing." That’s health-speak for “Stay away from sick people or people in general.” That’s your call.
For the truly paranoid, you can always read Stephen King’s The Stand or Albert Camus’ The Plague.
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The pigs are finally getting their revenge, perhaps? (And, no, I'm not a vegetarian.)
Do we have confirmed cases of deaths? The cases in Mexico are still unconfirmed, and many might not be related.
Posting stuff like "But this outbreak is killing the health people, 20 to 40 year olds." is unnecessarily inflammatory when it very well might not be true.
Yes, there are confirmed cases of death--26 is the latest I've heard from Mexico, though were are 149 deaths from pneumonia that were suspected to be flu-related. (And some of the confirmed deaths were people in the hospital for other reasons.) So far, though, as the next paragraph mentions, the U.S. cases have been relatively mild. Canada, by the way, is not that worried about it.
Most pandemic flus kill normally healthy, young people due to the cytokine storm--effectively you're killed by your own body's response.
But... I thought it was never lupis.
I thought this was pretty funny.
"It’s this factor that is causing the most fear among health officials because it is eerily reminiscent of the 1918 flu."
I can't believe the science of medicine hasn't changed since 1918!!!
Oh, it has? We've learned things and the world has advanced since then? We gotten better at producing vaccines and limiting disease vectors? oh...
I keep hearing 1976, when we vaccinated out of insane fear and made people paralyzed.
I'm not afraid because the U.S. is a lot different than it was in the- aw fuck.