Poll | 04/27/2009 12:00 am

How worried are you about swine flu?

Read more about: Government, Health, Swine Flu

122 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

I’m very concerned.

I avoid unnecessary exposure to crowds. If I don’t need to go out, I don’t go out.

Being unsure as to the effects of long-term use of hand santizers (chances of resistance to bacteria, etc.) I keep a box of disposable gloves in my car. I put a pair on before entering a market. I toss them upon leaving. Then I put a new pair on so that I don’t transfer any germs from the market onto my steering wheel. When I get into my house, I toss those gloves and immediately, thoroughly wash my hands. Before putting my food away, I take it out of its packaging, and transfer it to my Fresh Vac Professional Food Storage containers. I toss whatever it came in. Also, I am careful to not touch my face, or rub my eyes, unless I am in my house.

Also, I do not buy vegetables, etc. that are from Mexico.

I try to cook all my meals myself.

If I am out, and someone sneezes near me, I leave the room. This is not flu season, and I am very cautious of anyone sneezing or coughing, especially if they don’t do so into their hands or the crook of their arm.

I am supposed to take a flight in May. We’ll see.

By N P on 04/27/2009 1:03 pm

e-mail alert

NP, I do a lot of those things too. Might make me sound like a Howard Hughes in training, but I can also count on one hand the times I had a cold or flu.

I don’t like hand sterilizers….doubt if they work and just more chemicals on the skin and another plastic bottle in the landfill…I do think the individual foil wrapped bacterial wipes might be better.

Time to be more watchful with To-Go coffees, too. Often see cashiers handle money [75% tests positive for fecal matter] then go over, grab a paper cup and put hands on the drinking surface. Eeeeew.

By Suzanne de Cornelia on 04/27/2009 4:50 pm

e-mail alert

The people of Mexico City have been breathing terrible polluted air for years. Could this be affecting their immune systems? Are they more suceptible to fatalities in an overcrowded and unhealthy city?

Even though I work with kids, many Mexican immigrants, I’m not worried. I feel I have a pretty strong immune system and am rarely sick…plus worry causes wrinkles so I try my best to avoid it, LOL

By C. Aune on 04/27/2009 3:15 pm

e-mail alert

Excellent point, C., that I’ve not seen anywhere else. The lungs of residents of Mexico City must be like those of heavy smokers! Also, it’s not yet known whether the deaths there were due primarily or secondarily to swine flu. This is from an interview with someone from the CDC published in the LA Times:

Q: Why are people dying in Mexico and not here?

A: That’s a mystery. First, understand that no one really knows just how many people in Mexico are dying of this flu strain, or how many have it. Only a fraction of the suspected deaths have been tested and confirmed as swine flu, and some initially suspected cases were caused by something else.

By Sam Mirando on 04/27/2009 7:38 pm

e-mail alert

I read yesterday that 7% of the reported cases have died, but they think that quite a few cases went unreported so that figure could be closer to 3 or 4% which is not as startling.

By C. Aune on 04/28/2009 8:19 am

e-mail alert

Since the flu is spreading beyond Mexico with such speed, it must be more widespread in Mexico than has yet been demonstrated by health authorities. Thus, many more in Mexico have or have had the flu and have not died of it. The word "pandemic" refers to a disease that spreads widely all over the world. It does not have any "lethal" implications. If the flu is minimally dangerous, everyone in the world could get it and there would be only a few (relatively speaking) excess deaths (deaths beyond normal expectations in each affected country).

By Sam Mirando on 04/28/2009 8:37 am

e-mail alert

yeah, I think the youth and relative good health of those that dies in Mexico City caused a premature freak out on some peoples part…I just hope it stays on the mild side and does not mutate wherever it travels!

By C. Aune on 04/28/2009 9:45 am

e-mail alert

And, to see how the panic is being fuelled by the media, go to http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/28/snoutbreak-09-the-daily-s_n_192… , scroll down and watch the first video.

By Sam Mirando on 04/28/2009 10:41 am

e-mail alert

The daily show did a nice "wrap up" of the media circus last night…they aren’t happy if they aren’t scary us, LOL

By C. Aune on 04/28/2009 11:00 am

e-mail alert

From what I heard, many Mexicans were being turned away from their local hospitals and given no treatment, whereas those in the US were treated. It doesn’t sound as though Mexico has a good emrgency medical response system in place.

By Andrea Brandon on 04/28/2009 10:35 pm

e-mail alert

As long as everyone is doing what is needed of them, whether the public or private sector, then this pandemic should not be any worse than any of the previous. What is vital, however, is to raise the public’s level of awareness about the matter. I do want to take an example, when the first outbreak of bird flu broke out in 2002/2003, and while I was in Montreal, I remember some people beginning to behave negatively against the Chinese community, and actually began refraining from visiting China town for example, because of some data about the disease being brought into Canada through the Chinese community that travelled to and from China. That was a time when I found easily we as communities forget, at times, what being more sensitive towards others means. Everyone is in a pandemic together, and there was no intention by the Chinese to carry any disease let alone harm themselves.

By Wafaa El Jusmani on 04/27/2009 3:52 pm

e-mail alert

I am concerned b/c this flu is like the 1918 pandemic strain: more lethal forthose with the strongest immune systems (young adults); theinflammatory response is so strong, the lungs become damaged fromimmune-mediated pathology (cytokine storm). Apparently thedead Mexicans were predominantly 25-45 years of age. When a flu is lethal for people other than old/young immuno-compromised, that is where pandemics come from.

I want to thank all the CDC, NIH, and independent microbiologists and immunologists for all you are doing for us today and everyday.

By Ruth M on 04/27/2009 4:10 pm

e-mail alert

Remember that, in 1918, there were no respirators and no antiviral medications. Don’t fret until there is more evidence that we really need to worry. Remember, too, that the news media thrive on "NEWS!!!!!" and the scarier the better, as far as they are concerned.

By Sam Mirando on 04/27/2009 7:39 pm

e-mail alert

Sam, my comments are based on what I’ve learned from immunologists. Google cytokine storm this morning and you will find no commercial media on it, only the medical press. Asking the American healthcare system, with its primary physician shortage, to handle tens of thousands of cases of cytokine storm is far different from asking it to handle the annual flu, which is lethal for young and old but not generally for the healthiest. The flu we’re talking about today has been lethal for the healthiest. Should that spread to tens of thousands, I question the ability of our ailing healthcare infrastructure to handle it. That is why I am concerned.

By Ruth M on 04/28/2009 9:06 am

e-mail alert

I can’t and won’t stop you from worrying but, so far, as a biochemist with a doctorate, I am not concerned. Indeed, I am flying to Europe soon and hoping, only, for a few extra empty seats so that I can stretch my legs in Economy. I may have to change my tune but I’m not going off the deep end yet.

By Sam Mirando on 04/28/2009 9:21 am