White House aide's family likely has swine flu

[kpete]

Source: Salon

White House aide's family likely has swine flu

Apr 30th, 2009 | WASHINGTON -- A member of the U.S. delegation that helped prepare Energy Secretary Steven Chu's trip to Mexico City has demonstrated flu-like symptoms and his family members have tested probable for swine flu.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Thursday that three members of an aide's family are being tested to see if they have the same strain of swine flu that is threatening to become a pandemic. The aide worked in presidential advance, which is responsible for planning and preparing trips.

Gibbs said that Secretary Chu has not experienced any symptoms. The spokesman also said that President Barack Obama also has had no symptoms of the virus and doctors see no need to conduct any tests on his health.


Read more: http://www.salon.com/wires/ap/2009/04/30/D97SUKBO0_us_obama_swine_flu/index.html

[JDPriestly]

1. Some older people may be immune. That could be true of Obama.

Does anyone know the ages of those who have died of Swine Flu? I read in the initial reports that it seemed to affect people with healthy immune systems (which I interpret to mean younger people in general) most severely.

[PatSeg]

3. It does appear that younger people are

more susceptible to this flu and I agree, it is probably because older people may have immunity. After all, we've been exposed to more viruses than younger people.

[quidam56]

34. Older people are at just as much risk as infants.

Our very own health care system is infecting us with disease that used to be a hospital acquired infection, now hospitals, nursing homes and emergency rooms are breeding grounds for MRSA ( Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aurea's ) If you've never heard of it, you can click my link and see what MRSA does, this is killing more people in America than AIDS. http://www.wisecountyissues.com/?p=62 Last Fall, the experts were advising to immunize infants as young as six months. I would rather take my chances with the flu than to have to go to a nasty hospital or emergency room for treatment.

[PatSeg]

35. Thanks for the link

That is horrifying.

The chart here at Ezra Klein's article indicates that young people at more susceptible, but looking again at the chart, I realized that that group was made up primarily of school age children, who are probably exposed to more viruses than people in other groups.

http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/ezraklein_archive?month=04&year=2009&base_name=is_joe_biden_right_about_swine#114808

[kestrel91316]

4. Didn't we have it in 1957? Obama wasn't born yet. I was born Jan of 1957,

but have no idea and no way to find out if our family got it. We were in Reno then, and it was a very small city, and is geographically isolated.

[PatSeg]

11. There was a swine flu outbreak in 1976

This flu, however, is a composite of avian flu, swine flu, and human flu.

[kestrel91316]

14. Sheesh, I know about 1976. I GOT that swine flu shot.

And I know this is a combo. I was asking about the 1957 flu that went pandemic - was THAT a swine bug??

[PatSeg]

20. I don't know

I don't remember that outbreak, just the one in 1976, one of the few times in my life that I got very, very sick.

[gkhouston]

23. IIRC, it was a bird flu. n/t

[question everything]

6. In my virology class, many years ago

it was mentioned how viruses seek healthy individuals, as was with Polio that would attack healthy children.

[AtheistCrusader]

22. It's called a cytokine storm.

Basically, your immune system goes nuts trying to fight the flu, and actually begins to attack the body as well. This is just ONE of the ways that influenza can kill you, but it puts people with the strongest immune systems at the most risk, the 15-35 crowd, I think.

There are other ways influenza can kill you, like bringing on pneumonia, but for this particular problem, the 'healthiest' are actually at the most risk.

I wouldn't worry about it. 'Normal' influenza (several strains) or 'seasonal flu' kills something like 30k people a year in the US. I wouldn't spend time dwelling on it. I'm sure Obama and his family will be perfectly fine.

[Oregone]

2. Im surprised they wouldn't hide it to instill confidence and quell panic

FDR didn't exactly tell the world he had polio, right?

[kestrel91316]

5. FDR was crippled by polio years before he was president. WTF does that

have to do with a current infectious disease epidemic?

I don't see any panic. I do hear primarily RWers fretting about the possibility of it.

[Oregone]

8. Im aware of that. But wasnt it unknown to the public for some time?

Maybe I was misinformed.

I thought it was somewhat tucked away for perceptual reasons.

Im just saying that Im surprised, in the world of politics, that they are *honest* about it. When an advisor this close to the president gets something, it may make people perceive the threat as more dangerous.

[kestrel91316]

7. Would you be implying that it's DEMOCRATS who lie about matters of

public health? Because it would be that fucking "Saint Ronnie" who was behind the biggest public health fuckup and coverup in history. Try reading "And The Band Played On", and then come back here and try to imply that Obama is that sort of fucking coward.

[Oregone]

10. Im implying politicians lie about all sorts of things, often using the "greater good" as an excuse

[kestrel91316]

18. I'm sure Reagan didn't bother to consider the greater good. His motive

was undoubtedly to just let the damned queers die because they deserved it.

[Oregone]

19. That may be true, but Im not really evaluating reasons, morality and justifications

Im just saying that its done (information is withheld or manipulated), on multiple issues, with the intent shape public opinion often. Im surprised by the honesty, is all. Im not sure what is triggering the Regan tirade.

