Newsbot Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 The number of confirmed cases of swine flu on the Isle of Man rises to 11, health officials say. Source : http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/...man/8159452.stm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluemonday Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 IIRC the Times published recently the figures the UK were working on for a full blown sneezy. 30% population infection and mortality of 0.35% ( ish ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hermes Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 So this is like a normal Influenza A outbreak, then? Strikes me as a bit odd that such a big deal is being made of this without any real scientific justification being published.... I suspect somebody in the WHO pressed the panic button without proper proof of need and they now feel obliged to follow through and create doubts to cover their inevitable climbdown... Now the world's governments feel obliged to spend billions on drugs and vaccines, they would be narked if someone in the WHO fessed up to making a very big booboo. The media are being fed stories of deaths which they treat as scandalous and a source of worry, but these deaths have been happening every year with the flu, to young and old. I think you will find that - once you get round the mindless panic and selective reporting and arrive at the facts, you will find that the vast majority of deaths were from Pneumococcal pneumonia etc complicating flu, albeit H1N1, not from the virus itself. This is normal for flu outbreaks, but nobody has made a fuss before because it is just a normal part of life's perils that we should not be concerned about more than in previous years! What the hell is going on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slim Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 So this is like a normal Influenza A outbreak, then? Not really, you don't get 'normal' seasonal outbreaks in the summer, and it doesn't tend to infect teenagers and young adults like this strain seems to. Strikes me as a bit odd that such a big deal is being made of this without any real scientific justification being published.... There's no shortage of scientific justification, predictions and models. There is a shortage of cast iron statistics on what's actually out there, particularly as cases are no longer being confirmed. What strikes me as a bit odd that health professionals don't appear to be able to win. They ignore something like this, which is by it's very nature hard to predict, and a devastating outbreak happens, they'll be criticized for having sat back and done nothing. They issue fairly sound advice, which is practice good hygiene, prepare for lots of sick employees, place orders for large volumes of anti virals and vaccines and attempt to protect those who are most at risk, and they're accused of scaremongering. I suspect somebody in the WHO pressed the panic button without proper proof of need and they now feel obliged to follow through and create doubts to cover their inevitable climbdown... Now the world's governments feel obliged to spend billions on drugs and vaccines, they would be narked if someone in the WHO fessed up to making a very big booboo. I suspect some people will remain cynical until there's piles of bodies being burned in town centers. The media are being fed stories of deaths which they treat as scandalous and a source of worry, but these deaths have been happening every year with the flu, to young and old. I think you will find that - once you get round the mindless panic and selective reporting and arrive at the facts, you will find that the vast majority of deaths were from Pneumococcal pneumonia etc complicating flu, albeit H1N1, not from the virus itself. This is normal for flu outbreaks, but nobody has made a fuss before because it is just a normal part of life's perils that we should not be concerned about more than in previous years! What the hell is going on? No, there's very few to virtually no deaths in the summer to flu. This is a strain of flu that's fortunately not particularly nasty, but nobody has resistance to. Just the projected numbers make this an issue based on the existing rate of spread. You might not be in a position to worry, you're probably strong and healthy, you're not pregnant, you've not undergone cancer treatment that has destroyed your immune system. I've seen very little scare press, just cynical people making it out to be that way. Hopefully it won't be serious, hopefully lots of people will not die, hopefully a vaccine will arrive soon help to protect those most at risk. Hopefully the press campaign by the worlds health organisations will raise hygiene awareness and slow the spread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
La_Dolce_Vita Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 I don't mean in respect of discussion on here, as it is all good and interesting. But Christ am I sick of hearing about swine flu in the papers, on the telly, at work, etc. Doing my head in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scarbunny Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 It is creating 1600-2000 jobs in the height of the recession though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
La_Dolce_Vita Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 It is creating 1600-2000 jobs in the height of the recession though. Is it? It was only on Northwest News yesterday that they were doing one of those awful 'viewer feedback' moments, and the woman was asking "What do you think about the swine flu outbreak?" and "How have you been affected by Swine Flu, has someone you know had the flu...?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slim Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 It is creating 1600-2000 jobs in the height of the recession though. How do you figure that? I'd have thought exactly the opposite with lower productivity and people going out and travelling less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slinkydevil Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 It is creating 1600-2000 jobs in the height of the recession though. How do you figure that? I'd have thought exactly the opposite with lower productivity and people going out and travelling less. Agree, there's also a potential risk to small companies (like the one I work for) to go under. 15 of us crammed into one room, so if one of us gets it and potentially spreads it to the rest we would have a hard time running our business. It's hard enough in the current financial situation without a large loss of the workforce. We have been going over our disaster recovery systems again recently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scarbunny Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 It is creating 1600-2000 jobs in the height of the recession though. How do you figure that? I'd have thought exactly the opposite with lower productivity and people going out and travelling less. Because they are setting up the "swine flu hotline" that will be staffed by 1600 people to start with and be 2000 by December. 1600 new jobs, not saying that they will be employing any one new as it may be staffed by cutting back general NHS direct personnel and having them deal solely with Swine Flu, but in the end the gov can still come out of it claiming they have created 1600 jobs at this time of economic turmoil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slinkydevil Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 What government? I though we were talking about the Isle of Man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slim Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 Because they are setting up the "swine flu hotline" that will be staffed by 1600 people to start with and be 2000 by December. 1600 new jobs, not saying that they will be employing any one new as it may be staffed by cutting back general NHS direct personnel and having them deal solely with Swine Flu, but in the end the gov can still come out of it claiming they have created 1600 jobs at this time of economic turmoil. I don't see the government claiming anything of the sort, in fact they're most likely not new jobs. You seem to like making things up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scarbunny Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 Because they are setting up the "swine flu hotline" that will be staffed by 1600 people to start with and be 2000 by December. 1600 new jobs, not saying that they will be employing any one new as it may be staffed by cutting back general NHS direct personnel and having them deal solely with Swine Flu, but in the end the gov can still come out of it claiming they have created 1600 jobs at this time of economic turmoil. I don't see the government claiming anything of the sort, in fact they're most likely not new jobs. You seem to like making things up. If you read carefully my post you will see that I made the point that these "new jobs" may not be filled by the un-employed, or at least that was how I intened it to be read. However when it comes to election time they can still claim this to be creating 1600 "new jobs" its all about the spin. They are already spinning it as the news last night were reporting this as 1600 new jobs. Which they are they just wont be staffed by the unemployed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slim Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 They are already spinning it as the news last night were reporting this as 1600 new jobs. Which they are they just wont be staffed by the unemployed. I don't see any spin. What would you rather, that the UK Government didn't respond to the demand? They're already being slammed for not having this line set up sooner. The nature of your posting seems to be from a tabloid mentality, slag off no matter what anyone does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scarbunny Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 They are already spinning it as the news last night were reporting this as 1600 new jobs. Which they are they just wont be staffed by the unemployed. I don't see any spin. What would you rather, that the UK Government didn't respond to the demand? They're already being slammed for not having this line set up sooner. The nature of your posting seems to be from a tabloid mentality, slag off no matter what anyone does. My initial post was in jest, trying to see the plus side of the impending doom. I'm sorry that you missed that, although it would seem that you have some of that "tabloid mentality" you accuse me of having. I think the hotline is a good thing, it will stop the masses panicking about the impending doom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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