Bird flue

[39mto39g]

For anyone that is worried about this flue because of the media hype, This flue has been around for a lot of years. Birds have it and transmitt it to other birds, Its called the H5NI strain of the flue virous.
2 years ago 60 people died from the flue which they got from birds, Thats 60 people in the world. Your chances of getting this flue are 10,000 times less than winning your states lottery. There is a flue shot for this strain but its huge, If your worried, ask your DR. to get you one, on the way there be careful of that lightning strike.

Yes the earth could have a pandemic it the strain mutated from bird to human to Human to human, and if this does happen millions of people would die. BUT this would also happen with 1,000s of other animal illnesses.

Belive 1/2 of what you see and 1/10 of what you hear.

Ron

[Boats]

This is some scary stuff - let's hope they get a handle on it pretty quick. Young kids and the old will be hammered first. I'm in the later group and I don't like that feeling I get when pan-demic is mentioned.

[82Rigger]

Some more info on flu pandemics:



During the 20th century, the emergence of new influenza A virus subtypes caused three pandemics, all of which spread around the world within 1 year of being detected.

1918-19, "Spanish flu," [A (H1N1)], caused the highest number of known influenza deaths: more than 500,000 people died in the United States, and up to 50 million people may have died worldwide. Many people died within the first few days after infection, and others died of complications later. Nearly half of those who died were young, healthy adults. Influenza A (H1N1) viruses still circulate today after being introduced again into the human population in the 1970s.

1957-58, "Asian flu," [A (H2N2)], caused about 70,000 deaths in the United States. First identified in China in late February 1957, the Asian flu spread to the United States by June 1957.

1968-69, " Hong Kong flu," [A (H3N2)], caused about 34,000 deaths in the United States. This virus was first detected in Hong Kong in early 1968 and spread to the United States later that year. Influenza A (H3N2) viruses still circulate today.


The 1918 flu was especially virulent. In many cases a healthy adult that contracted the virus was, within a matter of hours, in severe respiratory distress and within 24 to 48 hours would expire. Death came so quickly that pneumo-fluids in the lungs that are normally associated with flu had not had time to develop.

[Keith_Hixson]

My Father and His Little Brother both got the "Spanish Flu" back in 1918. My Dad was 17 almost 18 and His Brother had just turned 16. His little Brother died, my Dad survived. My Dad said the old Country Doctor in Baker, Oregon came to their home when he got sick, his brother had died several days before. The old Doctor tried a "New" treatment on my dad. He took an Ice pick and punctured his lung. My Dad said they drained two quarts of fluid off of his lungs. He gained strength and survived. I don't know how many people the Doctor punched a hole in their lung but it saved one life. My Dad said the flu caused his lungs to fill up with fluids within a few hours after he got sick. I would think that modern medicine would realize that if you can drain those lungs you can save lives.
My Doctor says that because my Dad was a survivor of the "Spanish Flu" and this new "Bird" is basically the old "Spanish" Flu recycled that it a very real possibility that I have a natural immunity to the Bird Flu. I sure hope so.

Ron,
You are correct. This is possibly a lot of hype about nothing. But, there is potential for a serious outbreak but I'm with you Ron, I am not going to lose any sleep about it.

Keith

[Jerry D]

I got the tail end of the "Asian flu" in 63' and nearly died as a baby from it. My Mother tells me that they gave me Intramuscular IV's and pumped enough fluids into my legs they swelled several times their size, to this day my legs still stiffen and ache from that treatment. In 1980 when I joined the USAF I discoverd I also had scar tissue in my right lung from the results of the Asian Flu. I can understand why the young and elderly are at risk of any flu but us middle age group should fare better from the current Avian Flu hitting eastern Europe now.

[82Rigger]

Some background on the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic:




The Spanish Flu Pandemic, also known as the Great Influenza Pandemic, the 1918 Flu Epidemic and La Grippe, was an unusually severe and deadly strain of avian influenza that killed some 25 million to 50 million people worldwide in 1918 and 1919. It is thought to have been one of the most deadly pandemics so far in human history. It was caused by the H1N1 type of flu virus.
The Allies of World War I frequently called it the "Spanish Flu." This was mainly because the pandemic received greater press attention in Spain than in the rest of the world, because Spain was not involved in the war and there was no wartime censorship. Spain did have one of the worst early outbreaks of the disease, with some 8 million people infected in May 1918. It was also known as "only the flu" or "the grippe" by public health officials seeking to prevent panic.

More soldiers of the United States died from the Spanish flu during World War I than from the war itself.


