Swine flu, how many times removed?

[blissful]

Gosh we are having such a hard time here. Our schools have closed for the next 7 days, there was a case of swine flu, he is the HS football star, 104° F Fever, hospitalized. Another boy was the lab partner of the sick boy, child of our co-worker, then I find out my boss played basketball with the sick boy at the YMCA which is now closed for a week too. So our family is swine flu related twice removed. The sick boy went to cancun.
We hope the scare is overblown yet we worry and are filled with some fear that we will get sick too. Is this affecting you?
We wash our hands, try to never touch your mouth, nose or eyes, and don't stand closer to anyone showing flu symptoms than 6 feet, in the future we may be wearing masks. Are you? Are you worried? Your thoughts? ~Bliss

 

[MexicoKaren]

Oh blissful - how ironic is it that you should be in greater danger than we are, and we are in Mexico! There are no cases any closer than Zacatecas (300 mi) so far. We are on the west coast of Mexico, and the Sierra Madre mountains are a natural barrier to travel between us and the affected areas (except, of course, by air). Nevertheless, our entire bay is shut down. No restaurants or bars are open. All "non-essential" businesses are supposed to be closed. Schools are closed. Hospitals are closed to nonemergencies. Movie theaters are closed and all public meetings cancelled. After the disappointing tourist season (bad economy and fears of drug violence - also not an issue in our area) local people and businesses will really suffer from this event. I hope you stay healthy...no, we are not worried.

 

[GB]

We are not personally affected yet even though the second and third confirmed cases in MA are in a town very close to my office. I think most people are being overly concerned right now though. Not you though blissful. It sounds like you have a legitamate reason to be concerned. I hope you stay healthy.

Just a note on wearing a mask...If you do end up going that route it is very important to change masks every couple of hours otherwise the mask turns into a sponge of sorts and ends up holding germs closer to your face than if you were not wearing one.

 

[Alix]

Wow. Blissful, I would be concerned in your shoes.

I think some of this recent swine flu stuff is a bit of a media scare. People die from influenza every year in alarming numbers. I'm not sure why this particular strain is of such concern and panic. I THINK its because there is no vaccine to fight it at the moment so folks are worried it will spread quickly. Still, there are between 250,000 and 500,000 deaths annually worldwide from influenza. Thats pretty huge.

This is only my opinion, but if we are careful about handwashing and about covering when we cough/sneeze etc we will be the best frontline defense in keeping the spread of all diseases down. I don't think we need to go too nuts, but the occasional doorknob/lightswitch/remote and phone wipe down wouldn't hurt either.

 

[MexicoKaren]

At our only local supermarket, the employees are wiping down every cart with disinfectant between uses...as you enter, you are handed a clean cart. Nice touch.

 

[blissful]

Thanks, though we aren't panicking.
If my manager and my co-worker's son don't show symptoms within 2 to 7 days, then, they won't be spreading it. 7 days would be by next Wednesday (manager will be in Denver).
I think they are worried about worse case scenario. Like if this current flu mutates and sweeps through. It's too early to know how bad this swine flu is right now.
Influenza - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Indeed, if a strain with similar virulence to the 1918 influenza emerged today, it could kill between 50 and 80 million people.[

I think I'd feel a LOT better about all of this if businesses would seriously frown on people coming to work with symptoms. I would rather they were sent home immediately for as long as it takes to get better. If they could work from home if they felt up to it, it would help everyone.

 

[GB]

I think I'd feel a LOT better about all of this if businesses would seriously frown on people coming to work with symptoms. I would rather they were sent home immediately for as long as it takes to get better. If they could work from home if they felt up to it, it would help everyone.

My office has been all about that since the day I started there 2 years ago. If you are sick they would much rather you stay home and work from home. They are not happy when sick people come into the office. They would much rather give you as much time to work from home as you need then risk coming in and infecting others.

 

[snack_pack85]

In Oxnard , CA where my two younger brothers go to school there are three confirmed cases of the swine flu. My brothers highschool where there was one confirmed case and the jr. high school i went to as a child are both closed down. So are most stores. I am keeping tabs on the family I have still in the area to make sure everyones still doing well.

 

[radhuni]

Swine flu hits India also, but we generally don't consume pork and there is very few pig firms so we are moderately safe here.

 

[GB]

Swine flu hits India also, but we generally don't consume pork and there is very few pig firms so we are moderately safe here.

You do not get swine flu from consuming pork and you don't get it from pigs either generally. You get it from humans so if you have human contact then you can get it if that human has it. Not consuming pork and not being close to pig farms plays no role in you not getting the disease.

 

[radhuni]

You do not get swine flu from consuming pork and you don't get it from pigs either generally. You get it from humans so if you have human contact then you can get it if that human has it. Not consuming pork and not being close to pig farms plays no role in you not getting the disease.

Thanks, I thought it is like bird flu. The information given in the news paper is confusing.

 

[GB]

The information given in the news paper is confusing.

This is one of the reasons they are trying to get away from calling it the Swine Flu and start calling it the N1H1 of 2009 strain.

 

[blissful]

So far, the lab mate of the sick child is not sick and my manager is not sick, so far so good. *Sigh*

 

[MexicoKaren]

That's all good news, blissful. Hope everyone is OK. We still have no cases on the west coast of Mexico as far as I know. We are hosting Spanish classes for Americans/Canadians at our house right now, and a couple showed up this morning telling us that their housekeeper's daughter, who accompanies her to work, is very sick with a high fever. She was taken to the doctor this morning - waiting to see what it turns out to be. Keeping our fingers crossed for her and the rest of us.