Lets talk about the Swine flu...

Originally Posted by Cyanide

Interesting BC-Axeman....

...

Most interesting at this point is a review of the genetic sequence of the swine flu virus that shows that a particular virulence factor, protein PB1-F2, believed by some to play an important role in determining illness severity and risk of complications (secondary bacterial pneumonia), is blocked by maybe two stop-codons and then a mutation from serine to asparagine. So, a whole lot of genetic rearrangement would be needed to cause that to happen.

Of course, this would be to assume that the PB1-F2 protein is important in prospective pandemic versions of human infecting virus (as opposed to animal model research or retrospective analysis), and that PB1-F2 is (a)/(the only) important determiner of illness severity (which is severely near-sighted viewpoint).

None the less, thank you....it would seem that you may have helped me find a weakness in my information at a crucial time, helping me correct that deficiency. What is your background?

All that said, I trust in vaccines. Vaccines and the birth control pill; arguably the biggest and best medical discoveries of all time. Every illness I can prevent, is a battle won before it ever started.

Cheers

John

A very detailed version of the explanation I have read that correlated into the opinion I have formed.

I am an esoteric philosophical person with a high capacity to absorb, assimilate and correlate information and observe connections and disconnects. That is why I'm such a good troubleshooter. And I read a lot.

I am not worried about the vaccine. I will not get it only because it seems clear to me that I don't need it. I have been in close contact with more than 10 persons that have had swine flu and so far I haven't seemed to contract it, or if I have it showed minimal symptoms, as has been happening.

Every major event in human awareness has a conspiracy theory. Even minor events get them, sometimes. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

My in this matter:

First off, 2 of our kids have had it already, and the rest of us have been spared so far. They got it before we could get vaccinations done at the doctor. The scariest thing about it is how high their fevers were getting. Both of them were close to needing to go into Urgent Care. But it stayed below the threshold. It wasn't a puky flu, as you imagine it to be. It was VERY much an upper respiratory issue. For a while after their fevers broke they both were still coughing a lot and coughing up congestion. YUCK.

I work for a pharmaceutical company, and have taken courses in regulatory affairs. I know the stringent testing that all of these product need to go through and the qualifications that they need to meet for the FDA to approve them. The regulations have improved TREMENDOUSLY over the years. The industry and FDA react to adverse events very swiftly now, and have learned from the mistakes in the past. Safety and efficacy MUST be shown before any pharma product (or device) will be approved to go to market. While there is a rush for companies to get these products approved and gain market share, they are also keenly aware that if their product is not safe that it will have a HUGE negative impact on all of the rest of their product lines. There are several different ways that these thigns are tested before they get to the market, as well. There are lab studies, potentially animal studies, and then possibly human studies (though not every product goes through or needs to go through each type of study). With something like a flu vaccine, history allows them to be developed and get to market faster than many standard products. I don't know the intricacies of it, but if all they are doing is finding a diferent strain that they need to vaccinate against, I would think that a simple substitution would be the path chosen. Again, that is conjecture on my part, but seems like a reasonable path, given my knowledge of the system.

[acruce]

Went to the doctor today and found out I have the dreaded and feared swine flu. This sux.

Originally Posted by BC-Axeman

BTW, what ever happened to SARS?

Lance, they turned it into an Atari game:

[Sauer Grapes]

Originally Posted by acruce

Went to the doctor today and found out I have the dreaded and feared swine flu. This sux.

How you doing? Doctor was pretty sure I had it when I went to urgent care on Tuesday. They didn't test though. I had a temp of 100.5, so mild, some aches, few chills, bad chest congestion, headache and loopiness. Gave me tamiflu and other than being completely worn out on Wednesday, I've more or less been fine with a cough. I worked from home yesterday and today so I didn't spread it to anyone, but really, I think I could have gone in.

If I had it, I had what must have been the mildest form. From what I've heard from a friend that had confirmed swine flu, I had many of the same symptoms but less severe.

Originally Posted by BC-Axeman

BTW, what ever happened to SARS?

Originally Posted by acruce

Went to the doctor today and found out I have the dreaded and feared swine flu. This sux.

Hang in there bud....most get it and are done with it in a week. Not to worry.

[St. Lou Stu]

One more casualty.
It started off Thursday morning as an itch in my throat and a headache.... both after a hard night of drinking and smoking... but not that hard, so I was like WTF?
By noon Thursday, I knew I was down for the count. I took about a 1.5 hour nap on a sidewalk outside the LasVegas Convention Center. The fever just kept going up. I checked with the airline and got a mask and a blanket for the ride home. I was actually surprised that they allowed me to board since I gave them ALL of the symptoms that I had and that relate to H1N1. Finally rolled in my door a 02:00 Friday Morning and this is the first I have moved since then. Still feel like dog snot, but the fever has started to subside.

yuck, but I still think regular stomach flu is worse.

[acarr]

I have a 5 month old and decided for her sake that I needed to get the vaccination. So I got crap stuck in my nose today.

My 18 month old tested positive saturday. Wow it was scary when his temp is pushing 105 degrees earlier staurday morning before test. He is now on tamiflu and is a completely new baby. It took him out for on day. Now we are just watching his temp and feeding him his meds and Crossing our fingers we got it in time..
Wow does this scare the Hell out of you...Well I think the Government made it out to be much worse than it is..
Well we have lucked out here and I am grateful.

great news George, hang in there & here's to a speedy full recovery!

Originally Posted by St. Lou Stu

One more casualty.
It started off Thursday morning as an itch in my throat and a headache.... both after a hard night of drinking and smoking... but not that hard, so I was like WTF?
By noon Thursday, I knew I was down for the count. I took about a 1.5 hour nap on a sidewalk outside the LasVegas Convention Center. The fever just kept going up. I checked with the airline and got a mask and a blanket for the ride home. I was actually surprised that they allowed me to board since I gave them ALL of the symptoms that I had and that relate to H1N1. Finally rolled in my door a 02:00 Friday Morning and this is the first I have moved since then. Still feel like dog snot, but the fever has started to subside.

yuck, but I still think regular stomach flu is worse.

Jeez man, that sucks! Hope you're all better now. Did anyone throw you money as you slept on the sidewalk?

Originally Posted by acarr

I have a 5 month old and decided for her sake that I needed to get the vaccination. So I got crap stuck in my nose today.

I don't blame 'ya.

Guys, if you're in acarr's situation, just note that there is live flu (mostly killed but still live) in the nasal mist. If you've got a very young baby (like we do), make sure you get the injection instead of the nasal spray. I'm sure acarr is fine with the spray and he definitely did the right thing by getting protected.