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It’s a peculiar one. There are cases in the US, GB, Sweden, Spain, NZ, possible Italy and Ireland…but no other fatalities recorded only in Mexico. Scientists (that shower with the white coats) are perplexed as to why this is the case. Figures being quoted are that if this becomes the worst possible scenario 750,000 people could die in Britain. Sort of makes you wake up feeling all chesty.
Alan
irishwonkafan wrote:
Figures being quoted are that if this becomes the worst possible scenario 750,000 people could die in Britain.
Alan
Well that would be unemployment sorted
Am I the only one that thinks this is being blown out of all proportion and it is media scaremongering?
Jody wrote:
Am I the only one that thinks this is being blown out of all proportion and it is media scaremongering?
The same thing happened a few years ago with sars. Worldwide about 5 people died yet everbody was wearing these protection masks and they declared a pandenmic.
But i have to say a very good friend of my is in Mexico at the moment and I just like to see her coming back as quick as possible.
I’ve been torturing my darling beloved with predictions of a flu pandemic
for years and now that it seems to be happening she’s as fascinated as I’ve
always been. If mortality approached that in 1918 we could be looking at
30-60 million dead. That was exceptional, both in levels of infection and in
levels of mortality. The current virus appears to have the characteristics
of a pandemic virus because it has exploded out from its source so quickly,
but it doesn’t seem to be killing very many people. Also, summer in the Northern
hemisphere makes it less likely to run amok. If it mutates by Autumn it could
be a real danger.What I find so interesting is that we’re just sitting ducks, really. If it’s not this one,
it’ll be the next one, or the one after, or an antibiotic-resistant bacterium; at some
time soonish there’s going to be a “germ” that wipes out at least a few percent of
the human population. That’s going to cause a humungous shock in many ways
e.g. economic decline etc. etc.justaguy wrote:
Well that would be unemployment sorted
Not quite. He said Britain. There are at least 3m people in Britain of working age
who are “not economically active”.PeteTheBloke wrote:
What I find so interesting is that we’re just sitting ducks, really. If it’s not this one,
it’ll be the next one, or the one afterPete, this is absolutely certain. we just don’t know when ;)
it’s a natural law.
Some other examples? the Vesuvio, the volcano where Naples developed. everyone knows that it’s gonna explode sooner or later, with the nastiest consequences possible.
but does this stops people living nearby? nope
does this forces the state to build some sort of ‘shield’? nope.Look if it isnt a pandemic it could be a No 10 bus, whats the point
in worrying about it? As it says in the song “Dont worry – be happy”it’s already pandemic. but not that lethal. ;)
but I agree, we have to be happy. but if they start controlling people in Dublin airport, it will make my ‘being happy’ more easy.
justaguy wrote:
Jody wrote:
Am I the only one that thinks this is being blown out of all proportion and it is media scaremongering?
The same thing happened a few years ago with sars. Worldwide about 5 people died yet everbody was wearing these protection masks and they declared a pandenmic.
But i have to say a very good friend of my is in Mexico at the moment and I just like to see her coming back as quick as possible.
But the reason you want to see her back is because we’re being spoonfed fear by the media I’d imagine.
I read this morning that 20 people in the US were confirmed to have swine flu. 1 was hospitalised, but only briefly. That’s 20 people, out of 250,000,000. That’s .000008 of 1% of the population. I don’t consider that even news worthy.
Now I know 7 people have died in Mexico, but it still doesn’t warrant the global panic that’s happening at the moment.
We did see it with Sars, and we saw it with Bird Flu. Its the result of 24 hour media in the modern age trying to fill airspace.
I heard on the news this evening that the 4 suspect cases in the R.O.I were given the all clear
I think that the media blows all these things out of proportion and scares the s**t out of everyoneCathal
cathald wrote:
I heard on the news this evening that the 4 suspect cases in the R.O.I were given the all clear
I think that the media blows all these things out of proportion and scares the s**t out of everyoneCathal
Isn’t that what the media love doing, and what they’re best at? creating panic, after all, panic and bad news sell more papers and get news channels/programmes more viewers.
Jody wrote:
Am I the only one that thinks this is being blown out of all proportion and it is media scaremongering?
Most definitely. The economy stories are becoming tiresome at this stage as they have exhausted all avenues and people are switching off so this is the new topic but it needs to be elevated to sensational to make it newsworthy.
Having said that, the potential is worrying. Think about it, if you put 300+ people on a flight from Mexico for seven or eight hours, it’s like an incubation chamber with the same air being recirculated in a confined space at a controlled temperature. If just one of them has something, then most likely the other 299+ will get it too.
But don’t worry, they announced to day in the news that they are putting up posters in Dublin Airport so we’ll all be OK. I’ve still got my Iodine tablets so I’m full of confidence!thedarkroom wrote:
Jody wrote:
Am I the only one that thinks this is being blown out of all proportion and it is media scaremongering?
Most definitely. The economy stories are becoming tiresome at this stage as they have exhausted all avenues and people are switching off so this is the new topic but it needs to be elevated to sensational to make it newsworthy.
Having said that, the potential is worrying. Think about it, if you put 300+ people on a flight from Mexico for seven or eight hours, it’s like an incubation chamber with the same air being recirculated in a confined space at a controlled temperature. If just one of them has something, then most likely the other 299+ will get it too.
But don’t worry, they announced to day in the news that they are putting up posters in Dublin Airport so we’ll all be OK. I’ve still got my Iodine tablets so I’m full of confidence!I had this argument with my wife last night… What is the likelyhood of you being on a plane with someone who has it? All in all there are less than 2000 SUSPECTED cases out of 6 billion people on the planet. How many of those suspected cases are actually going to be this strand of Swine Flu. The news is frightening people by saying that the death toll has reached over 150 in Mexico… they then tell you that these are 150 SUSPECTED cases… only 7 are confirmed to have died from this new strain. As was said above, there were 4 suspected cases of the virus in ROI yesterday… all of them negative today. But I don’t hear anyone in the media saying “So the likelyhood is that only a small percentage of the 150+ cases in Mexico will be caused by this new strain of Swine Flu”
Something else occured to me this morning too. Would this actually even be in the news if was just a new strain of regular flu? If it didn’t have the tag “Swine Flu” attached to it, a name that will conjure a lot more fear in the minds of the public, no alone from the word itself, but also from the fact that it will play on past stories like Bird Flu and even Mad Cow Disease.
Jody wrote:
Would this actually even be in the news if was just a new strain of regular flu? If it didn’t have the tag “Swine Flu” attached to it, a name that will conjure a lot more fear in the minds of the public, no alone from the word itself, but also from the fact that it will play on past stories like Bird Flu and even Mad Cow Disease.
I think it would because, as I said earlier, they are looking for a new story now that the economic difficulties are no longer ‘new’ news. The media will make it in to a story because they need to sell papers and at the end of the day higher the circulation numbers and listener figures the better because it increases advertising revenue. Bottom line!
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