Does anyone know anyone that has this or has had it?
Just curious because I hear little bits on the news but that it's only been fatal in this country with those people who already had other health problems and the feeling I get is that healthy people shouldn't worry. I have not encountered a single person who had cold or flu like symptoms.
I had the flu 3 times in the last year and it was pretty major each time and I almost wonder if I had it then, I don't normally get the flu even.
I checked at the drugstore and Tamiflu costs about $70 for anyone who's interested.
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"Initial data put obese people on par with pregnant women, people living in remote northern communities, infants and people with pre-existing chronic conditions as groups particularly susceptible to the new strain of influenza."
[url]http://www.ottawacitizen.com/health/Obese+appear+greater+risk+H1N1/1855281/story.html[/url]
Strange how this virus is reacting with overweight people, that means most North Americans I would think!
My son and I are seeing a homeopathic doctor for an acute problem (probably parasites but possibly a virus) the western doctors don't seem to be able to deal with - despite doing a course of "poison" each.
The first thing the homeopath is dealing with is our livers. So, I did some research and it's very interesting. Of course I knew our livers were the filter of our digestive system - but I never really researched just how complex and important they are. If they are all gummed up with toxins they just don't work well any more - and they are really crucial for our immune system to work properly.
The "liver diet" is basically foods that aren't difficult for your liver to process, which gives it a rest, and a chance to heal, and a chance to "clean out" some of the crap that has collected. It means no booze, caffeine, sugar, white flour (whole grains are fine), red meat (chicken is ok but no eggs), bananas, raisins, grapes, apricots, peaches, and berries only twice a week in moderation.
If anyone is committed enough to go that far (it's not easy) let me know and I'll give you the rest.
We are also on a series of homeopathic remedies. It's only been a couple of weeks and already we are seeing a far greater improvement in our health than the allopathic doctors were able to achieve in 4 months.
I can tell you my thinking has really taken a swing on this type of thing just from getting more into my dog's health.
I've mentioned I started her on raw when I got her as a pup after reading all I had when my last dog died of Cushing's/cancer. What was apparent in the all the info is the healthier the diet, the better the nutrition, the more able the body is to fight what it needs to fight. That means it naturally can build immunity to many things without ever actually experiencing being very ill. It basically is an exposure to something and the body takes care of it. No vaccines required except for certain things.
The other half of that equation was stopping all boosters and vaccines other than the very first puppy shots. The theory is that the more vaccines an animal gets, the more the immune system has to work just to fight the stupid things in the vaccines (beyond the very disease being injected). There are a lot of studies out now trying to figure out why some dogs are suffering long term or terminal auto-immune deseases which seem related to vaccines/boosters and there are some startling links. So Eb gets no boosters and no more vaccines.
Result, she is 5 and has never had so much as an ear or eye infection (unlike her counterparts with similar ears and eyes who eat dog junk food). She has never had kennel cough or giardia or any other of the usuals my last dog had (who had all her shots and ate very high grade kibble). She is nothing but really strong and her titers show her immunity is intact. She does appear to have a thyroid problem that surfaced when she was 2 and low and behold, it is one of those conditions they are finding can be linked to shots (and she would be right on schedule for her thyroid to go wonky 2 years after those puppy shots since that is what they seem to be finding).
So, I don't see it as far fetched to think humans aren't much different. We take too many drugs, don't eat foods with enough nutrition, eat too many things nature never intended us to eat which gets are immune systems working against the food instead of where they should be (see my rants against grains...), and so we don't have the ability to simply and naturally build our immunity when things like this flu surface. If our bodies are working properly, they would be exposed and fight it off without us being sick at all and would naturally develop immunity.
Meanwhile I heard a term the other day I can't remember but it defined basically being prone to conditions from over cleaning, our bodies not getting proper exposure to germs as kids, and pretty much nails the fears we have of some things as being the very core issue to why we are more prone to some of these things. All we have to do is give ourselves a proper chance when we can I guess. I sure see it with my dog. All it takes is some very good food, rest, and avoiding the things that over tax our immune systems and our bodies can take care of an awful lot on their own.
that is very true and it's exactly the type of info the media should be relaying when they are reporting their stories of cases, vaccines, etc. I know we sure don't see that type of info on the news here.
I wonder though, at the same time, if we are going to run into the problem of not developing our immune systems enough. I know our pediatrician always said that exposure to germs is a good thing as it helps develop a healthy immune system.
Perhaps we need to be careful that we don't go too far in the other direction in our attempt to avoid sickness.
Just a thought.
I never put my purse on a floor just because of the yuck they can pick up. I also like the ones that have little feet on them just to keep the bottoms a bit cleaner.
It is nice to see some stores with wipes handy (I wish they would have them around the meat dept so you could do your hands after being there) and I keep hand wash in my purse and wipes in my car just to do the steering wheel and my hands every time I leave the dog park or a store or a banking machine or whatever. My mother the clean freak actually burned having clean hands into me and it does surprise me to see how often people just go along merrily and then wonder why they catch colds and such so often.
