The Swine Flu

[Tensuke]

The SIV virus is probably going to cause a pandemic in two months™ according to official statistics, and who knows what will happen then?

If it doesn't become a pandemic until two months™ from now, relax! We'll all be sipping Mojitos on a Caribbean beach playing on our Pandoras by then. Unless you're not a first batcher, in which case the minor bump H1N1 causes will be between batches anyway.

 

[dflemstr]

The SIV virus is probably going to cause a pandemic in two months™ according to official statistics, and who knows what will happen then?

If it doesn't become a pandemic until two months™ from now, relax! We'll all be sipping Mojitos on a Caribbean beach playing on our Pandoras by then. Unless you're not a first batcher, in which case the minor bump H1N1 causes will be between batches anyway.

I'm a first batcher, but won't be going to a Carribean beach any time soon so your depiction of the future is still false for me

 

[Kramy]

Yeah, I'm aware of the vaccine; it'll come to us in Sweden in October, I believe (our laboratories are being prepared for it + the state is giving away vaccinations for practically no cost at all;

O___O SOCIALIST!
naw, speaking from america's healthcare, there's not too much I can say....

I wouldn't take it even if it were offered to me totally free.

LOL, It's just flu, you feel crap for a few days and then it's gone. I can't say I'm worried in the slightest that swine flu will affect the production of the Pandora. Even the idea is a bit laughable, lol

True.

considering our luck, this is possible.

Also true.

@ the responses that have popped up meanwhile:
Yeah, it probably won't be an issue, but you still have to remember that this isn't an ordinary flu. People die (about 0.1% of those that get infected) and coutnries will issue quarantines if they can't afford vaccines whether we want to or not (Think about what happened in China when the SARS broke out) so I thinkt hat this WILL be come an issue, even if it's a rather small one.

I have a family member that has direct access to the swine flu statistics for Canada. While quite deadly in third and second world countries, it is apparently easier to fight off than regular colds, and anyone with a healthy body and functioning immune system should be fine. Right now the regular flu has about a 20-80x higher fatality rate in Canada. (not a big enough sample to get more specific, but so far the outlook is good)

This could change, but I doubt it. The whole thing is mostly just media hype to sell vaccines.

 

[Vorporeal]

It's probably less deadly, but I think it might be more infectious, leading to (eventually) a similar number of deaths (not as a percentage of infections, but as a total number). This could all be bullshit I've been led to believe by the media, but maybe not.

 

[trooper]

Lol`ed or off topic, Mmmmmmmmmm, What to do ?.

Trooper

 

[S-r-ex]

Seriously, the pig flu is more overhyped than the iPhone and Halo 3 together, it's just media that has turned it into this hysteria. And most likely, we'll get our Pandoras in time.

 

[kuru]

You seem to be serious about this^^
Well, the flu is a topic, but rather off Pandora I my eyes.

Seriously, the pig flu is more overhyped than the iPhone and Halo 3 together, it's just media that has turned it into this hysteria. And most likely, we'll get our Pandoras in time.

Hell yeah.

 

[zidane2009]

Yeah, I know what you're thinking: "That guy must be really paranoid to consider that possibility"

Well, you have the paranoia spot on.

Look at this way. 0.1% won't die. infact, its more along the lines of 0.002. You should spend your time worrying about the real flu. The only actual potential risk is if the disease mutates.
So.
Will the Pandora arrive before the influenza starts spreading across the whole world?
I can't answer that, since it simply does not comply.
By how much will the first (or, if the answer to the above question is "Yes", second) batch be delayed because of the flu?
I can't answer that, since it does not comply.
How can we/the OP team reduce the effects of the pandemic?
We can wear tinfoil hats and speak in imporul ipsum.

Incase you can't figure it out, I can't take you seriously.

 

[Mark1970]

The swine flu / or Mexican flu as it is dubbed here in the Netherlands turns out to be just as malign as the regular flu. When people get the regular flu they don't rush to the doctor to have it checked - they just stay home and try to get better. But with this Swine/Mexican flu craze people are rushing to the doctor's with just about any weird physical sensation they experience. Common colds are mistaken for swine-flu but the symptoms are very different.
With regular flu people at risk have a higher mortality rate just like with this Mexican/Swine Flu. These folk need to be vaccinated that is the consensus here in the Netherlands - this also happens for the regular flu by the way.

It is exaggerated by some professionals and it has turned into a media hype - at least that is what a lot of my fellow Dutch physicians agree on. Of course we'll vaccinate if people want it and as a doctor I may be needing to take the vaccine (the boss can require us to do so).

2 cents of a Dutch MD.

 

[Rockthesmurf]

Don't more people die from smoking every day than swine flu?

 

[Bosbeetle]

I just had it its a nasty flu but not more than that, 1 week and you'll be up and running again. All the precautions that are taken now by governments (I only know the dutch but it is probably true for most countries) are direct towards spreading the timecourse of the virus so not everybody will be sick at the same time. With this strategy I dont think there will be any trouble for the pandora.

 

[sold]

It's a conspiracy I tells ye! The vaccine which most people think is the solution to swine flu will actually cause it to mutate creating a global pandemic. The conspirators are sowing the seeds of mass hysteria through sensationalist news broadcast in order to create fear in the stupid, making them panic enough to have the vaccination at the first sign of a sniffle, leaving themselves open to the soon to be mutated virus which will kill them without mercy, thus simultaneously improving the U.S.A's literacy rates and average I.Q. level without spending any money on improving the public education system or carpet bombing Texas.

