Bird Flu

[InternalRage]

When I was going through boring science a couple of days ago, I found out that you can't get Bird Flu from dead birds, turkey and chicken for dinner etc, because the virus has to be in a living organism. I hope that cleared that up for some of you.

But now, when ever I pass a flock of seagulls by my school, I hold my breath. This disease is rather scary and worries me a lot. Sorry if I reminded any of you that forgot about it, I just, feel uneasy.

IR

[matteh]

I dont think we need to worry about catching it just yet. Maybe nearer the summer time when the birds start to come back from migration..

[slayera]

I am more worried about west nile.

[Jman]

I'm not worried about any of those, there's like a 1 in 10,000 chance of getting West Nile from a mosquito.

[Hemuuuli]

I live in Finland and I am hoping they get antidote to it before virus reaches here. Its not very far away...

[InternalRage]

If I were religious, Id pray for you Hemuuuli.

Good luck.

[Spartan]

If I were you guys I'd be more worried about something like TB or bacteria.

[Persol]

I'd be more worried about being hit by a car as you try and avoid the pigieons.

[dragonfliet]

I'd be more worried about being hit by a car as you try and avoid the pigieons.

teh funnay.

Seriously, even IF you get it, which doesn't look likely, do you know what will happen? You'll throw up a bit, have a fever and feel like crap for a couple of days before you get better. Do you know why? IT'S THE FLU! That's ALL it is. It's not some super strain of Ebola, it's not an avian Bubonic Plague, it's just a variation of the flu. Unless your immune system is about as reliable as an alcoholic with a $20 in his pocket, you'll be fine. The worry about Avian flu is that it would devestate A) The elderly B) The very Young C) Other people with poor immune systems. As it is, 36,000 people die every single year in the UNITED STATES alone from flu related deaths (usually phnemonia caused by the flu). Hear that? 36,0000! Do you know why you don't hear that statistic bandied about? because it's the old and the sick and the very, very young (though not often actually) that die, and everyone else is fine. Don't worry about the flu, be more worried about seagull droppings than flu.

~Jason

[Woe Kitten]

It'll be ironic if we all get wiped out by bird flu... it started in Vietnam because of the poverty caused by the Vietnam war. Maybe we could all learn a lesson from this?

[InternalRage]

Wow thanks, that really helped. When you say really young, what age groups?

[zombie@computer]

I'd be more worried about being hit by a car as you try and avoid the pigieons.

teh funnay.

Seriously, even IF you get it, which doesn't look likely, do you know what will happen? You'll throw up a bit, have a fever and feel like crap for a couple of days before you get better. Do you know why? IT'S THE FLU! That's ALL it is. It's not some super strain of Ebola, it's not an avian Bubonic Plague, it's just a variation of the flu. Unless your immune system is about as reliable as an alcoholic with a $20 in his pocket, you'll be fine. The worry about Avian flu is that it would devestate A) The elderly B) The very Young C) Other people with poor immune systems. As it is, 36,000 people die every single year in the UNITED STATES alone from flu related deaths (usually phnemonia caused by the flu). Hear that? 36,0000! Do you know why you don't hear that statistic bandied about? because it's the old and the sick and the very, very young (though not often actually) that die, and everyone else is fine. Don't worry about the flu, be more worried about seagull droppings than flu.

~Jason

bullocks. the birds flu killed over 18 million soldiers in wwI, do you think only very elderly and very joung people were soldiers in that time? No, the soldiers in that time were (as in any time) on their physical peak, and still they died.

However, it depends on how you look at it really. the flu alone indeed will only kill people with poor immune systems. It cannot kill healthy people on its own. However, this is where a superinfection takes place. the flu will weaken the human immune system so other infections can take place. A simple common cold virus (like corona) or a staphilococcus aureus infection will cause a pneumonia and kill anyone, simply because the hosts immune system has been weakened too much by the birds flu. Its impossible to protect humans against these infections that are common throughout the population. A lot of bacteria on your skin and in your intestine would become killers.

the scary thing about the birds flu is that we are completely weaponless against it. We have no cure whatsoever. Getting one will take months and billions. The only thing we got are neuraminidase-inhibitors, which can reduce the speed of virus replication for a person who is infected with any flulike virus. However:
-it only slows it down a bit
-its very expensive
-during a pandemic it is a matter of days before the virus gets immune to these medecine
-theres not enough anyways
lots of people think that we dont have to fear the scale of 1918, simply because the health services can do so much more. Well, like i already said, we havent got any weapons at this moment we didnt have in 1918. the only thing that gives us a better chance is our improved hygiene (virusses dont like soap). For the rest, our improved medical technology can do nothing for us. Because of our improved population denseness and transportation speeds, we are even in greated danger than the wwI armies did.

[InternalRage]

Oh gawd. Im scared.

[Athlete{UK}]

It is very unlikely it will become tansferable between humans and will become an epademic.

Having said this however. I don't hink you can be too prepared. There is still a chance and i'd rather not take it.

[dragonfliet]

Zombie, we've been through this before in another thread but: The bird flu didn't kill soldiers in WW1, it was the Spanish Flu (essentially, the flu we have today is an evolution of that). The REASON it killed so many "healthy" young men was because they were living in absolute squalor conditions, without proper heating/cooling, an absolute lack of proper medicine (penicillin was around I believe, but 70% (not an exact number, but very close) of people are allergic to it and die. Still saved alot of lives though) and also a lack of steady, clean water supplies.

Yes, I know the flu doesn't kill, in fact, that's what I mentioned, it's usually phnemonia, though other things do kill.

We also DO have more technology that can help from 1918. We have instant access to clean water, we have properly heated and cooled buildings, we have simple drugs (that they didn't have access to in 1918) that can help prevent and combat phnemonia, etc. If bird flu DID cross over, millions WOULD die, it's true, but it would be, for the most part, the people I've mentioned. There are always flukes, but that's how life is. Look at SARS, a few young healthy people died, which is wierd, and there's nothing to really describe it, but that was such a fluke it's barely worth counting.

As for your question IR, When I say young I mean babies and infants: Their immune systems are simply too underdeveloped to have much of a chance to fight those types of flus, though there bodies are healthier and more resiliant than sick elderly peopel for the most part.

Would Bird Flu be bad? Yes, of course, preventable deaths are always tragic. Would it be as bad as the Spanish flu in the early 20th century? Not nearly? Should more be done to prepare against such an illness? Absolutely. But worrying about it is much, much more futile than worrying about dying in a car wreck, you're infinately more likely to die that way. Or perhaps on a plane, or perhaps from a siezure while playing insane FLASH movies in your basement. This is nothing to worry about for the majority of hte population.

Or else my wife (Nurse) and the rest of the medical proffession are completely full of shit and Zombie knows where it's all at.

~Jason