OK, I don't want to be odd or anything, but. I remember the onset of AIDS. And later EBOLA.

[Liberal In Texas]

I especially remember when AIDS was first discovered I was working for a local network affiliate TV station at the time. We had a story about the network wanting to interview an AIDS suffererer and they brought him into a small studio and the camera crew refused to go in. It was unknown how contagious AIDS was. It was thought that one could acquire it by being in the same room. Breathing the same air. Nobody wanted to be around an AIDS patient.

Fast forward to the EBOLA outbreak. I live in Texas. An airplane with a man from Africa arrived here. He didn't know at the time he was sick, but when he thought he was went to a nearby hospital. He had EBOLA. A nurse who was treating him came down with the virus. The African guy died. The nurse pulled through.

At that time people were going crazy about using alcohol wipes and not going out in public. Hospitals in Nebraska were admitting suspected EBOLA patients. Nebraska. Suspected.

I just think. It's all good and well to be careful. But for fucks sake, let's not get crazy.

[BigmanPigman]

1. Don't watch the film "Panic in the Streets".

[Liberal In Texas]

2. That's an oldie.

Think I've seen it. Cause I'm an oldie too.

Just positing here.

[BigmanPigman]

8. Oldie or "classic".

I prefer classic for obvious reasons.

[MFM008]

28. Great movie

!!

[Generic Brad]

33. I'll get right on that

I’m not watching it right now!

[Hoyt]

3. I kind of agree. Hope it will be like Ebola, SARS and Bird Flu. But, I'm for being cautious

and following what knowledgeable people suggest, realizing they must be cautious too. Lots of unknowns.

I damn sure don’t believe calling it a Hoax is wise.

[Liberal In Texas]

4. I'm ramping up a bit.

-Using more hand wipes.
-Bought some Black Elderberry
-Washing hands more often.

[RhodeIslandOne]

5. What does black elderberry do?

[Liberal In Texas]

6. Got this from Thom Hartmann

Then researched it.

It's an anti-viral. High in Vit. C. An anti-oxidant. Seems to me to very little down-side.

Check out: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/elderberry#health-benefits

[RhodeIslandOne]

17. Thanks

I was just thinking about Vitamin C and obviously oranges and lemons and grapefruit.

[Liberal In Texas]

19. Be healthy.

As we should always be.

[MontanaMama]

32. I use elderberry syrup

with propolis during cold and flu season as a preventative measure. I’ve made my own before but last fall I didn’t get out to pick the berries so bought a good brand at the local health food store. My kiddo came down with influenza B in early February....he missed a week of school even though we’d gone to the dr. had him tested and got him on the Tamiflu prescription 2 1/2 days into symptoms. Maybe it would have been a way worse infection without that, I don’t know. But, with all the hugs, back rubs, temperature taking, pillow propping I did for him over that week, I didn’t get sick. I took 1-2 ounces of elderberry a day. My husband got a little cold during that time as well so with the two of the, germing up the place, I thought I was doomed! I have no science to back it up but there you go. It’s worth trying.

[Crunchy Frog]

7. We've already seen how quickly and easily this can spread

and how sick it can make people, and a demonstrated fatality rate much higher than the seasonal flu.

We've already seen better health systems than our own get overwhelmed, and whole cities and provinces get quarantined.

Ebola doesn't spread easily except in extreme third world conditions, and HIV is only spread through exchange of body fluids, but no one knew that at first.

I live with my 80 year old mother, and I'll be as abundantly cautious as I feel I need to be, and not worry about how I get judged by anonymous posters on DU.

[Liberal In Texas]

10. Just saying. It's early daiys.

Maybe it's going to be the 1918. But I can't live my life like that.

There are no paint masks at CVS or Lowe's.

It's early days.

[dewsgirl]

27. A man that works for Home Depot, said government contractors have purchased

a majority of the masks out there, as with much of CV info, there is no solid evidence of that. I found it interesting nonetheless.

[MontanaMama]

34. I have a coworker who went to Home Depot

here in Missoula, MT to buy masks and he told me they were out of stock as was Lowe’s. The little locally owned Ace Hardware and paint stores still had them.

[William769]

9. One thing I never want people to forget

AT the onset of the AIDS crisis it wasn't just a camera crew, it was many in the whole damn medical profession. I cannot begin to tell you how many died alone, untouched & untreated.

The 80's is a dark time in American history.

[defacto7]

12. A very sad time and the reactions so unnecessary.

[mitch96]

35. " it was many in the whole damn medical profession."

