My university just announced we have 4 suspected swine flu cases

So im reading these swine flu posts thinking im pretty safe from it here in minnesota, so i go and jokingly ask my wife (who is an RN at the local hospital ) "are we all gonna die from pig flu?" and she says with a semi serious look on her face "we just tested someone for it last night" then she also says "hes here visiting from texas" .

Everytime I try to keep rational and quell the thoughts that this was man-made, another detail starts churning in my thoughts. Why are only Mexicans dieing? Does anyone have a single report of a non-Mexican dieing from this?

Mexicans are dying because they cant get treated. Thats pretty much it, unless there are multiple strains loose down there. THe first 20 people died with flu symptoms, after serious testing they say only 7 had the swine flu, so what did the other 13 people die from?

Its pretty obvious to me that we dont know everything thats going on.

Originally posted by Memysabu
Mexicans are dying because they cant get treated. Thats pretty much it, unless there are multiple strains loose down there. THe first 20 people died with flu symptoms, after serious testing they say only 7 had the swine flu, so what did the other 13 people die from?

Its pretty obvious to me that we dont know everything thats going on.

BINGO ! A lot of the first victoms died of the swine flu but also tested positive for type B influenza. Not only this but doctors and scientists have said they they cannot understand why the strain of virus here is much weaker here in the US than in Mexico. And lastly, when Obama went to Mexico he shook hands with and walked around with a man there who died the next day from full blown swine flu. That proffesor was rich enough to get to the doctor but he died anyway. Obama didn't so much as get a sniffle out of the deal... Strange yes..?

[edit on 29-4-2009 by Fromabove]

reply to post by FlyersFan


I have to totally agree with you on the currently unknown full meaning of this flu outbreak. Some of the in-depth newspaper coverage in the last 24 hours mentioned in an "oh, by the way" manner that the 1918 flu started in the spring, was a sporadic problem during the early and middle summer, and then in August it started killing a lot of people. So we are in the early days yet of assigning meaning to this flu outbreak.

Even worse, some of the news stories have started to discuss a pattern in the early 1918 flu outbreaks where people who caught the influenza early on mostly got a milder form which protected them from the full fury of the 1918 killer version. Of course, thiis year, the spring version of this flu is already a killer version in some populations, so that further complicates our understanding of what is going on.

It does suggest, however, that most people who are exposed to this year's flu early on will have better overall chances of survival than if they are exposed to this year's influenza in, say, August 2009. Maybe it would be better to leave schools and universities open for now.

As we watch how the educational system responds to this influenza outbreak, also keep in mind that another factor may influence who gets sick, who gets bettter, and who does not get better: Like 1/4 of the U.S. population, I was immunized against the 1976 swine flu. Will my chances against this current outbreak be better, worse, or no better than others? Time will tell.

[edit on 4/29/2009 by Uphill]

Yep Ive been trying to put it together all morning. I have different ideas but am not sure. Multiple strains using Mexico as a bioreactor? My problem is I cant figure out a motive. If I knew a motive I could peice together the conspiracy. I mean FT Detriks gotta be in the mix and what went missing from there. It seems like they used every vial they walked away with but for what purpose?

Originally posted by Uphill
reply to post by FlyersFan

 

I have to totally agree with you on the currently unknown full meaning of this flu outbreak. Some of the in-depth newspaper coverage in the last 24 hours mentioned in an "oh, by the way" manner that the 1918 flu started in the spring, was a sporadic problem during the early and middle summer, and then in August it started killing a lot of people. So we are in the early days yet of assigning meaning to this flu outbreak.

Even worse, some of the news stories have started to discuss a pattern in the early 1918 flu outbreaks where people who caught the influenza early on mostly got a milder form which protected them from the full fury of the 1918 killer version. Of course, thiis year, the spring version of this flu is already a killer version in some populations, so that further complicates our understanding of what is going on.

Yup! That's pretty much how it went. Both my mother's parents were murdered by the Spanish flu in 1918. My grandfather died Nov. 10, 1918 at age 40, and his wife passed away two days later at age 36. For whatever reason, none of the 5 children died and neither did the mother of my grandmother, who was obviously much older at the time. So it mainly killed middle aged healthy people. Now that you've made the points above, I wish I had a way of finding out if my grandparents had been sick earlier in the springtime. Up until then, they had been the epitome of what healthy people looked like.

reply to post by Albertarocks


Lets say there is a 1 or even 2 % fatality rate, that is millions of people! Most people WILL recover uneventfully which is great but NO one is saying that everyone will die or even get ill enough to require hospitalization! The case fatality rate for the 1918 flu pandemic was 2.5% in this country and look what a mess that was.