Many infections with similar but milder symptoms were recorded in the spring of 1918, with sore throat, headaches, dizziness, and loss of appetite. It has been proposed that the earliest known cases were in Haskell County, Kansas, in January 1918. Several local men were inducted into the army at Fort Riley, Kansas, where on March 4, 1918, company cook Albert Gitchell reported to the infirmary with a temperature of 103?F (39.5?C). He was soon followed by Corporal Lee Drake and Sergeant Adolph Hurby. Within two days 522 men at the camp had reported sick. In the summer, infections became much more severe. In August 1918 the more deadly version broke out simultaneously in three disparate locations ? Brest, France; Boston, Massachusetts; and Freetown, Sierra Leone. Many of the worst outbreaks of the "Flu" were among soldiers, both at the front lines and in camps far away which soon spread into civilian populations. Severe outbreaks often required hospitalization and even with the best of care often killed one-third of those infected.

The strain was unusual in commonly killing many young and healthy victims, as opposed to more common influenzas which caused the bulk of their mortality among newborns and the old and infirm. People without symptoms could be struck suddenly and be rendered too feeble to walk within hours; many would die the next day. Symptoms included a blue tint to the face and coughing up blood caused by severe obstruction of the lungs. In further stages, the virus caused an uncontrollable haemorrhaging that filled the lungs, and patients would drown in their own body fluids.

Mortality in the fast-progressing cases was primarily from pneumonia, by virus-induced consolidation. Slower progressing cases featured secondary bacterial pneumonias while some suspect neural involvement led to psychiatric disorders in a minority of cases. Some deaths resulted from malnourishment and even animal attacks in overwhelmed communities.

Global mortality rate from the influenza was estimated at 2.5%?5% of the population, with some 20% of the world population suffering from the disease to some extent. The disease spread across the world killing twenty-five million in the course of six months; some estimates put the total of those killed worldwide at over twice that number, possibly as high as 100 million. An estimated 17 million died in India alone, with a mortality rate of about 5% of the population. In the Indian Army, almost 22% of troops who caught the disease died of it. About 28% of the population of the U.S. suffered from the disease, and some 500,000?675,000 died from it. Some 200,000 were killed in Britain and more than 400,000 in France. The death rate was especially high in indigenous peoples where some entire villages perished in Alaska and southern Africa. Fourteen percent of the population of the Fiji Islands died in a period of only two weeks while 22% of the population of Western Samoa died.

Many cities, states, and countries enforced restrictions on public gatherings and travel to try to stay the epidemic. In many places theaters, dance halls, churches and other public gathering places were shut down for over a year. Quarantines were enforced with little success. Some communities placed armed guards at the borders and turned back or quarantined any travellers. One U.S. town even outlawed shaking hands.

Even in areas where morbidity was low, those incapacitated by the illness were often so numerous as to bring much of everyday life to a stop. Some communities closed all stores or required customers not to enter the store but place their orders outside the store for filling. There were many reports of places with no health care workers to tend the sick because of their own ill health and no able bodied grave diggers to inter the dead. Mass graves were dug by steam shovel and bodies buried without coffins in many places.

[Boats]

Keith the old ice pick in the lung is a little hard to take but if it worked God Bless'm. I got nailed by something a ouple years ago and I didn't know if I'd make it. It was the worst cough and cold I ever had. I don't want that back again. You hear many things about getting flu shots I get one every year does it help who knows - but it makes you feel better knowing you got one.

[MarineAO]

Originally posted by Boats You hear many things about getting flu shots I get one every year does it help who knows - but it makes you feel better knowing you got one.

I never get Flu shots I can't I'm allergic to chickin feathers and sence the antibodies are incubated in chickin eggs I have adverse reactions that are worse than the flu. I count myself lucky (knock on wood) I don't ever remember getting the flu.

[Keith_Hixson]

My Dad was born in 1900. The most honest man I've ever known. He had a real nasty looking scar on side and that was his explanation. And, it certainly goes along with the description of the "Spanish Flu" in that most of those that died were young and they died because their lungs filled up with fluid. I have absolutely no doubt that what he told us kids is the absolute truth. He said after they punctured the lung they turned him on his side and caught the fluid in a dish pan. My father died in 1994 just about 2 months from his 94th Birthday.

I know it sounds a little goofy but I certainly believe it to be true, because I never met a more honest man than my father. He just wouldn't lie for any reason.

Keith

[82Rigger]

Keith,

No reason whatsoever to doubt your Dad's explanation.

I found the following confirmation of the procedure online.

Lester Dragstedt, later famous professor of surgery at U of Chicago, was an Army pathologist in 1918. He participated in many cases of draining the lungs by puncturing. The procedure evidently was used on severe cases, so many of the patients died anyway. Your father was a fortunate man.

You might want to do a web search on Dr. Dragstedt or the U of Chicago medical branch for more information.