Don't hear much about swineflu these days

[triple5]

Last summer they were predicting plagues and all sorts for this winter, but never see anything in the news about swineflu lately :Erm: I wonder how much the Donald Rumsfelds of the world made out of all the hysteria :Erm:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-rumsfeld-makes-5m-killing-on-bird-flu-drug-469599.html

[Doc Alan]

Last summer they were predicting plagues and all sorts for this winter, but never see anything in the news about swineflu lately :Erm: I wonder how much the Donald Rumsfelds of the world made out of all the hysteria :Erm:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-rumsfeld-makes-5m-killing-on-bird-flu-drug-469599.html

Donald Rumsfeld made $5 million from selling shares in the biotechnology firm that discovered and developed Tamiflu (which stops the flu virus entering cells and reduces the duration of symptoms by a day or two). :omg:
GlaxoSmithKline made $1,36 billion from sales of the vaccine. :omg:They donated 60 million vaccine doses to developing countries. :)But 1 dose of the vaccine is now thought sufficient to give a strong immune response so many countries are amending their vaccine orders, not good news for the vaccine business.:doh More people have made money from swine flu than died from it.:bigcry:
There isn't much in the news because it's thought that less than 13,000 have died worldwide from swine flu ; 360 in the UK.:crazy: That's out of 570,000 deaths each year in the UK ( a third from heart/circulatory system, a fifth from cancer).
We don't know the true figures for infection or death from swine flu because most cases are not confirmed in the laboratory. In most cases it's mild but it could still mutate. That's been the justification for setting up a National Pandemic Flu Service in this country. There are really more important things to worry about. :omg:If you're otherwise healthy, take paracetamol and rest until you feel better. :)

[Dedworth]

We don't hear much about Avian Flu either - it's been a long time since a Bernard Matthews Turkey Factory was quarantined or a dodgy duck from Moldova was found dead.

[aromulus]

I remember saying something of the sort a while ago...:rolleyes:

http://biomedme.com/health-care/was-the-swine-flu-scare-just-a-hoax_5648.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1242479/CHRISTOPHER-BOOKER-After-awful-fiasco-swine-flu-believe-State-scare-machine-again.html

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Did-WHO-experts-fuel-swine-flu-scare/articleshow/5438620.cms

[Doc Alan]

I remember saying something of the sort a while ago...:rolleyes:

Before my time on the Forum ....makes you wonder if you can trust doctors:rolleyes:

[aromulus]

[/SIZE]

....makes you wonder if you can trust doctors:rolleyes:

If I have to be perfectly honest and direct.......:omg:

My GP is a waste of :censored: breath and space.

The chemist has more savy....:xxgrinning--00xx3:

[joebloggs]

surely its better the gov is cautious and takes the threat seriously, buys drugs than do nothing, what would happen if 100,000s of people died and they hadn't bought the drugs?

Dom should remember the 1918 flu pandemic :D, It is estimated that anywhere from 50 to 100 million people were killed worldwide.

“Hindsight explains the injury that foresight would have prevented” :rolleyes:

[Arthur Little]

MY GP's surgery certainly seems to be STILL taking the "threat" seriously enough ... as the waiting area has been totally bereft of the usual array of glossy magazines and boxes of toys, for months now! :cwm24:

[adam&chryss]

My son had his swine flu jab this morning. I`d rather he had it than not especially as its free and no bother.
He`s only 9 months old and now I dont have to worry about him catching it. I just worry about all the other things he could catch but hey, its one thing off the list!
A common cold isnt life threatening but if someone offered me a jab to protect me against it i`d take it.

[Doc Alan]

To be fair, doctors these days have a hard time from patients who may be better informed, mostly from the internet, than in the past. The doctor-patient relationship has changed. Of course there are good and bad doctors - Harold Shipman looked a very kindly GP. I believe Dom is rich, and I really like him!
Sir Liam Donaldson (England's Chief Medical Officer) has to get it right every time he speaks in public by whatever means. People in his position need charisma and communication skills ... too little and they're boring, too much and we don't trust them.
It's absolutely true that viruses like that causing swine flu CAN mutate ...it's survival of the fittest for them...and kill many thousands of people (maybe pets as well). If, conversely, they mutate to a milder variant they survive by not killing many people. Like the weather, very difficult to predict, and we can still neither rule out a major pandemic nor another prolonged freeze.

[keithAngel]

Better informed is good IMO watched an eye opening program on BBC that suggested life would not exist without Virus

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00q2rdj/Horizon_20092010_Why_Do_Viruses_Kill/

[LEAHnew]

My Fiance's son just had flu for almost week and wasn't able to go to work, he took tamiflu which he requested online :Erm: seems like he cured himself online :Erm:I asked why not to see the GP he said they don't allow patient to see GP while they got a flu:doh...I told my fiance to start taking multivitamins or even to go for a jab for swine flu coz he might got as well but he told me he's alright and saying got strong immune system:doh and now his son ok now he started to go back to work yesterday,but now I just spoke to my fiance he told me he's not feeling well I thought he's joking coz his voice sounds so sexy:yikes::D and then told me he has a flu (maybe:Erm:):omg: and saying he will be alright just needed some rest:doh
I'm a bit worried :NoNo: can't do anything coz we're miles away now:bigcry:
I know he listen to me but sometimes he don't especially when I'm away:doh

:bigcry:oh I miss you darling..get well soon:cwm38:



.................
If you're otherwise healthy, take paracetamol and rest until you feel better. :)
:xxgrinning--00xx3: I told him doc what u said:)
and does he need to take tamiflu soon?

[Doc Alan]

:xxgrinning--00xx3: I told him doc what u said:)
and does he need to take tamiflu soon?

Tamiflu is not a cure, if it's taken within a few hours of the onset of symptoms it will reduce their duration by about 1 - 1.5 days. (But there can be side effects ...sickness, diarrhoea, headache, and a few others).

[triple5]

(But there can be side effects ...sickness, diarrhoea, headache, and a few others).

The same effects as flu :Erm:

[Doc Alan]

The same effects as flu :Erm:

That's why I originally suggested paracetamol and bed rest.
Actually more than flu : nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, indigestion, diarrhoea, headache, fatigue, insomnia, dizziness, conjunctivitis, nose bleeds, rash, and some very rare nasty ones:doh