Capt Slog Posted July 6, 2009 Report Posted July 6, 2009 I work for Nationwide, and we get emails updating us on business procedure etc. Apaarantly about 50 Nationwide staff are off with swine flu already!! It's quite funny how many people think that they have "the flu" when all they are suffering from is a bit of a cold. I like this definition of the flu given to my mum by the doctor she used to work for..... There's a £20 note on the floor that someone has dropped, if you can't be bothered to pick it up, then you have flu. (and I just know some smart arse will say it depends how much money you have etc, so this assumes that you're on the minimum wage, ok?) Quote
SeaView Posted July 6, 2009 Report Posted July 6, 2009 There were reports that a number of people visiting Glasto last week were found to have either being carrying pig flu or contracted it while at the festival. Wonder how much effect bringing together anything up to 200,000 people from far flung locations around the UK every weekend over the next two months during the festival season? Add to this the fact that many of the visitors will be of Uni age, with diminished or weak immune systems after the stress of end of year exams. This in turn will be affected by the excessive consumption of alcohol and other forms of "experience enhancement" substances. Should be interesting. Quote
kiter_ryan Posted July 6, 2009 Report Posted July 6, 2009 1 lad in my school has got it, got it at Glasto! Got a letter about it today Quote
mikland Posted July 6, 2009 Report Posted July 6, 2009 Has anyone seen / read Stephen Kings "The Stand"? Scary! Quote
TheRealNeO Posted July 6, 2009 Report Posted July 6, 2009 Well i work for a government organisation and we have got auxiliary protocols kicking-in now not sure about when i go back to college if they will do the same thing. Quote
Atavar Posted July 6, 2009 Report Posted July 6, 2009 random bit of infomation... the common Flu is a MUCH bigger killer then pig flu Peace out Well when its as widespread as common flu then we'll have common flu and swine flu all killing. Then they'll both mutate and we'll have four strains of flu all killing people. . Fun times. Quote
crazyman Posted July 22, 2009 Report Posted July 22, 2009 ressurection i know but hey... thought this ought to be seen... http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/Sat/Topics/WizardStepOne.aspx?Host=Nhsd&SyndicationPartnerGuid=d19370ea-a100-407d-9695-b73407f701c7&TopicGuid=8c903315-a302-412a-bfae-9cb576d4b4cd if you say you are experiencing flu like symptons at the first question... no matter if you say no to the rest of the questions... you will always give you a box with a tick next to it saying 'swine flu' - its a bit deceptive cos no matter what; YOU HAVE SWINE FLU OMG! they really should check these things... unless im missing somthing. Quote
The Surgeon Posted July 22, 2009 Report Posted July 22, 2009 My mate rang the Swine Flu hotline.....but all he got was crackling..... Quote
Capt Slog Posted July 22, 2009 Report Posted July 22, 2009 ressurection i know but hey... thought this ought to be seen... http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/Sat/Topics/WizardStepOne.aspx?Host=Nhsd&SyndicationPartnerGuid=d19370ea-a100-407d-9695-b73407f701c7&TopicGuid=8c903315-a302-412a-bfae-9cb576d4b4cd if you say you are experiencing flu like symptons at the first question... no matter if you say no to the rest of the questions... you will always give you a box with a tick next to it saying 'swine flu' - its a bit deceptive cos no matter what; YOU HAVE SWINE FLU OMG! they really should check these things... unless im missing somthing. I think you're missing something. I 've just had a go at it and the rest of the "no" (or "none of the above" )answers are there to eliminate other conditions. The first is there to find out if you're having a heart attack or a stroke, the second is for meningitis. What did you want a Swine Flu questionaire to tell you? That your hall needs redecorating? Quote
crazyman Posted July 22, 2009 Report Posted July 22, 2009 no... my pioint it is that thr first lot yes i know are there for other illnesses... but then it says do you have 2 or more of the following?... if you select no it then leads you on to the lick box with swine flu next to it... which gives the impression that you have swin flu... and no i dont need it to tell me the hall needs redecorating... i already know that! Quote
Capt Slog Posted July 22, 2009 Report Posted July 22, 2009 Ah yes, so it does! My apologies. That is rather odd. Quote
crazyman Posted July 22, 2009 Report Posted July 22, 2009 OMG! you have swine flu!!!! SHOOT HIM! ... its a bit worrying... mabe i sghould go home for the good of the people around me... XD Quote
Tivn Posted July 22, 2009 Report Posted July 22, 2009 What happened to bird flu? exactly, yeh nice one, the media made such a fuss about bird flu, and it came to nothing, the same is gonna happen with Swine flu Swine flu is a mutation of bird flu and it will continue to mutate to different strains of the virus just as we will continue to work on medicines to combat the different strains as they appear. last i heard the government predict 85,000 deaths from the swine flu as opposed to the 60,000 people that die each year from the 'normal' flu virus. there are people most at risk from swine flu such as the elderly, pregnant women, babies and people with weak immune systems such as people on chemotherapy etc... (pretty much the same as normal flu). most people will just shrug it after a couple of days in bed (also just like the normal flu). newspaper hype sells papers after all and i just think its mostly scare tactics to sell papers. school holidays will also help slow the spread of this in my opinion. i personally am not too worried about it, we have the vaccines and medical knowledge (and the fact that it is hype'd up means is very unlikely just to be dismissed by a doctor). What does scare me though is MAN FLU!, still no vaccines available for that yet! Quote
The Geoff Posted July 22, 2009 Report Posted July 22, 2009 The big "panic" with swine flu, is that its a non-human virus that's passed over, "crossed the species barrier". Now this kind of thing isn't entirely uncommon: measles, HIV, filoviruses like Ebola and Marburg (monkeys in Outbreak with Dustin Hoffmann).....they're all viruses that might well have (or did) cross from animals to humans. And viruses are remarkably difficult to second-guess. You don't know what you're dealing with until you get a decent sample and do a few weeks of research with very clever men and some serious computers. In that time it can spread really quickly, and you still won't have an idea of how bad it is. HIV: Long incubation period (months/years), medium transmission rate (bodily fluid exchange), but high lethality. Ebola: Short incubation period (days), high transmission rate (coughs, sneezes), very, very high lethality. Which is more dangerous? Not that I'm saying this is going to be a new HIV or Ebola, quite the reverse. It seems to have a very low lethality, similar to your bog standard 'flu. It's about as infectious too, on the scale of things. Maybe a little bit more, but no big fuss where lives are concerned. People still are and will die, but in tiny numbers. The tactics of trying to delay a big outbreak until it's better understood are simply good, sensible measures. I think governments are actually listening to the boffins for once. But the fact remains, it could have been different. It could have been far deadlier and we'd all be in quite a bit more trouble, or it could have been so rare and pathetic it'd end up as some unrecognized bug in a small Mexican villiage that doesn't even get a proper name. That's the thing, it could have been either. Tracking how these things behave and practicing our responses is very important, because it always has happened and always will. It's called "Having a zombie plan" Quote
sukie Posted July 22, 2009 Report Posted July 22, 2009 not read ths thread, but, i had swine flu last week, went to hospital as coouldnt breath properly as have asthma. its like a normal flu but a tad more severe and sicky. very quick,lasts 4/5 days. its all a load of bollo ks. thousands of people die every year from flu. doctors etc pissed off with at really not that bad. does hurt though! Quote
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