And many of "us in the medical profession" who walked into the unknown to help treat the first aids cases. With out knowledge of why or where did it come from we treated these people just like any other person with an unknown disease.. When we treated HIV/Aids patients we wore full white hazmat bunny suits mask/eye protection booties paper hats and gloves.......
just for a chest x-ray..
As more info came out we removed more and more protective gear as necessary. Were medical people frightened? You bet your ass. Did we treat these people? you bet your ass.
m

[defacto7]

11. You're absolutely correct.

But I won't pretend either. Neither Ebola nor HIV are nearly as contageous as the seasonal flu. Covid19 is somewhere between 20 and 30 times as contagious as the flu. No, don't get crazy... get smart, be aware, and prepare. 50 years is a pretty good run for humans not to have a major pandemic. We've been very lucky. A million deaths in '68, 2 million in '58, hundreds of thousands in '34, 50-100 million in '18, the list goes back thousands of years. It's an eventually that we collectively forget but it's part of the grand cycle of life on this planet. Ride it with care, but ride it we will if not now then later. Most of us on this site have been through 2 resperatory pandemics already, plus polio and measles. We're still here.

[Liberal In Texas]

14. Yeah. Predictions of 3 to 6 million dead are sobering.

I guess I'm just saying I can't live in fear.

Made it 70 years so far and would like to finish the scale model of the Titanic I'm devoting too much time on, but can't stop what I can't stop.

[defacto7]

16. Go for it. The Titanic is a great analogy of humanity vs. nature.

We're not going to let that iceberg sneak up on us again. We'll be ready.

[Liberal In Texas]

18. The Titanic story is interestering on so many levels.

Which is why I've been fascinated since I was a kid in the 50s.

Way before the "Movie."

Capt. Smith knowingly plowed into a field of ice in the North Atlantic because he had to make New York faster than her sister Olympic.

She had way fewer lifeboats than she needed. The hull was double bottomed. The sides weren't.

The watertight compartments were too short. The lookouts didn't have the binoculars they were supposed to have. The wireless operators on other ships were not all awake. There was a fire in a coal bunker before she left Southampton.

A thing of fascination for many years. Plus I love steamships.

[Kablooie]

13. The 1918 flu appeared in the spring...

Died down in the summer but then exploded in the fall when most of the 50 million victims died.
This virus has similarities including a similar death rate.
It may follow the same pattern.





.

[Liberal In Texas]

15. That's what I've heard.

In talking to some friends tonight.

Fuck a duck.

(ps...Love your Pat Paulson thingy)

[uponit7771]

25. ... And similar government response as USA

[SammyWinstonJack]

20. I'm not going out in public for the foreseeable future. I'm in Crossville, Tn.

My husband is on oxygen 24/7, copd among other respiratory problems. Can't risk him being infected. Not getting crazy, just being cautious.

[Liberal In Texas]

21. I wish you well. n/t

[snowybirdie]

37. Us too

No panic but extreme caution. Chronic lung disease is so vulnerable to this disease. Thank goodness for tv and internet. Hang in there and good luck!

[bern2020]

22. we knew much less about how diseases spread

30 years ago.

[chowder66]

23. It's pretty easy to see why people are panicking with Trump delegating the response to Pence. nt

[uponit7771]

24. Ebola and SARs never quarantined 750 million people, yes this is bad

[Arkansas Granny]

26. I'm not going crazy, but there are some very easy precautions to take.

Washing my hands more often and using hand sanitizer are pretty common sense without going overboard.

I've been reminding people I know that clean hands is their best defense.

[HockeyMom]

29. I was in a NYC hospital in 1982

with a ruptured ectopic pregnancy. The hospital wanted me to have blood transfusion, but OB/GYN refused. He said he did not trust the blood supply with Aids back then. Also did not want my own husband to donate blood to me.

Guess that doctor knew what he was doing back then?

[Squinch]

30. I agree. I think we should stock up on some supplies, watch the numbers, wash

hands CONSTANTLY, and make a plan for what to do if it comes to the area.

That's all I could do if I were being crazy about it, or if I was being sanguine about it.

[kozar]

31. I remember both

I was a Hematology tech in Army when AIDS broke.. in fact, I remember the meeting we had to stop pipetting by mouth tubes we carried in our pockets. Yes that really was a thing too!


Koz

[MontanaMama]

36. Biggest concern I have

is that our CDC has been so damaged by this administration. We’re behind the 8 ball with the lack of available test kits in the US...I wonder how many cases will fall through the cracks? That aside, there’s the fact that so many people don’t have paid sick days from work and live paycheck to paycheck and are afraid to take time off. Not to mention the millions who are uninsured, underinsured or have very high deductibles...they might not get tested or treated and who knows how many folks they will come into contact with. The virus could move quickly through our country because of all that.

My family goes to New Zealand every two years...we’ve decided not to go this year...I feel good about that decision. Other than that, constant hand washing and using hand sanitizers after leaving any store or being in any public place....hoping the weather warms so that we can all spend more time outside than inside.