Observation about why the Flu seems less virulent in the US...

[WCGreen]

Perhaps the reason the Swine Flu has yet to prove lethal here in the US is because our population has more access to Flu vaccinations than Mexico.

I know this is a strain that is new but I also heard from someone who wasn't clanging the alarm bell with borderline hysteria that since this strain is a combination of a Swine, Avian and Human Flu virus that inoculated patients could have enough of the human strain in the body to combat, at least on some level, the combine virus.

In Mexico, the deaths seem to be quick and are cutting down young and healthy adults. These folks may have shrugged off inoculation simply because they are young and healthy.

It makes sense to me since our public health system highly recommends that people at risk get each seasons flu shots.

I am concerned on a personal level because I have had pneumonia that has at least seven times ended me in the Hospital. In 2004, I ended up in intensive care for three weeks and have been in isolation three other times. I already rely on O2 in order to make it through the day.

[skooooo]

1. Poor dear, take care of yourself...

Asthma w/chest cold has landed me in the hospital more than once, so I have at least an inkling of how you feel. I got my flu shot this year. Don't know if it will help, but can't help...and probably could help some if I come down with pig flu.

[WCGreen]

2. I think I am going to call my Doc just to see if I can get some tamaflu...

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. Here's a link for a world map that shows where the flu is...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5539766

I know you're taking care...

We all should.

My vacation's coming up, and there's no way I'll miss that...

:hi:

[GentryDixon]

4. Hygiene may have a good deal to do with the difference.

[skooooo]

8. I don't understand this..

...because you don't kill viruses by washing your hands, do you??

[aquart]

11. The ones on your hands? YES, you do.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

14. Actually, washing your hands does NOT kill the viruses...

Washing removes them.

Still, it's very important to wash. It's probably the easiest way to stay healthy.

[TechBear_Seattle]

15. Kill them? No. Remove them from your body before they can infect? Yes. n/t

[GentryDixon]

17. Would you want to shake hands with an infected person

who has not washed his hands after sneezing?

According to the CDC, they suggest at least 20 seconds with soap and water. Who knows how well this helps. It certainly cannot hurt.

[skooooo]

18. Ok, point taken.

I have to fly in about a week, and hate the thought of being stuck on a plane with all those people.

[GentryDixon]

20. My son and grandson flew to Denver yesterday for the Rockies game and

my husband is flying back from North Carolina on Wednesday.

It makes me a bit nervous about all the people they have or will interact with in their travels, as my immune system is suppressed.

[readmoreoften]

5. So far it seems that the flu vaccine does not protect from this strain.

Keep yourself safe. Good luck. :hug:

[WCGreen]

7. I know it doesn't protect but having the various human flu strains on our

bodies may give our immune systems something to work with. We would still get sick but the illness would be milder.

[skooooo]

9. Yep..it could mitigate some of the effects. nt

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

6. Osama bin Flu.

:scared:

[aquart]

10. But we also don't inoculate young adults.

So I'm not sure that theory is the reason. The anxiety is that normal flu outbreaks go for the ones we DO inoculate: the young, the old, the medically compromised, but the Mexican outbreak is killing healthy young adults. That is a pandemic demographic. THAT is what is causing concern. The death pattern is NOT normal.

Nobody in any government is overreacting IMO. They are reacting according to long-made plans to deal with this kind of death pattern.

[targetpractice]

12. Mortality in Mexico is highest for 20-40 year olds..

H1N1 type flu strains are known to cause "cytokine storms" in healthy immune systems, in which an immune-response process occurs in the body between cytokines and immune cells. The immune system's strong response can cause inflammation and fluid leakage into the lungs... and death as a result.

In this case... a healthy immune system is actually a liability rather than an asset.

Currently, in the US... a disproportionate number of cases are children (where mortality rates are lower). It's possible that children are undercounted in Mexico City, because the flu virus does not make them as ill as healthy adults who report to the hospital.

[WCGreen]

16. It's the same as 1918 killing the young and healthy...

My Grandmother lost a Brother and an uncle to that pandemic.

[NEOhiodemocrat]

22. My cousin died in the 1918 pamdemic

She was 7 years old, came home from school feeling sick and died that night. Sure hope the world does not have to go through such a thing again.

[targetpractice]

19. What is a "cytokine storm"?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cytokine_storm

[FedUpWithIt All]

21. Thank you.

:hi:

[skooooo]

23. How do you know if your immune system is healthy??

Like if you have allergies and asthma, does that make it unhealthy??

[brentspeak]

13. This is assuming that all the Mexican victims really did die from the Swine Flu

Tin-foil possibility: It's a lot harder in the United States to come up with fake "deaths" to publicize a flu epidemic than it would be in Mexico. It wouldn't be a problem to verify the authenticity of a reported flu death here in the U.S. As for Mexico? Could be made impossible.