Swine flu 'shows drug resistance'

[Space05us]

Why bother? Just put him on your ignore list and call him an idiot like I do.

Are you forgetting that this is the man who thinks it's hilarious that "Niger" is like "******" minus one "g"?

HAR HAR HAR.

I thought he might be trying to be serious in this thread.

[KrazyHorse]

He is. This is the 6th swine flu thread he's started.

[Docfeelgood]

I thought he might be trying to be serious in this thread.

KrazyHorse is an azzhole don't listen to that sh!t for brains.
If you don't agree with him he puts you on ignore.
just another cyber bully.

BTW
I am serious

[Space05us]

I am serious

What is it you suggest we do exactly? We're all already aware swine flu's existence.

[Docfeelgood]

What is it you suggest we do exactly? We're all already aware swine flu's existence.

be careful?

[Elok]

I had a BLT for dinner. BLTs are yummy. They'll be even better once the really luscious summer tomatoes come in. BLTs

And DFG, this damned "pandemic" has been around for months and killed about one-twentieth as many people as, say, drunk driving. If that. It could mutate to greater virulence, I suppose, but then so could any other disease. If you want to freak out over something highly unlikely to actually hurt you, freak out over terrorists, who are much scarier than this ***** pig-disease. You can make "towel-head" jokes, if you like. Or you can fret about MRSA, which strikes me as a lot more of a threat.

[Docfeelgood]

I had a BLT for dinner. BLTs are yummy. They'll be even better once the really luscious summer tomatoes come in. BLTs

And DFG, this damned "pandemic" has been around for months and killed about one-twentieth as many people as, say, drunk driving. If that. It could mutate to greater virulence, I suppose, but then so could any other disease. If you want to freak out over something highly unlikely to actually hurt you, freak out over terrorists, who are much scarier than this ***** pig-disease. You can make "towel-head" jokes, if you like. Or you can fret about MRSA, which strikes me as a lot more of a threat.

Thank you, I will take that under advisement.

[Barnabas]

Doctors here say that there are well over 10 thousan people with the flu, for most people it is like a normal flu, some people don't even get the full symptoms and never get to know they had this flu.
By here I mean Argentina.
twenty something people dead out of 10.000, possibly more, isn't that serious.

Yes, there is some hysteria. Mainly because of the press, and mothers being over protectice.
Last sunday we had elections, and in all the tables there was alcohol rub, to wash your hands before and after voting.

[SlowwHand]

This isn't flu season, by any means. That alone should make people consider.

[Tuberski]

It is in Argentina, I'd imagine.

ACK!

[BeBMan]

What is it you suggest we do exactly? We're all already aware swine flu's existence.

Some people do more. They throw parties!

Throwing "swine flu parties" in an attempt to get immunity against the virus while it is a fairly mild form is not a good idea, doctors say.

Reports have emerged of people intentionally mixing with friends who have flu.

Their reasoning is that it is best to be infected before the winter when the virus could become more deadly.

But public health expert Dr Richard Jarvis said such behaviour could undermine the fight against swine flu.

He also stressed while it was a mild flu, people would still be putting their health and the health of their children at risk.

Dr Jarvis, chairman of the British Medical Association's public health committee, has been working for the Health Protection Agency in the north west to help test, diagnose and treat people who have got swine flu.

He said: "I have heard of reports of people throwing swine flu parties.

"I don't think it is a good idea. I would not want it myself.

"It is quite a mild virus, but people still get ill and there is a risk of mortality."

Health service pressure

Dr Jarvis, who was speaking in his BMA capacity at the union's conference in Liverpool, admitted getting the virus now was likely to give people immunity even if it mutated slightly to become more virulent.


Dr Richard Jarvis
Going out to try to get the virus will just aid its spread
Dr Richard Jarvis, BMA

Is now a good time to get swine flu?

But he added that if people actively sought to get flu, health services may not be able to act in the same way as they are doing now.

The approach to date - although it is changing in the areas such as Birmingham and London which have the largest outbreaks - has been based on containment.

This has involved close monitoring of flu patients and giving their close contacts drugs to try to prevent the virus developing.

Dr Jarvis said: "If we get to the point where containment is not possible we will not be able to monitor cases as closely or get anti-virals out as quickly. Will we consider it a mild virus then?

"The response so far has been superb. We have contained better than we expected and that has given us time. We are getting closer to a vaccine and we want that to continue.

"Going out to try to get the virus will just aid its spread."

Burnout risk

Dr Jarvis also warned that public health doctors like himself were risking burnout because of the long hours they were putting in on the front-line of the fight against flu.


FROM THE TODAY PROGRAMME

More from Today programme
Read Fergus Walsh's blog

"Tired doctors make poor decisions and chronically tired doctors become prone to a variety of health problems."

Dr Vivienne Nathanson, the BMA's head of science and ethics, praised the approach of the UK public since the first outbreak.

"People have not panicked. They have handled it sensibly by following the official advice."

But as the cases mount, Dr Nathanson said she was concerned about suggestions some business are buying in stocks of anti-viral drugs to treat their staff.

As well as having limited effectiveness, Dr Nathanson said businesses needed to be wary of buying fake medicines.

And she added: "There is also the issue of resistance. If we overuse them and use them inappropriately we are more likely to get resistance.

"The best advice is good hand hygiene. Use tissues when you sneeze, bin them and wash your hands."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8125191.stm

*speechless*

[DaShi]

Also, get your dogs vaccinated!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/30/health/30flu.html?hpw

[Docfeelgood]

Girl, 9, with swine flu dies amid surge in cases of H1N1 virus
A nine-year-old girl has died after contracting swine flu, it emerged yesterday, as the H1N1 virus showed signs of becoming resistant to drug treatments.

A nine-year-old girl has died after contracting swine flu, it emerged yesterday, as the H1N1 virus showed signs of becoming resistant to drug treatments.

It is understood that the child, who died at a hospital in Birmingham and has not been named, had tested positive for the virus. It is not yet known, however, whether the infection contributed directly to her death. She had underlying health problems.

The child is the third patient with the H1N1 virus to die in Britain. Birmingham Children’s Hospital said that she had died in the past few days but declined to give further details of her underlying health problems — which might have included a vulnerability to complications from flu, such as pneumonia.

Andy Burnham, the Health Secretary, said: “Tragic as today’s death is I would like to emphasise that, across England, the majority of swine flu cases have not been severe.”

Experts meanwhile reported the first case of swine flu that is resistant to Tamiflu — the main drug being used to fight the pandemic.

The drug manufacturer Roche confirmed that a patient with H1N1 influenza in Denmark showed resistance to the antiviral drug. The company said that this was not unexpected, given that common seasonal flu could mutate to develop resistance to the treatment.

However, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) said that there were no signs of a Tamiflu-resistant strain of H1N1 circulating in Britain or elsewhere.

The Department of Health reported a big jump in the number of patients in England confirmed with swine flu over the weekend. A total of 1,604 new cases have been confirmed since Friday, taking the total in Britain to 5,937.

A spokesman said that the HPA continued to watch for antiviral resistance and would be carrying out regular testing. “Routine sampling in the UK has shown that there is currently no resistance [to Tamiflu or Relenza].”

[Elok]

I'm sorry, but I'm simply not going to believe than H1N1 poses any credible threat unless I'm assured as much by a funny picture of a cat with a poorly spelled caption under it. Or possibly a photoshopped picture of Obama with a cartoon speech-bubble attached to have him say, "The Pig Flu gone us, less all drink our foties homeez." There are standards for evidence.

[Thoth]

I thought he might be trying to be serious in this thread.

He is, but he's also very dumb and prone to hysteria.