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  • swine flu

    2009-05-01 8:31AM / 標準BLOG / 會員可以看
    25個評論

    just got back from vacation in the states yesterday.  seems like the big topic everywhere is the swine flu.  all over the news.  also, when i arrived in hong kong, they set up gates and made you fill out a health declaration.  lots of people were wearing the masks, too.

    is this something we should all be freaking out over?  is this more dangerous than a regular flu?  i heard that normal medicines won't help cure it.

BLOG評論 (25)

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  • rottendoubt
     rottendoubt
    留言於2009-05-10 3:18PM
    marie - thanks for the update!  ya, seems like we'll just wait until fall to see what happens.  =/
  • mariejost
    藝術家空間 Marie Jost
    留言於2009-05-09 10:20PM [举报]
    Given the heat and humidity in HK at this time of year, I don't think you have to worry much about the transmission of swine flu.  It requires cool temps and low humidity to stay airborne in the water droplets exhaled by a sick person and so be inhaled by others.  Scientists have been doing studies on why the flu disappears in late spring and summer, only to reappear in the late fall.  Relative humidity and ambient temperature are key.

    Also, about masks, the health experts in the US were saying that they were more helpful if worn by those who were sick to prevent the spread of their illness to others than as a preventative by the healthy.  The only type of mask that is helpful for the healthy is the rigid respirator mask, which is hot and uncomfortable if worn for more than a few minutes.  They also have to be adjusted to fit tightly around the nose and face and block the inhalation of any air that is not passing through the respirator.

    Finally, in its current form, the H1N1 virus is no more contagious or deadly than the seasonal flu (and may even be harder to spread because of a genetic weakness in the virus).  I haven't had a serious case of the flu in over 10 years.  The last time I had to flu was 2 winters ago and it was so mild I though I just had a bad cold--until I was tested.  Even the doctor didn't believe I had the flu, until she saw the test.  A few days of antiviral drugs and I was fine.  H1N1 responds very well to antiviral drugs.  As long as you don't have a medical condition that would make contracting any respiratory illness serious, I don't think people should worry at this time about the flu.  There may be cause for concern next fall, after the flu season in the Southern Hemisphere, but only if the virus mutates into a more deadly form.

    By the way, there really is no way to keep the flu out of HK, unless all travel to and from the city is suspended permanently.  In a year or two, this flu will have recombined with other flu strains and will have morphed into something different and probably part of the flu genes circulating worldwide in the seasonal flu viruses.
  • JasonChau
    JasonChau
    留言於2009-05-09 4:32AM [举报]
    There's a funny story I can tell you. My uncle told me in London there was this guy who had worn a mask on when he went out onto the streets. Instead of expecting people to respect his decision and do the same....people were running AWAY FROM HIM thinking he was infected! ^^

    On the serious side...we started wearing masks the other day. I was travelling towards Tung Chung with my family and some friends by train. For me it felt really funny as for one side of the train, cos I just thought we looked like we had come right out of the movie Outbreak! All four of us were wearing masks and looked like surgeons, ready to operate on someone! ^^

    Funnily enough I happened to pass by the mentioned Metropark hotel on Wednesday night. Despite what people said with the heavy police presence, it looked calm. I think the HK government has done all it can to cure the illness.

    Personally I think prevention is the best possible cure. Like using masks and alcohol wipes whenever you can (there are these portable alcohol washes you can get in HK). But also a positive mindset. You wouldn't believe but I read somewhere that a positive attitude actually can really help with illnesses and disease.

    Surprisingly half of the battle of illness is all to do with a state of mind. There have been double-blind tests done where people who were sick with an illness were given ordinary sweets instead of medicine to test a theory, and somehow miraculously got cured.......because of their strong belief they would be ok.
  • paulee
    paulee
    留言於2009-05-04 10:54PM [举报]
    I'm not even sure a vaccine is needed. Swine flu is easily treatable with antiviral medication such as Tamiflu and Relenza, which is easier to make and unlike vaccines, you don't need to make a new one every year targeted at a particular culture.

    Less than a 1000 infections worldwide is not a pandemic when during the same period, millions of people came down with regular flu and several thousand have died from it.
  • cyberdog
    cyberdog
    留言於2009-05-04 1:39AM [举报]
    it doesn't concern me much, but the hysteria surrounding it does
  • rorreta
    rorreta
    留言於2009-05-03 2:08PM [举报]
    take care...i've heard that China has already developed the vaccine
  • Phattam
    Phattam
    留言於2009-05-02 8:35AM [举报]
    I've got a fever and the only prescription is more cow bell
  • jacishere
    jacishere
    留言於2009-05-02 6:55AM [举报]
    I'm in Vancouver, Canada and it's all over the news here as well.  Two people went to Mexico and contracted it and now everyone is freaking out :\
  • Flagday
    Flagday
    留言於2009-05-02 6:40AM [举报]
    "...[I]t's the news media and society's seeming obsession with apocalyptic wish fulfillment that is driving the near panic. Yes, there's reason to be concerned, but it's been blown all out of proportion."

