Swine Flu news and updates thread

Originally posted by mamana
Can anyone tell me how long this virus can live on surfaces please?

I run a mail order business and we receive packages from all over the US, UK and Europe on a daily basis and we also send packages out to those places each day. This has got me wondering just how safe is it to receive packages right now. Most are delivered very quickly... within 1-3 days. Just how safe is the post right now?

I guess it really doesn't matter much as the last person to touch your package, either the desk clerk or your carrier, could be infected; meaning anything over a few hours could be a risk to you. Your best bet is to wash your hands after every package you handle, don't touch too many things on your desk, and don't touch your face. I've been treating "foreign objects" like I do when I handle raw chicken in the kitchen.

www.reuters.com...

The CDC said more seasonal flu viruses were making people sick than would normally be expected for May, and the reasons were not clear. "We think that it may be as much as half, or even more, of the viruses that we are testing now ... are the new H1N1 or cannot be subtyped," the CDC's Dr. Anne Schuchat told reporters in a telephone briefing. "The particular risk here ... is that co-circulation of this new virus together with the seasonal strains might put us at risk for there to be a reassortment event."

I am not sure this has been posted but I would rather do a repeat than leave this out. Check out this new theory....

"We were surprised by the frequency of obesity among the severe cases that we are tracking," Schuchat said. It is not clear whether being obese makes a patient more vulnerable, or if the numbers reflect how common obesity in now in the U.S. population, she said.

I wander if they mean severe obesity? I am about 20-30 pounds overweight but trying to lose weight. My body fat ratio is right at the "obese' on the lower end of the scale. I am not proud of this; as I eat pretty heathly and exercise not as much as I used to though. I always heard it was better to be 20 pounds overwieght than 20 pounds underweight? I bet it is more to do with the fact there are so many obese people in the U.S.

Originally posted by redhead57
I am not sure this has been posted but I would rather do a repeat than leave this out. Check out this new theory....

"We were surprised by the frequency of obesity among the severe cases that we are tracking," Schuchat said. It is not clear whether being obese makes a patient more vulnerable, or if the numbers reflect how common obesity in now in the U.S. population, she said.

verrry interesting...though it would not explain the infant deaths.

Are there any unique biological factors shared by the obese? Blood pressure, heart rate and cholesterol aside of course, as those risk factors are shared by a lot more than just the obese. Blood glucose levels? I think one of the dead was a diabetic.

If that statement made it into the news that says something, as every recent article wreaks of calculated construction.



edit: thank you to ecoparity, H3x and clouds. you guys (and many others!) have done a wonderful job with keeping us up to date, and my feeling is that there are dozens of members and hundreds of lurkers that, even though they are so frightened by the possibility they deny it to themselves, appreciate the infuriatingly accurate information that has come out of this thread, especially given recent and darker developments.

there are a good number more that actively appreciate what you are doing, and as one of them I encourage you to continue.

[edit on 20-5-2009 by Chilkoot]

# Berks, Pennsylvania, USA: 10 confirmed casesSource: Pennsylvania Department of HealthDate: 19 May 2009, 11:00 GMT3 minutes ago from twitterfeed

# Cumberland county, USA: 1 confirmed caseSource: Pennsylvania Department of HealthDate: 19 May 2009, 11:00 GMT3 minutes ago from twitterfeed

# Delaware county, Pennsylvania, USA: 2 confirmed casesSource: Pennsylvania Department of HealthDate: 19 May 2009, 11:00 GMT3 minutes ago from twitterfeed

# Lackawana county, Pennsylvania, USA: 1 confirmed caseSource: Pennsylvania Department of HealthDate: 19 May 2009, 11:00 GMT3 minutes ago from twitterfeed

# Lancaster City, Pennsylvania, USA: 1 confirmed caseSource: Pennsylvania Department of HealthDate: 19 May 2009, 11:00 GMT3 minutes ago from twitterfeed

# Tokyo, Japan: 1 confirmed caseSource: Xinhuanet.comDate: 20 May 200932 minutes ago from twitterfeed

Wyoming one of two states with no confirmed Swine Flu cases
www.kgwn.tv...

