We're all going to die (swine flu thread)

[Bono]

This reminds me of that South Park episode where the Indians from the casino give the town people blankets infects with SARS, and they all get infected and Stan's dad says: "In a week, only 99% of us will be alive."

[Bono]

Question, Hash:

Are you worried/scared/concerned yourself? Be honest!

Well, yes I am, but, I think the world is better prepared now than it ever was. Consider that the world has ben preparing for year for an H5N1 pandemic, and next to H5N1, this virus is a wimp.

[Bono]

Wow, I am impressed by how calm everyone is. I grew up with my mom working on Washington State's emergency health system made for cases like these and to tell the truth I personally AM scare beyond all belief. By the way while most cases so far in the US have been relatively mild the real fear comes from the ease with which a strain such as Swine Flu can mutate into something much more dangerous. The fact that it is spreading so rapidly means that everyone needs to be prepared...

Then again who knows what could happen? I am just hoping that the UK doesn't restrict travel from the US (I have plans to visit London in May).

Actually, there is no adaptative advantage in increasing virulence--if the host can go up and about the virus has much better chances of propagating, which is why the trend if for mortality and morbidity to decrease, not to increase.

[Bono]

Apparently the two people who died in LA didn't die of swine flu:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/04/coroner-doubts-2-men-died-of-swine-flu.html

I just found the most amusing typo (well I think it is anyway) in that article:

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I'm not sure how you "complain" of lymphoma, but in any case if he did have lymphoma he had greater problems than the flu--wouldn't it have made better sense to look there first for a cause of death?

[Bono]

Looks like a container with swine flu exploded n a train in Switzerland:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,621598,00.html

But it wasn't the mutated strain, apparently. Still sounds like a bad movie though.

[Bono]

Turns out the US death was a Mexican who went there for treatment.