Or something like that

 

[Bosbeetle]

It's a conspiracy I tells ye! The vaccine which most people think is the solution to swine flu will actually cause it to mutate creating a global pandemic. The conspirators are sowing the seeds of mass hysteria through sensationalist news broadcast in order to create fear in the stupid, making them panic enough to have the vaccination at the first sign of a sniffle, leaving themselves open to the soon to be mutated virus which will kill them without mercy, thus simultaneously improving the U.S.A's literacy rates and average I.Q. level without spending any money on improving the public education system or carpet bombing Texas.

Or something like that

haha you call making a terribly sophisticated vaccine "without spending money"

 

[sold]

I never said the vaccine was cheap to develop. They're spending the money on a cure for stupid. Not their education system, which is the cause of stupid.

Any country that will allow creationism to be taught in schools is in need of a cure for stupid imho :lol:

 

[dsraa]

You gullible idiot. No offense. If you get the H1N1 virus in any country with a decent health system, you'll go to bed for a few weeks. The normal flu is just as deadly. The media is always looking for a new global disaster, a new way that humanity could be wiped off the face of the earth. It sell papers. This is TOTALLY over-hyped.

Ummm, weeks???? Who the hell gets sick for "weeks"??? Maybe if you had Mono, it would take weeks.....but not the damn seasonal flu.....

The only time I was sick for 'weeks' was when I actually had mono, and it affected my sleep. Once I was able to sleep, I was over it within 3-4 days.


DSR

 

[Monk]

The SIV virus is probably going to cause a pandemic in two months™ according to official statistics, and who knows what will happen then?

If it doesn't become a pandemic until two months™ from now, relax! We'll all be sipping Mojitos on a Caribbean beach playing on our Pandoras by then. Unless you're not a first batcher, in which case the minor bump H1N1 causes will be between batches anyway.

Wasn't Swine Flu declared a pandemic back in June?

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a global flu pandemic after holding an emergency meeting.
http://news.bbc.co.u...lth/8094655.stm

Over here the media have repeated over and over and over again that Swine Flu is no more dangerous than seasonal flu (especially when announcing the increased death toll). Most people that have died from it here have had underlying health issues.

e.g. http://news.bbc.co.u...lth/8021958.stm

The elderly, young, pregnant and those with various issues (e.g. diabetes) are most at risk. There have been over 60 deaths in the UK from people who have Swine Flu (note - this does not mean that Swine Flu did, or did not, kill them).

http://news.bbc.co.u...lth/8214919.stm

My young son was diagnosed with it and treated. He wasn't allowed back to junior school for a week, but on medication he was basically fine. I am in at least one "at risk" class - despite caring for him 24/7 while he was off sick, I didn't even catch it. Fairly basic hygeine probably helps to avoid it a great deal.

His diagnosis is uncertain IMHO, since by the time he was diagnosed doctors whouldn't even seen possible Swine Flu patients personally, just talk to them on the phone

The number of "current" Swine Flu infections has been dropping rapidly, although it is thought the second wave is likely to reach higher peaks.

 

[Monk]

This could change, but I doubt it. The whole thing is mostly just media hype to sell vaccines.

Or, more likely, more magazines. Or TV viewership figures.

It's probably less deadly, but I think it might be more infectious, leading to (eventually) a similar number of deaths (not as a percentage of infections, but as a total number). This could all be bullshit I've been led to believe by the media, but maybe not.

It might be more infections - but the vaccine is certainly harder to make. Since the yield seems to be half that of seasonal flu, it's taking about twice as long to make the same quantity of swine flu vaccine. Since the SF vaccine has to be given in 2 doses (about 3 weeks apart IIRC) I'm not sure but that suggests a full "course" of vaccine takes either 2 or 4 times as long to make

Seriously, the pig flu is more overhyped than the iPhone and Halo 3 together, it's just media that has turned it into this hysteria. And most likely, we'll get our Pandoras in time.

It was a slow news summer. Heck, swine Flu is more overhyped than the Pandora...

Don't more people die from smoking every day than swine flu?

Absolutely - but Swine Flu is less enjoyable

As to Swine Flu delaying Pandora... well, everything else has so I suppose it's not THAT uinreasonale to wonder if SF will... it does seem something of a paranoid stretch of credulity though

 

[Trip]

My brothers just getting over it, my mums just started with it and I've had the sh*ts for about a week.
If this is the worse that Swine Flu gets, I really don't think there is anything to worry about

 

[WizardStan]

Wasn't Swine Flu declared a pandemic back in June?

It was, and that's part of the problem. The average person thinks "pandemic" means deadly, or something like that.
A pandemic is a new disease that causes serious illness and transfers easily among large groups of humans. It doesn't say anything about how dangerous it is or anything like that, it's just a warning about a new, not totally benign virus that is spreading.
An epidemic is a more general term for the same thing. It doesn't have to be bad. You can have an epidemic of spontaneous healing, or something.

 

[Trip]

Swine Flu or not; I still have to go out shopping tomorrow as I'm running out of toilet paper