China reports 5th confirmed case of A/H1N1 influenza
2009-05-20 23:08:32
news.xinhuanet.com...

Fort Lee student may have swine flu; School 3 closed
www.northjersey.com...

Off Topic:
GM says deal with UAW unlikely. Probably won't reach deal with Treasury, either. Story at www.wlns.com. Mona will have more on 6 News at 5. 5 minutes ago from TweetDeck

reply to post by Chilkoot


I think they are clutching at straws! First it is the young and healthy, now it is the sick that are at risk. It seems that every day they are coming up with new things to throw in the mix with this flu and not one thing is conclusive.

This may be the one of the biggest cover ups we have faced. If it is as bad as many of us think, 9/11 will pale into nothing behind this one.

bietz: Update 5/20/09: 5710 total cases of novel H1N1 flu, 8 deaths, 48 states affected: http://(link tracking not allowed)/feOeN (expand) #swineflu (via @CDCemergency) Already in English 1 minute ago from Tweetie

Time Magazine: A New Pandemic Fear: A Shortage of Surgical Masks
ah1n1.blogspot.com...

NY Emergency Supply's:
www.nyc.gov...

Egyptian state news agency MENA reports that two Egyptian boys, aged 4 and 3, have contracted the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus. 4 minutes ago from BNO Headquarters

Wisconsin's Pandemic Flu Resource
pandemic.wisconsin.gov...

rpicking: 52 cases of swine flu in Kansas. latest three cases are in Geary County 36 minutes ago from web

Garreton: The school H1N1 virus contagion is under investigation to determine the zero carrier that forced the closure of 6 Santiago schools Already in English 2 minutes ago from web

Kent_N: It seems now swine flu is here in Tokyo and Kawasaki area. Need to get the mask, huh. 34 minutes ago from web

[edit on 5/20/2009 by Hx3_1963]

Originally posted by Cloudsinthesky
reply to post by mamana

 

I was told by my source from the CDC it has lived up to 36 hours without a host........

Confirmed this with my source as well.
Seasonal flu can live from 1 to 3 days depending on the type of surface, the conditions such as temperature and humidity and exposure to sunlight.
30 minutes exposure to direct sunlight will sterilize most surfaces (this statistic created a bit of confusion on an earlier post about safely bringing groceries into the home during pandemics).

This swine flu variant has been found to be "tougher" than normal at staying alive outside of a host. It actually spreads itself better this way than via respiration. Using gloves, hand washing, etc will protect you more than wearing a face mask. (Not to say you won't get sick if someone coughs on you, that's how I was infected).

reply to post by redhead57


Yep...on the soles of the feet and then put of socks.Really seems to help,not sure why.
I'm the oldest of 8 kids and my Mom is a genius for her "at home" remedys mostly due to necessity but damn if they don't work!
You peel either the giner or garlic if using freah and sorta' mash it up a bit with a spoon...steep in boiling water and sweeten if need be.
The garlic isn't really as bad as it sounds and honestly,the healing-properties are worth a bit of nasty to me.
Please feel better soon!!!

Much to my surprise one of the infections disease nurses did return my call!

Her response was typical, not enough testing facilities, too many various strains of flu to test everyone, blah blah, blah.

I asked her is there any way to know the spread of this virus in our county and she said absolutely not as there is very little testing being done! I then asked her is this a case of the horse already being out of the barn and why bother....she laughed and said....EXACTLY!

How is that for reassurance from local health officials for you????

One question....she said that after a few days the test would not show for h1n1 that the virus would not show....is that true????

PRO/AH/EDR> Influenza A (H1N1) - worldwide (36): case counts
www.promedmail.org...:1001:8869852366361711::NO::F2400_P1001_BACK_PAGE,F2400_P1001_PUB_MAIL_ID:1010,77583

Flu Fears Remain High But Confirmed H1N1 Cases Stay Low (NY1 News)
h1n1alliance.org...

DominosPizzaMS: jeez....swine flu in Ocean Springs, MS. 6 minutes ago from TweetDeck

Swine Flu Cases in Maine Drop, Bucking National Trend
www.mpbn.net...

BREAKING NEWS: Melrose officials confirm two cases of H1N1 ‘swine flu’
www.wickedlocal.com...