Originally posted by Memysabu
Yep Ive been trying to put it together all morning. I have different ideas but am not sure. Multiple strains using Mexico as a bioreactor? My problem is I cant figure out a motive. If I knew a motive I could peice together the conspiracy. I mean FT Detriks gotta be in the mix and what went missing from there. It seems like they used every vial they walked away with but for what purpose?

Well, the pandemic flu martial law bill just passed. Also the Trillions of dollars stimulus plan. The Mexican-American child who died received health care right away here in America.

Are the pieces starting to fall into place, yet?

quick update b4 i go to work....we had class today but i didnt go....and they turned our gym into a clinic lol. My buddy works there and now he's out of a job until this is over....

Delaware update ... NOTHING of this on the tv ... the radio ... news.
The kids in school were talking about it ... but that's because of word
of mouth and the internet.

I just checked my school e-mail, and there wasn't anything, even though I live not too far from two elementary and one high school that have had to close for the rest of the week because of cases (I live in Dallas, Texas).

Both of my parents had to be tested for swine flu. Whats crazy is that they are both for the most part pretty healthy, and other than allergies, they don't ever seem to be under the weather. It all started Monday when they both became really sick, and it seemed to happen overnight. The doctor said that my mom doesn't have the regular flu, but checked any way because most of her symptoms are flu-like. It also doesn't help that my dad was in Las Vegas last week, and has to go to Washington, D.C. next week. I really hope that their test results come back before then.

Whats even crazier is that I'm the one that is always sick, if something is going around, I will get it. However, so far, I've been just fine.

I have to say, this whole thing is quite alarming. Everything about this new flu feels off. Like why it isn't killing anyone except hispanics, why it is so widespread yet contained to certain areas at the same time. Like why, if it started in Mexico, is the highest concentration of confirmed cases in NYC? Now, I am a college student as well, I go to school in Massachusetts but I live in Pennsylvania. Hearing about this stuff going on in New York and Delaware, and maybe even Philly..My father works in NYC, my fiance's father works in NYC, I'll be living and working in Philly this summer...it's all kind of, well, like I said, alarming. I'm not scared, I have a pretty resilient immune system. I generally get sick maybe once a year, and I just got over being sick. But the whole thought of this thing mutating and becoming more dangerous really sucks. Everything is in place for something to explode, such as martial law being declared, etc..and, thanks to you guys and all of the stuff on ATS about this, I think the thought of taking a vaccine is worse than getting the bug itself! Thanks OP for bringing this to our attention. By the way, I just checked the Delaware University website, and the count is up to 10 now, not 4.

Originally posted by fenix840
every student just got an email, text and phone call saying that 4 students had suspected swine flu and that they were sending samples to the CDC for testing. Now everyone's in a panic in the dorms and all they've really told us is....please stay tuned for more information. I don't know, I'm not gonna start worrying until people start dying in the US.

According to Biosurveillance, itself part of Veratect, a US Pentagon and Government-linked epidemic reporting center, on April 6, 2009 local health officials declared a health alert due to a respiratory disease outbreak in La Gloria, Perote Municipality, Veracruz State, Mexico. They reported, ‘Sources characterized the event as a ‘strange’ outbreak of acute respiratory infection, which led to bronchial pneumonia in some pediatric cases. According to a local resident, symptoms included fever, severe cough, and large amounts of phlegm. Health officials recorded 400 cases that sought medical treatment in the last week in La Gloria, which has a population of 3,000; officials indicated that 60% of the town’s population (approximately 1,800 cases) has been affected. No precise timeframe was provided, but sources reported that a local official had been seeking health assistance for the town since February.’ What they later say is ‘strange’ is not the form of the illness but the time of year as most flu cases occur in Mexico in the period October to February. The report went on to note, ‘Residents claimed that three pediatric cases, all under two years of age, died from the outbreak. However, health officials stated that there was no direct link between the pediatric deaths and the outbreak; they stated the three fatal cases were "isolated" and "not related" to each other.’ Then, most revealingly, the aspect of the story which has been largely ignored by major media, they reported, ‘Residents believed the outbreak had been caused by contamination from pig breeding farms located in the area. They believed that the farms, operated by Granjas Carroll, polluted the atmosphere and local water bodies, which in turn led to the disease outbreak. According to residents, the company denied responsibility for the outbreak and attributed the cases to "flu." However, a municipal health official stated that preliminary investigations indicated that the disease vector was a type of fly that reproduces in pig waste and that the outbreak was linked to the pig farms.’4 Since the dawn of American ‘agribusiness,’ a project initiated with funding by the Rockefeller Foundation in the 1950’s to turn farming into a pure profit maximization business, US pig or hog production has been transformed into a highly efficient, mass production industrialized enterprise from birth to slaughter. Pigs are caged in what are called Factory Farms, industrial concentrations which are run with the efficiency of a Dachau or Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. They are all conceived by artificial insemination and once born, are regularly injected with antibiotics, not because of illnesses which abound in the hyper-crowded growing pens, but in order to make them grow and add weight faster. Turn around time to slaughter is a profit factor of highest priority. The entire operation is vertically integrated from conception to slaughter to transport distribution to supermarket. Granjas Carroll de Mexico (GCM) happens to be such a Factory Farm concentration facility for hogs. In 2008 they produced almost one million factory hogs, 950,000 according to their own statistics. GCM is a joint venture operation owned 50% by the world’s largest pig producing industrial company, Smithfield Foods of Virginia.5 The pigs are grown in a tiny rural area of Mexico, a member of the North American Free Trade Agreement, and primarily trucked across the border to US supermarkets

