H1N1 map: red is confirmed cases.

[Kb! Bob]

My wife is a nurse at a hospital right on the border of the city. They get a really wierd diverse patient base, half from the wealthy eastern mainline, and half from west philly. They are INUNDATED with people who think they have swine flu because those are the two worst socio-economic groups for over-reaction. Half are poor and uneducated, the other half slather theirs kids in 80spf and hand sanitizer everytime they leave the house for squash practice!! Anyway, she told me that they count "suspected" cases as anybody who walks in and says "I think I have swine flu/symptoms"!! They have like 5000 suspected cases and maybe 5 confirmed at her hospital. They tried to force her/guilt her into getting the shot, she said fuck off. My feeling is that the .gov knew this virus was like a bottle rocket, it would shot up fast then drop off quick, so they basically jumped on the bandwagon with a national emergency and a antidote crisis to 1.) deflect attention from other events, ever seen "Wag the Dog", and 2.) when the sickness is totally done in a couple months and no big numbers of deaths occur, they can blow each other over how quickly and decisively the acted to prevent the next Black Death, even though they really had little effect.

[Sandcut]

Originally Posted by BSH

Also, unless a case is confirmed as swine flu through testing, it's tough to call it H1N1, as it's pretty much the same as plain old flu.

I agree that "national emergency" is a highly suspect designation. Anybody know what government powers are triggered by such a declaration?

It's not necessarily the government that it frees up when a declaration is made. The national emergency was declared to free up the bureaucratic red tape required for health care providers to effectively provide health care. Mostly, it allows hospitals that receive vaccine to set up offsite clinics outside of the hospital to administer H1N1 vaccinations without disrupting the normal flow of business in the hospital. This is very important as emergency rooms are currently SWAMPED by every jittery sick person coming in because they have a fever and are afraid they've got swine flu.

Honestly, these folks are going to their family doctors and being told to go home and get rest. They don't like that so they go to one emergency room where they're told to go home and get rest. They don't like that anwer so they go to the next ER, etc., etc., etc. It's pitiful!

My wife's an ER nurse. This is a typical conversation.
Wife: "What brings you to the ER?"
Patient: "I have a fever and body aches. I think I have swine flu."
W: "Did you take any tylenol?:
P: "No"
W: "Did you take any ibuprofin?"
P: "No"
W: "How long have you had these symptoms?"
P: "About an hour."

Absolutely absurd!

Most of what people are calling "Swine flu" isn't even H1N1. The docs will take a nasal swab and test it for Type A or B flu. If it's Type B it's not swine flu. If it's Type A, they send the swab off to CDC ONLY if the patient is in serious condition (immune compromised, pneumonia, etc.) and the results take about 2 - 3 weeks to confirm. However, just because you're Type A positive does NOT mean it's swine flu. It could just be Type A seasonal flu, which is mostly what people are coming down with. Unless you're confirmed by CDC as being positive, you really can't say with any certainty that you didn't just have a cold and/or seasonal flu.

[bogey1]

Originally Posted by nlcrsn

I also remember hearing the vaccine had some severe side effects.

yeah, death. i never had a flu shot, and i highly doubt i will ever get one. i did get the flu a couple of years ago, but at that time my immune system was probably pretty weak, now that i have cut back a tad, and eat a little better, i havnt been sick since. also, try and cut out the antibacterial soap and what not, that just weakens the immune system.

[nlcrsn]

Originally Posted by bogey1

cut out the antibacterial soap and what not, that just weakens the immune system.

I know, I've heard that but I deal with some really nasty customers and some lead to physical tests of endurance, so I like to frag the germs I may have come into contact with! I've wrestled with some real pin cushions.

[NY Refugee]

And did anyone mention that the Fed Gov is having all flu and flu like symptoms reported as H1N1.
The standard flu takes 40,000 lives every year. H1N1 is not the evil killer flu that is a big public health crises that the gov is making it out to be.
Do we need to protect our selves during flu season, yes, but its not the pandemic that it is being made out to be.

Unless of course you want the public concerned and distracted from, lets say passing and over priced, unpopular public health bill.
But that kinda stuff only happens in the movies.

[ehidle]

Originally Posted by NY Refugee

And did anyone mention that the Fed Gov is having all flu and flu like symptoms reported as H1N1.
The standard flu takes 40,000 lives every year. H1N1 is not the evil killer flu that is a big public health crises that the gov is making it out to be.
Do we need to protect our selves during flu season, yes, but its not the pandemic that it is being made out to be.

Unless of course you want the public concerned and distracted from, lets say passing and over priced, unpopular public health bill.
But that kinda stuff only happens in the movies.

This is not true at all. If you look at the flu surveillance report, they have a few categories.

Flu-like symptoms are reported as ILI (Influenze-like Illness)

Confirmed cases are broken down into Influenze A H1, Influenze A H3, 2009 Influenze A H1N1, Unable to Subtype, No Subtype Performed, and Influenza B.

Less than half of outpatients reporting ILI are confirmed to have any type of the Flu.

Right now, H1N1 outnumbers all the other types by about a 2:1 margin, which is good since H1N1 is not as severe as the normal Seasonal Flu. The CDC uses weasel words to try to imply that H1N1 is worse, but all anecdotal evidence I've seen says it's no worse than a mild common cold.

[AKross]

Actually I am not sure if the map OP posted is being updated. I found this site that says we are up past 7800 with 22 death.

http://www.h1n1inpa.com/newsroom/pa-situation-update/

[nlcrsn]

The 2 of these together puts us in a bad situation.

http://forum.pafoa.org/news-123/7792...d-news-us.html (HB.492 BAD NEWS FOR US!!)

[Warpt762x39]

2 of the confirmed cases in Northampton County were a woman I work with and her daughter. She said they felt like hell for a few days and then got over it. Just like any old cold or regular flu.

[Kb! Bob]

Originally Posted by nlcrsn

The 2 of these together puts us in a bad situation.

http://forum.pafoa.org/news-123/7792...d-news-us.html (HB.492 BAD NEWS FOR US!!)

As far as I'm concerned, trying to vaccinate me against my will is akin to attempting to stab me, and I will react accordingly.