Obama Declares Swine Flu a National Emergency - Truckers' Trucking Forum

kickin chicken · **^ Top** #1 10.24.2009

Quote:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama declared the swine flu outbreak a national emergency, giving his health chief the power to let hospitals move emergency rooms offsite to speed treatment and protect noninfected patients.

The declaration, signed Friday night and announced Saturday, comes with the disease more prevalent than ever in the country and production delays undercutting the government's initial, optimistic estimates that as many as 120 million doses of the vaccine could be available by mid-October.

Health authorities say more than 1,000 people in the United States, including almost 100 children, have died from the flu, known as H1N1, and 46 states have widespread flu activity. So far only 11 million doses have gone out to health departments, doctor's offices and other providers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...10-24-14-01-56

GAPrincess · **^ Top** #2 10.25.2009

A State of Emergency?

I think this is overkill. More people die of the regular flu in this country every year, than have died of the Swine Flu. I think it is important to be vigilant about handwashing and things like that. I'm not gonna stop or vastly alter my life just because there is some freaky flu out there.

Due to a variety of ailments, which I have blogged about periodically, I have a reduced immune system. I did get a regular flu shot 2 weeks ago. However, I have no intention of getting the H1N1 vaccine.

I think between handwashing, Purell, and my fetish for using Clorox Clean-Up to wipe down everything, especially doorknobs and kitchen countertops, me and mine will be okay.

IROCUBabe · **^ Top** #3 10.25.2009

Its a policy thing, they needed to declare it to get funds moving for preventing spreading. It was done many times for other things as well.

Beechvtail · **^ Top** #4 10.25.2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by IROCUBabe

Its a policy thing, they needed to declare it to get funds moving for preventing spreading. It was done many times for other things as well.

So why is the "regular Flu" not included???

Mooney · **^ Top** #5 10.25.2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by IROCUBabe

Its a policy thing, they needed to declare it to get funds moving for preventing spreading. It was done many times for other things as well.

It's normally used for trade with other countries.

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kickin chicken · **^ Top** #6 10.25.2009

Quote:

WASHINGTON — The new H1N1 influenza virus bears a disturbing resemblance to the virus strain that caused the 1918 flu pandemic, with a greater ability to infect the lungs than common seasonal flu viruses, researchers reported on Monday.

Tests in several animals confirmed other studies that have shown the new swine flu strain can spread beyond the upper respiratory tract to go deep into the lungs — making it more likely to cause pneumonia, the international team said.

In addition, they found that people who survived the 1918 pandemic seem to have extra immune protection against the virus, again confirming the work of other researchers.

"When we conducted the experiments in ferrets and monkeys, the seasonal virus did not replicate in the lungs," said Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the University of Wisconsin, who led the study.

The H1N1 virus replicates significantly better in the lungs."

The new swine flu virus has caused the first pandemic of the 21st century, infecting more than a million people, according to estimates, and killing at least 500. The World Health Organization says it is causing mostly moderate disease but Kawaoka said that does not mean it is like seasonal flu.

"There is a misunderstanding about this virus," he said in a statement. "There is clear evidence the virus is different than seasonal influenza."

Writing in the journal Nature, Kawaoka and colleagues noted that the ability to infect the lungs is a characteristic of other pandemic viruses, especially the 1918 virus, which is estimated to have killed between 40 million and 100 million people.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,532020,00.html

GAPrincess · **^ Top** #7 10.27.2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beechvtail

So why is the "regular Flu" not included???

Apparently it's not as deadly. Also, there seems to be an adequate supply of the regular flu vaccine as well as the pneumonia vaccine.

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