H1n1 new case being found in toronto public school board tdsb
speakouttoronto.wordpress.com...

Canadian boy is Cuba's fourth flu case: government
www.reuters.com...

Egypt warns of post-hajj swine flu quarantine
news.yahoo.com...

Zhongjp: Guangzhou has found the first H1N1 case!!! 6 minutes ago from web

reply to post by irishchic


I guess it is a good thing I live alone, I will be drinking garlic tea and have greasy feet and a greasy chest tonight! LOLOL There is much wisdom in the old remedies, thanks.

Are you still planning your trip?

reply to post by redhead57


LOL!!! Yes...sometimes it's "better" to sleep alone although misery does love company and I do when I'm sick! Has anyone else noticed that you tend to want to "mess around" when you're at your worst??? LOL! I guess the body goes into that survival mode.

Been and back without incident,thanks so much!

Had a trip to LA planned and honestlyI'm staying put for the time being...just back from the gym and it's been "mentioned" that a regular and her husband are both "terribly sick with some sort flu..."
If I get a heeby-jeeby feeling at all,I'll be working out right here.

I don't trust this,not one lil' bit and I wish that everyone who's here would get better!!!

Originally posted by Hx3_1963
Flu Fears Remain High But Confirmed H1N1 Cases Stay Low (NY1 News)
h1n1alliance.org...

Now see this is pure stupidity or pure manipulation.

And it is exactly what I was saying yesterday.

The DATA is there.

The MEDIUM the data is in is the message that is actually being heard.

Logically, confirmed cases will never reflect reality. The DATA is still correct, and freely available.

The MEDIUM is the message that the data is inside of. The medium is a lie. The data is still true.

Let me phrase it a bit differently to expand the possibility that you'll see what I am pointing out. There are facts. And there are stories. The stories can change.

The facts remain the same. People generally DO NOT HEAR THE FACTS, even when they are consistent and obvious. People hear the STORIES that the facts are couched in.

They aren't changing the facts. They are changing the FRAME OF REFERENCE around the facts.

The medium is the message. People do not see that there are multiple layers of information and data. That data and information are not the same thing. That HOW the data is presented, the opinions around the data impact more strongly than the data itself.

Even when the data is presented in a contextually correct medium, people will be less likely to see it because it is not as easy to understand.

A good lie has elements of the truth. A simple lie is better than the complicated truth.

This is critical thinking. Every person who went to school in the First World at least has received tax payer funded traning on how to use critical thinking. On how to see the news. Most of us just didn't care, understand or choose to remember it.

Swine flu panic in New York City heads into higher gear
www.nydailynews.com...

First case of H1N1 confirmed in Dakota Co.
www.siouxcityjournal.com...

Man with travel history is McLean County's first case of H1N1 flu
www.pantagraph.com...

Two new swine flu cases confirmed
news.bbc.co.uk...

juanmiguelarias: Fourth confirmed case of H1N1-A in Guatemala. It's a 65-year-old man from Quetzaltenango. 24 minutes ago from mobile web

Ecuadorian child infected with flu recovers
sangay.wordpress.com...

ChicYamada: The medicine that the doctor gave 3 days ago is not working. If the sickness persist, I should get tested for H1N1 22 minutes ago from TwitterBerry

r0ckinrepublic: So a PT in the hospital has swine flu. Nutso. less than 20 seconds ago from Tweetie

Disease and Terror
The swine-flu outbreak caught health officials completely by surprise—just as a bioterror attack would.
www.newsweek.com...

Hmmm...
Severity of H1N1 flu downgraded
www.osceolaiowa.com...

News12LI: 8 students at Memorial Junior High in Valley Stream have swine flu 28 minutes ago from web

Swine Flu Confirmed At 2 Boston Schools
informationonhealth.info...

CoCoHealth: Total swine flu cases in Contra Costa County now 52 (41 confirmed) 14 minutes ago from web

awakeinroch: @inmyheadstudios @MWendyHaylett Second case of confirmed Swine Flu in Monroe. Officials will interrupt TV at 1:00 to talk about it. Gottorun 13 minutes ago from web

One admitted to hospital for suspected swine flu
www.ptinews.com...

