7.5.09
Test yourself for swine flu!
Here's a quick and easy test for whether you have swine flu, with some helpful links for transmission prevention. Enjoy!
26.4.09
Swine Flu Quickfacts
About the spread of swine flu:
1. The handful of people in the US with lab-confirmed cases haven't died. Out of almost 200 cases, five were hospitalized and one died - and that one travelled to Mexico and caught it there.
2. The cases trickling in are cases that happened a 2-4 weeks ago, and we're just now getting genetic results back on the specific strains of flu they had. Basically: swine flu already happened, and we're just figuring it out. It's probably over. EVERYBODY PANIC
3. There are going to be more cases of this. The reason cases are coming in is because we're now actively looking for them. It's just that simple.
4. No there won't be a pandemic. You have to die a lot to have a pandemic. Even in Mexico, the death rate for flu-like illnesses that might be swine flu is a staggering .07%. My god, we're doomed!
About swine flu itself:
1. Symptoms include coughing, sneezing, sore throat, fever, headache, body aches, vomiting, and diarrhea. It's a flu! Surprise!
2. It does seem to transmit from human to human rather than pig to human. That means it spreads fast. In fact, it already happened. Did you miss it? It was that fast.
3. Genetically, this thing is awesome. Four different strains of swine, human, and avian influenza! This exchange of genes is called genetic shift and it's something flus do naturally. Because they're whores.
4. It may have some characteristics that are a little like the killer 1918 flu except for the whole part where it's not really killing people, and also those characteristics might be a fluke of Mexico's flu surveillance. They do more containment/treatment than genetic testing of flu-like illnesses, so it's hard to say.
5. It does not infect pigs. No, really. I know it's called swine flu. Genetically, it's... Sigh. Just trust me on this, your bacon is safe.
What to do about swine flu:
1. Wash your hands.
2. Cover your face when you sneeze/cough.
3. If you're sick, consider doing to a doctor.
4. Does this list look familiar? Like maybe it's exactly what you do for every other minor illness that's ever happened? Yeah. There's a reason for that.
What to do if you're paranoid:
1. Get a respirator rated N-95 to filter out virus bits.
2. Stock up on water and non-perishable foods.
3. Make signs reading "THE END IS NEAR" and a nice hat out of foil.
4. Repeat steps 1-3.
If you have any lingering concerns or questions, please do ask. I like being useful. Right now I'm laughing at my family, cackling madly: "SEE?! MY OBSESSION WITH THE BIRD FLU IS USEFUL! I KNEW IT WOULD HAPPEN ONE DAY!" If you want to wade through a lot of technical and political jabber, check out the CDC or WHO. That's where I get all my information.
So why is the swine flu such a big deal? Beats me. Maybe because it's a potential gateway for high-death flus like avian influenza H5N1, which this blog is about. If this swine flu combines with my bird flu, that's really bad. But it hasn't. You'll notice I mentioned up there that this "swine" flu has like four different flus in it, including a bird flu. But somehow I'm not worried! Why? It's the wrong bird flu. As you can tell just by the numbers, this flu is not a big deal. It's not that deadly. In fact, the symptoms and severity are the same as the regular flu. Some people die of seasonal flu every year, so a handful of deaths is nothing to worry about either. So stop worrying. Just wash your hands and cover your face when you sneeze. Those are the official CDC recommendations for how to deal with this swine flu. Oh, and... take a chill pill.
1. The handful of people in the US with lab-confirmed cases haven't died. Out of almost 200 cases, five were hospitalized and one died - and that one travelled to Mexico and caught it there.
2. The cases trickling in are cases that happened a 2-4 weeks ago, and we're just now getting genetic results back on the specific strains of flu they had. Basically: swine flu already happened, and we're just figuring it out. It's probably over. EVERYBODY PANIC
3. There are going to be more cases of this. The reason cases are coming in is because we're now actively looking for them. It's just that simple.
4. No there won't be a pandemic. You have to die a lot to have a pandemic. Even in Mexico, the death rate for flu-like illnesses that might be swine flu is a staggering .07%. My god, we're doomed!
About swine flu itself:
1. Symptoms include coughing, sneezing, sore throat, fever, headache, body aches, vomiting, and diarrhea. It's a flu! Surprise!
2. It does seem to transmit from human to human rather than pig to human. That means it spreads fast. In fact, it already happened. Did you miss it? It was that fast.
3. Genetically, this thing is awesome. Four different strains of swine, human, and avian influenza! This exchange of genes is called genetic shift and it's something flus do naturally. Because they're whores.
4. It may have some characteristics that are a little like the killer 1918 flu except for the whole part where it's not really killing people, and also those characteristics might be a fluke of Mexico's flu surveillance. They do more containment/treatment than genetic testing of flu-like illnesses, so it's hard to say.
5. It does not infect pigs. No, really. I know it's called swine flu. Genetically, it's... Sigh. Just trust me on this, your bacon is safe.
What to do about swine flu:
1. Wash your hands.
2. Cover your face when you sneeze/cough.
3. If you're sick, consider doing to a doctor.
4. Does this list look familiar? Like maybe it's exactly what you do for every other minor illness that's ever happened? Yeah. There's a reason for that.
What to do if you're paranoid:
1. Get a respirator rated N-95 to filter out virus bits.
2. Stock up on water and non-perishable foods.
3. Make signs reading "THE END IS NEAR" and a nice hat out of foil.
4. Repeat steps 1-3.
If you have any lingering concerns or questions, please do ask. I like being useful. Right now I'm laughing at my family, cackling madly: "SEE?! MY OBSESSION WITH THE BIRD FLU IS USEFUL! I KNEW IT WOULD HAPPEN ONE DAY!" If you want to wade through a lot of technical and political jabber, check out the CDC or WHO. That's where I get all my information.
So why is the swine flu such a big deal? Beats me. Maybe because it's a potential gateway for high-death flus like avian influenza H5N1, which this blog is about. If this swine flu combines with my bird flu, that's really bad. But it hasn't. You'll notice I mentioned up there that this "swine" flu has like four different flus in it, including a bird flu. But somehow I'm not worried! Why? It's the wrong bird flu. As you can tell just by the numbers, this flu is not a big deal. It's not that deadly. In fact, the symptoms and severity are the same as the regular flu. Some people die of seasonal flu every year, so a handful of deaths is nothing to worry about either. So stop worrying. Just wash your hands and cover your face when you sneeze. Those are the official CDC recommendations for how to deal with this swine flu. Oh, and... take a chill pill.
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