Thursday, Apr 30, 2009
Should they have called it Mayan Flu
Telegraph: Investors can learn a lesson or two from Swine Flu
Previous flu pandemics have adopted the name of their country of origin but here too mistakes are made – the Spanish flu of 1918-1919 apparently started in Scotland. Fortunately memories are short and, even if this outbreak comes to be known as Mexican flu, the tourists will be back soon enough.
Posted by str 2007 @ 08:32 AM (406 views) Add Comment
9 Comments
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1. str 2007 said...
Interesting to see how the Japanese are treating this compared to how we have treated the situation.
Our arrivals from Mexico get greated kissed and hugged by relatives. In Japan arrivals from Mexico were greated by officials in jump suits and masks.
As yet people haven't died outside Mexico. Except the little baby that had just come from Mexico City (the news didn't make it clear whether he was actuially Mexican or not).
Is there something in the Mexican genetic make up that makes them more susceptible to this virus ?
When and will any of you here change your behaviour to reduce your risk of infection.
Had a chat with Mrs. STR last night and we've decided to get the weekly shop on line and delivered from now on to cut down on one obvious source (the busy suoermarket).
Personally I would now drive and park to Central London (if I had to go) rather than use the tubes and trains.
It always seems to be the kids that pick things up first. Do you wait for it to hit your town first before you pull them out of kindergarten/school ? Or wait until it hits their actual school or even classroom and hope it's not them who contract it ?
Some (perhaps slightly paranoid) questions I was interested to know HPC poster views on.
2. str 2007 said...
Oh yes
Forgot my own heading, how ironic that something that could have a devastating effect on the world population over the next 2-3 years sources from the country who (kind of) predicted the end of civilization in 2012. (Well their calander ran out anyway).
Could it of been something similar that wiped the Mayans out all that time ago ?
3. little professor said...
Swine flu Public Service Announcement - must see
4. str 2007 said...
Thanks for that LP, bit off topic I know, but was interested in HPCer views on what they'd do.
Interesting in the USA they encourage protection and in the UK - nothing.
Perhaps the best protected populations are those where all the women are wearing vales of one description or another.
I perhaps should've given the article a different title - seems we're all more interested in what Bankers might get today than what we could loose.
5. contrails are not a conspiracy (formerly npnh) said...
all very well & good STR, but what if the person picking your items has flu? It can be transferred on hard surfaces!
6. str 2007 said...
contrails
Agreed, I don't know the specific chances of catching flu off a tin of beans someone sneezed on 3 hours earlier.
I guess as much as anything I had in mind that someone having just returned from Mexico City with their family, who works in the City and tubes everday, who's wife works as an air hostess for South American Airlines and who's children school near Heathrow for example whould altogether be in the HIGH RISK category.
Against someone who lives on their own and is largely self sufficient and agrophobic would be in the lowest risk category.
My thoughts were going along the lines of what you could do to adjust your current lifestyle to help minimise your chances of catching Swine Flu.
Therefore avoiding confined spaces with others seemed a fairly good bet. Driving to central London rather than tubing and getting a home delivery I would suggest might lower your chances of catching flu.
If you were very concerned I guess you could answer the door in a face mask and gloves and wipe down with anti bacterial wipe every product you purchased from the supermarket. Probably no more time consuming than having gone to the supermarket and shopped youself in the first place.
You see alot of people wearing face masks on television.
Unless the Governemnt advises such a stratergy no-one british would want to be seen to be the first. Being British we'd to prefer to see a strong case of a pandemic fully underway rather than be seen as looking a bit silly just incase.
7. contrails are not a conspiracy (formerly npnh) said...
STR
The whole face mask thing is an interesting one. Does it protect the mask wearer or everyone else?
Would wearing a mask on a flight give you more protection? It is so difficult to get good information.
8. str 2007 said...
IMO so long as the face mask is disposed of correctly (clearly it would be full of germs if the wearer was infected) then it must surely be one of a number of measures that would help.
Clearly if germs are around in the air it must stop you beathing a few in. But how many you need to beath in to catch it I don't know. And what specification of mask you need to stop the germs getting through but allow enough air flow I don't know.
Apparently there was something on the radio today and a GP phoned in saying he'd been advised to visit patients and wear a gown, mask and gloves (none of which he'd been issued with).
This same GP had found it impossible to get hold of any of the fluvirul we apparently have a huge stock of.
The new advise is that you 'flu buddy' visits the College Hospital to pick up the drugs. (Hence speading the flu further you'd think).
I guess there'd be less panic if the Fence Post Tortoise in charge of the Country actually stood up and said something to the nation that was believable and sensible.
Won't happen.
Fence Post Tortoise
"When you're driving along a country road and you come across a fence post
....with a tortoise balanced on top,
that's called a fencepost tortoise."
You look confused, I'll explain :-
You know he didn't get up there by himself,
he definitely doesn't belong up there,
he doesn't know what to do while he is up there,
and you just have to wonder
what kind of idiot put him up there in the first place."
9. contrails are not a conspiracy (formerly npnh) said...
So true.