www.financialsense.com...

reply to post by riddle6


Hey fenix840:


I am a University of Delaware student as well, and so glad to see a fellow U of D student on ATS. Feel free to U2U me if you want to talk more.

Everyone:

I can definitely attest to the ruckus that was created by the emails, text messages, and phone calls in regards to the "probable" swine flu cases last night. They called my house and my friends' houses with this same "probable" message. Very much a scare tactic, whether intentional or unintentional. My friends and I were studying, they had exams today, and they were distracted for a while due to this messaging. Other people around me had parents calling in just to either calm their kids down or tell the to "wash your hands.". Nothing wrong with that but off probable cases? I mean they were not confirmed what so ever it could have just been the seasonal cold or flu symptoms.

The important thing is to inform in a correct manner as to not create a panic, yet still get people to keep clean. The course of action the University took was not planned too well in advanced it seemed.

Anyway ttyl




[edit on 29-4-2009 by Unlimitedpossibilities]

[edit on 30-4-2009 by Unlimitedpossibilities]

reply to post by tamusan


Looks like it's in MA now. Just got this email:

A Letter to the Harvard Community We write to update you on Harvard's preparations for the outbreak of a new strain of the H1N1 influenza, commonly referred to as "swine flu," that has been spreading throughout the United States and across the globe. As you may know, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and state health officials today confirmed two cases of this flu in Lowell. Those cases involved two young brothers who became ill after returning from a vacation to Mexico. Officials indicate that neither was hospitalized and both are recovering well. Internationally, this new strain of influenza has now been isolated in countries from Mexico and New Zealand to the United States. Domestically, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has now confirmed 91 cases in 10 American states. The federal government has declared a national health emergency, a move intended to increase the flow of funding and increase the ability to distribute antiviral medications to state health programs should it become necessary. And the World Health Organization raised its pandemic alert to 5, its second-highest level, indicating that health officials believe a pandemic may be imminent. To date, there have been no cases of this strain of the H1N1 flu at Harvard University. Any member of the Harvard community suffering from flu-like symptoms should immediately contact Harvard University Health Services (HUHS) or his or her own physician. This is especially true for any individual who recently spent time in any of the countries or states where early cases of this new strain of flu have already been concentrated. Symptoms include body aches, fever, severe malaise, chills, and in some cases, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. HUHS has adopted established guidelines for diagnosing and treating this new strain of flu. There are no formal University-related travel restrictions in place at this time, but the CDC has recommended that people suspend all but essential travel to Mexico. To avoid contracting illness, HUHS advises all members of the Harvard community to: * Practice good hygiene. Wash your hands often with soap and water. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective. * Cover your nose and mouth when you cough. Use and dispose of tissues or cough/sneeze into the crook in your elbow. * Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way. * Avoid close contact with sick people. Harvard has plans and procedures to address any potential disease outbreak among the University community. An Emergency Management Team -- which includes representatives from HUHS -- is meeting at least once each day to monitor outbreak developments and to plan for potential responses if cases are confirmed on campus. A list of frequently asked questions has been posted on the HUHS site at huhs.harvard.edu... For additional information about this quickly evolving situation, please consult the CDC at www.cdc.gov and the World Health Organization at www.who.int/. We will update the HUHS Web site as new information becomes available. Sincerely, Steven E. Hyman, M.D., Provost and David Rosenthal, M.D., Director of Harvard University Health Services

Oh, I am/was a lurker.

V

Yup, found another source confirming: www.boston.com...

The cases were minor apparently..

Excellent post.

This is what we need. People who are willing to post and let everyone else know what is going on in their area.

The news media sure in the hell isn't going to give us the full story.