Could H1N1 start to resist drugs?
Officials fear swine flu could mix with resistant strains of seasonal virus
www.msnbc.msn.com...

Swine Flu and Growing Locally
socialentrepreneurs.enchantingchallenge.com...

hanaphotography: In Tokyo, the facemasks were sold out. Don't catch swine flu! If we wanna be put on it, can only get it from the web with non-regular price. 27 minutes ago from web

mindfulgeek: the swine flu has reached hysterical heights. Our school system is now requiring a 7 day absentee for flu symptoms. half a minute ago from Gwibber

[edit on 5/20/2009 by Hx3_1963]

5/20 Update Part Two

Sorry, I fell asleep and missed the aftermath from part one but after reading some of the replies felt I need to clarify some issues which have been raised.

1. The Truth and The Truth According to the Press
There's a lot of anger focused on the Doctors for not speaking up and going to the press. This anger is completely justified in some ways. I won't even argue that fact but Doctors, Researchers and CDC Insiders have gone to the press. There are two reasons why we are not reading about a major scandal right now:
1. The press in the Western nations is completely controlled and no longer performs any function related to holding government accountable, period. It's a large corporate machine meant to influence the public. Anyone old enough to remember when journalist were not allowed to inject opinion into the news should know this.
2. Every Nation and State / Providence / Etc within them has been under a declared "state of emergency" since April. The press will do as they are told to do in order to avoid public panic. The press who know they are lying are told to do so under flag waving patriotism backed by threat of imprisonment.

2. Statistics of infected and deaths

Satan delights equally in statistics and in quoting scripture.... ~H.G. Wells, The Undying Fire

We've done a pretty fair job of tracking the instances of points shaving being done by the CDC and WHO and documenting why so I won't go back over that again. There's one critical fact no one can argue with now:
1. The CDC and WHO instructed Doctors to stop testing new cases weeks ago. In ER's only the people being put into a room to stay are being tested.

Even the CDC has no clue how many people are infected. They have some idea of how many deaths have occurred but as I related a week + ago there were a number of "unexplained deaths" early in this pandemic which were not tested. The virus can only be detected for 5 days or so after death easily. Beyond that genetic level analysis is required to find the virus' DNA. Bodies are being exhumed as needed right now and pathology samples re-examined but we will probably never be told about it in the press.

I've had a number of sources confirm that known flu deaths are being "covered up". The pattern of under-reporting this pandemic continues and will continue in order to protect all the people who have participated in it. We asked ourselves, as a group why the CDC would be hiding the real statistics from the government a few days ago. I now know why - "Plausible deniability". If the cover up becomes public knowledge and the press somehow manages to report on it and the public manages to point the finger at the correct culprits the CDC will take the blame in order to protect the President and other Federal offices.

3. What happens to the people who are infected?
In short, we don't know, yet. Based on the early infections who have gone past 1 month (I'm at one month, exactly as of today) it would seem most of them eventually recovered. Some developed secondary pneumonia and a few died.

In La Gloria, most of the town was sick for more than a month. Most of them developed "atypical pneumonia" and recovered. 3 infants died. A couple of weeks later in Mexico City people began hitting the ERs and I suspect they were either long term infected with pneumonia and short term infected suffering from the immune response "cyto storm". I think it was just a math problem, actually. Too many patients in need of resources (ventilators) without enough of them to go around.

Children are the "at risk" group
As we told you two weeks plus ago, the clinical attack rate (CAR) for children is 90% vs. an adult rate of 40-50%. This is the percentage of people who will get infected when exposed to the virus. Clearly, schools should have been closed a long time ago. If my children had this it was the very mild form, thank God. We're joining a very large group of parents who have decided to home school after this. Even the people who still believe what the media is telling them can see through the failure to protect our children.

3. MRSA and other "co-infection" threats
I have this from the best of sources. The entire MRSA press swarm is nothing more than a new excuse to explain deaths that is a lot easier to get past victim's families than the "underlying conditions" legend was.

We warned you a long, long time ago the "underlying conditions" line was going to be used to pacify the public and prevent fear / panic / economic disaster. Clearly, we were right.