    Well said Paulee.
  • lu2x4ah
    lu2x4ah
    留言於2009-05-02 6:26AM [举报]
    u were in the states? when? where???

    as for swine flu, i think people are blowing it outta proportions. it's good to be prepared because it has "potential" but compared to normal seasonal flu, it has barely done any damage.  way more people catch the common influenza virus and succumb to it (even more than reported).. at least 100 ppl a day in the US die from it.  and there are ppl who die from complications from it or are elderly so the "cause of death" is not listed as influenza.  

    and there are NO cures for flu.. or colds. all we do is treat the symptoms and hope that our bodies fight off the disease soon.  if anyone ever discovered cures for any of the common ailments we have, that person would be so rich and famous... beyond words.
  • paulee
    paulee
    留言於2009-05-02 12:49AM [举报]
    http://abcnews.go.com/Health/SwineFlu/story?id=7471341&page=1

    "Last year the seasonal flu took the lives of 83 children and an estimated 36,000 adults in the United States, according to the CDC."

    The impact of swine flu is microscopic compared to regular flu. We're talking 330 cases of people catching it worldwide compared to 36,000 deaths caused by regular flu. All this fear is unwarranted, and frankly silly.

    No conspiracy necessary - it's the nature of 24-hour news to turn every molehill into Mt. Everest. But people should be armed with facts, not images of reporters standing in front of ominous Google Maps of a swine flu cases.
  • AsianChick100
    AsianChick100
    留言於2009-05-02 12:48AM [举报]
    welcome back.

    1st HK case confirmed on may 1st...
    just wash your hands regularly and avoid touching your face (mouth, nose, eyes). be careful, use common sense, but i don't think there's a need for panic (yet).
  • luvli
    luvli
    留言於2009-05-01 7:03PM [举报]
    this is why I carry a bottle of germ-x everywhere!!! lol
  • Jaine
    Jaine
    留言於2009-05-01 3:10PM [举报]
    ah yes, a media frenzy worldwide
    conspiracy rumours abound

    sure becareful but it's not time to panic
  • janechu
    janechu
    留言於2009-05-01 2:39PM [举报]
    I am a little more cautious but not freaked out... hopefully they'll have control over it soon...
  • wudi
    藝術家空間 吳迪
    留言於2009-05-01 2:05PM [举报]
    dude ... u gonna be carefull !!!
  • paulee
    paulee
    留言於2009-05-01 12:15PM [举报]
    BTW, here's some of the first concrete info coming out about the H1N1 virus.

    http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-sci-swine-reality30-2009apr30,0,3606923.story

    "There are certain characteristics, molecular signatures, which this virus lacks," said Peter Palese, a microbiologist and influenza expert at Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York. In particular, the swine flu lacks an amino acid that appears to increase the number of virus particles in the lungs and make the disease more deadly."

    "We expect to see more cases, more hospitalizations, and, unfortunately, we are likely to see more deaths from the outbreak," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told reporters Wednesday on her first day at work."

    "But certainly nothing that would dwarf a typical flu season. In the U.S., between 5% and 20% of the population becomes ill and 36,000 people die -- a mortality rate of between 0.24% and 0.96%."


    As such, in my opinion, the virus is interesting biggest it mutated to a form that was easily transmissible in people, but at this point, it's the news media and society's seeming obsession with apocalyptic wish fulfillment that is driving the near panic. Yes, there's reason to be concerned, but it's been blown all out of proportion.
  • rottendoubt
     rottendoubt
    留言於2009-05-01 12:14PM
    marie - wow, thanks for the info!!!  very helpful...

    thanks for the info everyone!  i'm already a very clean person so i guess i should be ok... i hope!
  • paulee
    paulee
    留言於2009-05-01 12:06PM [举报]
    Swine flu is all hype at this point.

    For example, 36,000 people die from ordinary flu EVERY year in the U.S. Five to twenty million catch it. Every single year, just in the U.S.

    Compared this to the numbers being reported for swine flu and it isn't even at 1% of a normal flu season. Regular flu is literally a 100 times more deadly, at least.
  • RenRen
    RenRen
    留言於2009-05-01 11:58AM [举报]
    Don't freak over it, but remember to wash your hands as often as you can with anti-bacterial soap. A mask could help.
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