[WriteDown]

12. So FDR was a coward?

All the previous poster was saying was that FDR managed public perception. Many never knew he even used a wheelchair until after he died. No photos were ever taken or published of him using his wheelchair out of respect for POTUS. Given the current paparazzi media style, I doubt that would be possible today.

[kestrel91316]

16. No, my point was that fucking Saint Ronnie was a coward, for not

facing up to the reality of a major, deadly public health threat. AIDS. Remember?

[Oregone]

21. A coward or just a dick.

[Arkana]

25. In today's media climate you literally have no choice.

It would be found out by some enterprising blogger/reporter/whatever and it'd look even worse being hidden.

[Oregone]

26. Probably true

[applegrove]

9. I was talking about it with my family last night. Apparently flu bugs don't

survive or thrive in the summer months because it is too humid and people spend more time outdoors. But the bug will rejuvenate come fall (at which time there will be a specific flu shot for swine flu). This makes me wonder if Mexico doesn't get the flu as often as we do in the rest of north america. Surely if we don't get the flu in the summer Mexico doesn't usually get the flu all year long. Which makes me wonder if the Mexican populace is just more vulnerable to flus because their immune systems have less experience with them where as we in the US and Canada deal with a flu bug every year and get flu shots for it.

Perhaps I am grasping at straws but I hope the swine flu stays mild symptomwise as it goes around the world.

[JDPriestly]

13. Mexico has colder areas as well as hot ones.

Mexico may not be as cold anywhere as North Dakota, but some areas of Mexico are fairly cool.

Puebla, Mexico: http://www.vacationsmadeeasy.com/PueblaPU/PueblaPUWeather.cfm

Lows of 42 degrees in the winter.


Similaraly, Mexico City -- average temperatures in the low 40s in the winter.

http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/MXDF0132?from=36hr_bottomnav_business

Los Angeles gets colder, but we don't see freezing weather very often -- and people have the flu here.

[AtheistCrusader]

24. Tropical climates have a year round flu season.

calendar-wise, there's no rhyme or reason to when something like this might spring up in, say, Mexico. Just does.

Edit: and as the poster above me pointed out, Mexico has several climate zones.

[tomm2thumbs]

15. will be interesting to see how this plays out over a month

i'm sure there will be some fairly interesting animations showing the spread over time, slow or fast. with so many people out of work, it might accidentally be limiting the speed and fallout of the spread

[Cha]

17. I thought I read Obama was

already tested and passed?

[maddezmom]

27. NYT: says they have recovered

Obama Energy Aide Contracted Flu in Mexico, but Recovered
By Jeff Zeleny
A member of the Obama administration’s delegation who traveled to Mexico earlier this month to prepare for President Obama’s visit to the country experienced flu symptoms when he returned to Washington, the White House announced on Thursday, but the man and his family have recovered and he is back at work.

Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, said that a lead advance aide for Energy Secretary Steven Chu became ill on April 16 in Mexico. He returned home, but had a fever and spread the flu to his wife and son, both of whom developed symptoms. Mr. Gibbs indicated that his doctors believed he probably had the swine flu.

“We thought it was important to disclose this information,” Mr. Gibbs said, speaking to reporters on Thursday afternoon at the daily press briefing. “The individuals have recovered and they are fine.”

[Tab]

28. Obama Security Agent Suspected of Contracting Swine Flu

Source: Washington Post

A member of the security advance team for President Obama's recent trip to Mexico is suspected of having contracted the swine flu and transmitted it to his family in Anne Arundel County, the White House said today.

The man is on the staff of Energy Secretary Steven Chu, who traveled with Obama to Mexico on April 16. He appears to have transmitted the virus to his wife, son and nephew, press secretary Robert Gibbs said.

Gibbs said the president has not been affected by the virus and said White House doctors say he does not need to be tested.

Maryland health officials announced test results yesterday showing that an Anne Arundel County woman and two children were among six "probable" victims of the flu whose preliminary test results have been sent to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to be confirmed. Gibbs said the administration employee himself did not test positive for the virus, likely because he had already recovered completely by the time he underwent the tests. He has returned to work, Gibbs said.
...
The World Bank said its employee came to work in downtown Washington on April 20, after being exposed to the virus on a business trip to Mexico but before the epidemic was publicly known. To limit the spread of the disease, the World Bank said, about 80 bank employees who may have come into contact with the infected man have been told to work from home until officials determine who should be tested.

The president was in Mexico for less than 24 hours en route to the three-day Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago. A museum official who escorted Obama through an anthropological exhibit died of health problems unrelated to the flu a week later, and White House officials earlier this week went to great lengths to explain that "the president's health was never in any danger."

"He has not exhibited any symptoms; neither has anybody traveling with him," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Monday.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/30/AR2009043001836.html

[qanda]

29. Ruh roh, that's the county I live in

Yikes!

[kestrel91316]

30. Unless you say yikes anytime ANY flu comes to your county, I'd say

at this point you're overreacting.

If anything, this flu is LESS dangerous than seasonal flus tend to be.

[stillcool]

33. Has that been determined?

[sinkingfeeling]

31. That's not good. Hope the President wasn't exposed.

[marshall]

32. Biden doesn't look so foolish now

We'll be remembering what he said later.