The autopsies on the victims has shown a surprisingly low level of co-infection bacteria. They don't know why yet but there is not only zero evidence to support the MRSA threat, the evidence we do have points in the opposite direction.

The administration of the US and other nations are pretty much "all in" at this point. They have a huge scandal to keep covered and if that means flat out lying to the public then so be it.

Summary
So what now? If you or your family has had the flu and survived you can take some comfort in knowing you should have some amount of immunity from it and it's future mutations (though not all, unfortunately). School is about to end for the summer break in a couple of weeks. All you can do is try to avoid infection as much as possible, educate your kids on how to use the bottle of hand sanitizer you're making them carry and stress to them that even though they might not get sick they might cause someone else to. Like us, our children believe they are invulnerable.

More data as it comes in and I'll try to answer any direct questions anyone has while I'm still up and around for a bit.

Originally posted by Aeons

Originally posted by Hx3_1963
Flu Fears Remain High But Confirmed H1N1 Cases Stay Low (NY1 News)
h1n1alliance.org...

They aren't changing the facts. They are changing the FRAME OF REFERENCE around the facts.



A good lie has elements of the truth. A simple lie is better than the complicated truth.

Yes, you are right! They're not lying to us. They are just not telling us the truth.
You don't have to be a genius to realize this is the biggest cover up we've ever seen in our lives!!
Why are they hiding the truth from us in clear daylight? There's surely somethig very weird going on.

Originally posted by redhead57
Much to my surprise one of the infections disease nurses did return my call!

Her response was typical, not enough testing facilities, too many various strains of flu to test everyone, blah blah, blah.

I asked her is there any way to know the spread of this virus in our county and she said absolutely not as there is very little testing being done! I then asked her is this a case of the horse already being out of the barn and why bother....she laughed and said....EXACTLY!

How is that for reassurance from local health officials for you????

One question....she said that after a few days the test would not show for h1n1 that the virus would not show....is that true????

It's true for the rapid test which uses nasal swabs and is mostly giving false negatives anyway (had one myself). There are more traditional tests using blood as well as a rapid swab test known to be accurate which is not available to ERs and clinics in the US in large numbers.

The point is the testing equipment to do a one hour diagnosis without sending anything out is available but no one wants to pay for it. Japan has these test kits available everywhere and were able to test every teen in the Nation in a two day period.

reply to post by Hx3_1963
I cant help but notice all the doublespeak they are using. Such as its been downgraded, then in the next breath they tell you more breakouts and deaths and lack of masks.

The fearmongering just doesnt stop, nor will it stop. Its now a daily part of our lives and
our Orwelian lives will continue with lots of panic and fear until something does do us in.

Originally posted by Aeons

Originally posted by Hx3_1963
Flu Fears Remain High But Confirmed H1N1 Cases Stay Low (NY1 News)
h1n1alliance.org...

Now see this is pure stupidity or pure manipulation.

And it is exactly what I was saying yesterday.

The DATA is there.

The MEDIUM the data is in is the message that is actually being heard.

Logically, confirmed cases will never reflect reality. The DATA is still correct, and freely available.

The MEDIUM is the message that the data is inside of. The medium is a lie. The data is still true.

Let me phrase it a bit differently to expand the possibility that you'll see what I am pointing out. There are facts. And there are stories. The stories can change.

The facts remain the same. People generally DO NOT HEAR THE FACTS, even when they are consistent and obvious. People hear the STORIES that the facts are couched in.

They aren't changing the facts. They are changing the FRAME OF REFERENCE around the facts.

The medium is the message. People do not see that there are multiple layers of information and data. That data and information are not the same thing. That HOW the data is presented, the opinions around the data impact more strongly than the data itself.

Even when the data is presented in a contextually correct medium, people will be less likely to see it because it is not as easy to understand.

A good lie has elements of the truth. A simple lie is better than the complicated truth.

This is critical thinking. Every person who went to school in the First World at least has received tax payer funded traning on how to use critical thinking. On how to see the news. Most of us just didn't care, understand or choose to remember it.

You are not bending the spoon......

They are not testing most of the people infected so the real statistics do not exist, period.