WHO says swine flu pandemic is imminent

Thursday 30th April, 11:54 AM JST

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skipthesong at 06:18 PM JST - 30th April

I hate to admit this, but these kind of things are good for my business.

If you keep you living and working places clean, including pulling up the tatamis, if you care to keep those ugly things but they are really a virus heaven, scrubbing your shower down with bleach, no leaving any bread, cheese, milk, eggs, butter, and most of all rice and keep you sink completely clean (use paper plates and cups btw) each night. Wash your hands more than usual, you should be ok.

Stay away from smokers! Believe it or not, a smoker will get the flu faster than a great many people and yes, that second hand smoke does carry bugs.

Also, if you are the typical Tokyo-ite and like to drink in bars, bring your own glass.
mael at 06:21 PM JST - 30th April

Oh dear government. Please save me ... Yawn
mael at 06:26 PM JST - 30th April

Hello Moonbeams

'The 1918 virus' victims were mostly healthy people. The virus killed by overworking the immune system, so those with healthy immune systems were killed.'

Those poor saps died of the alleged vaccinations and drugs they were plied with. People who for whatever reason did not take the meds were the ones who survived.

Vaccines don't work. Germ-theory is basically flawed. Whether this new outbreak of flu (if it really exists), ... whether it was engineered in a laboratory or not, it best dealt with by your own immune system. Just use commonsense and take basic precautions like not licking door handles of public conveniences and eat well. The drugs they want you to take for these killer bugs are at best Trojan Horses and at worse they'll maim you or even kill you.
techall at 07:04 PM JST - 30th April

So if you eat pesticide tainted dumplings from China, will it kill the swine flu virus???
TexasAggie at 09:07 PM JST - 30th April

...the federal government is prepared to do whatever is necessary to control the impact of this virus,” Obama said.

Did he say this before or after his round of golf?

Moderator: Why is every one of your posts an anti-Obama rant? The purpose of the discussion board is for mature readers to have an exchange of views. If you have an opinion on the swine flu epidemic, please post that. Otherwise....
flammenwerfer at 10:13 PM JST - 30th April

to those talking about annual flu deaths: this flu is killing young healthy people, flu usually causes the deaths n the elderly and infirm - who were on the way out anyway. There in lies the difference.

Get this flu and build up a resistance?? are you serious? this flu not your usual one, it is apparently pure agony. I read of one guy who got it in Mexico and survived. An insane fever and a feeling of being on fire, unquenchable thirst, pain that made him pass out, he needed oxygen to breathe in the end. I will pass on that thanks very much.
WilliB at 10:15 PM JST - 30th April

There are thousands of deadly diseases out there. This panic over a flue strain that has killed all but 8 people so far is totally overblown.
Good_Jorb at 11:18 PM JST - 30th April

Looks like JT says it is. The WHO haven't made a statement saying that.

The WHO raised the warning level to 5(imminent pandemic) because in Spain the flu passed from a person who had been to Mexico to a person who had not been to Mexico. Level 5 requires two different regions of the world, to have human to human infections.

This panic over a flue strain that has killed all but 8 people so far is totally overblown.

It's a 159~ deaths related to the swine in Mexico so far, which puts the death rate in Mexico at about 5% of those infected. Perhaps overblown but better to be on the safe side of things.
usaexpat at 11:30 PM JST - 30th April

If this were Ebola or something much more deadly I'd be more concerned. It looks as though the efeects of this flu are much like most influenza that runs its course each year. The young, the old and those with compromised immune systems face the largest threat. Your average healthy adult doesn't have much to worry about other than feeling like sh*t for an amount of time and being locked up in the hose. Wake me when it's over.
smithinjapan at 12:59 AM JST - 1st May

usaexpat: "The young, the old and those with compromised immune systems face the largest threat."

Not sure, but it seems like that's not entirely true. The dead, at least the one case in the US where an infant died, may have been so, but infection seems indeed to be prevalant amongst young adults.

" Wake me when it's over."

Just don't say that if you go to bad with a bad fever... hahaha. Seriously, I'm not panicking at all about this and am more worried about increased times waiting at immigration due to measures to combat the spread, but I think it's better to be cautious than to be wrong in retrospect, in the case of potential epidemics (errr... pandemics).
OhioDonna at 02:36 AM JST - 1st May

I am so glad that most are taking precautions. We certainly would not want a repeat of 1918. First global warming, then the economy and now this what in the world is going on?
Smythe at 05:58 AM JST - 1st May

I am not surprised to read that some have brought up the Spanis Flu that boomed in 1918 right after WWI.

Most of those that had it to survive are not around anymore. I know my Father was taking private flying lessons with hopes to join the Army Engineers & once over in England could apply for a position in flying. Only the War was over before he could pass his local flying lessons.

He spent his time helping sick people into wagons, truks or cars to be transported to the hospitals. Only go go down with the same. The family doctor suggest, to the father, that they get him to fresh sea air like the Pacific Coast. That was the answer for his survival though he passed away in 1993 with the age of 83, & reason we do not have many of those still around at this time.
yabits at 07:29 AM JST - 1st May

There are thousands of deadly diseases out there. This panic over a flue strain that has killed all but 8 people so far is totally overblown.

Allow me to make a comparison to the swine flu problem and another event in the not-too-distant past:

I was living in Washington state in 1980. I remember well the months leading up to the May 18th eruption of Mount St. Helens, when all the little WilliB-types were complaining that the reaction by the government to an impending eruption (red zones and such) was way overblown. After May 18, the little WilliB-types were griping that the government didn't draw the red zone wide enough.

Lesson: When dealing with potential catastrophies, you can't be overly cautious. Best to ignore the sniping from people who don't know any better and will be the first to turn on you when things go south.
hereandthere at 07:38 AM JST - 1st May

WHO says swine flu pandemic is imminent

Let's panic!!!

"Merde!, Swine flu!" - Inspector Clouseau
teleprompter at 07:36 PM JST - 1st May

Vice President Joe "I Forget the Internet Number" Biden:

I would tell members of my family — and I have — I wouldn't go anywhere in confined places now. It's not that it's going to Mexico. It's [that] you're in a confined aircraft. When one person sneezes, it goes all the way through the aircraft. That's me. … So, from my perspective, what it relates to is mitigation. If you're out in the middle of a field when someone sneezes, that's one thing. If you're in a closed aircraft or closed container or closed car or closed classroom, it's a different thing.