What strikes me as kind of strange when it comes to this new flu scare is all the emphasis on vaccine but rarely a mention of how to keep yourself healthy enough to get your own immunity to kick in if you do come across it. It's like there is no faith in people to understand about upping their resistance, just give them a vaccine which no one is even sure is safe for everyone or not yet.
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for having a safe vaccine for those who need it or are around those who need it, but just as a lot of people are able to avoid being sick with other flus every year by being resistant, so it probably goes with this one too (and besides we don't know there will be enough vaccine for everyone in the population and there are those who can't have it due to allergies or whatever). But they aren't giving any tips about how to do that, just on and on about vaccines. Given the suspicions about auto immune conditions which might be triggered by vaccinations, I think they should be putting some emphasis on giving your body the best chance.
A test was done on the bottom of women's purses. More fecal bacteria & such... found there than the bathrooms.
At least bathrooms get cleaned more frequently than purses.
Never place your purse down on a counter or table:eek:
There was a new grocery store just constructed in my area. I noticed they had a \wet ones' type of dispenser on the wall where all the wagons-carts are stored.
I immediately helped myself to a wet bacterial wipe and washed the hand bar and when I entered the store, I gave a big smile:) & a thumps up to the new manager who was nearby the entrance of his store.
:clapping:
Someone did a report a few years ago about how many germs are on surfaces we use everyday - public phones weren't really a huge surprise but grocery store carts made me gag. I'm really aware of that bar my hands are on now every time I go to shop.
I hate the custom of shaking a strangers hand, in fact the last time I just didn't bother and pretended like I didn't notice. Probably a bit rude of me but I felt better for it. Ever since getting the flu last winter 3 times I just don't want to touch anyones potentially germy hands although I know darn well I could have got the germs from a door handle or anything really.
& I would not be at all surprised if public handshaking will soon be discontinued.
A fist bump will become fashionable:cool:
Well, the regular flu vaccination only covers you for about 4 months, so there doesn't seem that much of a rush; anyway, I believe the peak season for flu around here is mid-December on . . . but this one may be different. Will call tomorrow
Yes you should check on that. This is probably a vaccination that you should get early so that you are not waiting for supplies to arrive in your area.
I will probably be in the first wave of people being vaccinated, as I have a mechanical heart valve. I get a pneumococcal vaccination, too, every so often, at least I did before I got the new valve job. I must check on that soon . . . .
I heard on the radio news that pregnant women and teenagers are the most vulnerable in Canada and should be vacinated first.
Sounds crazy I know but as somebody that has worked in the classroom for many years I can tell you, that may be the only way. Every year parents send sick children to school instead of keeping them home for a day or two while they get better. The number of sick students sitting in the classroom coughing and spreading germs on a regular basis is phenomenal.
I won't get started on head lice since that is a whole other dilemma that is hard to control in the classroom.
BTW, that podcast is not the clip that I heard. I am going to see if I can find it.
CBC Radio's Costas Halavrezos hosts Maritime Noon, a two-hour program devoted to ... outbreaks like H1N1 : so why are so many reluctant to get vaccinated ? ...
[url]www.cbc.ca/podcasting/includes/maritimenoon.xml[/url]
I tried to open that link but apparently I don't have podcasting software to do so!?
&
Some school boards are toying with the idea or getting prepped to temporarily close schools and go the route of home study.
:confused::cool:
Oh I see, spend some time at home alone or the parents will have to take time off work to stay home with them i guess? Great.
Given the fact, that many kids in summer camps have come down with outbreaks, there is some speculation and or anticipation that with the return to schools this fall that there might or could have a serious outbreak with kids that were not infected.
&
Some school boards are toying with the idea or getting prepped to temporarily close schools and go the route of home study.
:confused::cool:
(.
She did not know but her boss at work asked her to get it checked out just in case. It seems that he felt there was always a chance. She thought it was strange but she had just gotten back from California and decided to head on over to the emergency and have it checked out. Turns out, it was. She stayed home from work for about 7 days I believe....not sure. But in the end she really did not seem that sick to me, at least not really any different from the regular flu scenario. I was surprised to hear the diagnosis.
I was listening to a program on CBC radio the other morning and they said they were hoping to convince the more "susceptible" portion of the population to get vaccinated. The group they were referring to were healthy and fit and rarely got the regular flue vaccine since they did not see the need to do so. They interviewed a medical person who was going to be working on a campaign to convince this part of the population to get vaccinated. I wish I could find the podcast for that because it was quite interesting.
A while back there were reports on the news about people have Swine Flu parties. Basically finding someone who had it and then having a get together to expose a whole bunch of people with the hopes that you would get it and then get immunity to it for the future. Similar to people who get their kids to associate closely with someone with chicken pox, just to get it over with. Health authorities were strongly advising against this!
That's the problem with them making everyone so afraid of the H5N1 virus - it's going to cause a panic with everyone overloading doctors and hospital because they have a sniffle.
With most people it's very mild and doesn't need anything "extra". The concern is because no one is immune - so it's going to cause almost everyone to get sick which will mean a lot of lost work days, and the immune compromised, especially those with respiratory illnesses, because it is a respiratory virus, will potentially have problems with it.
The other issue, of course, is that it could "join up" with another flu, a more serious one, then it would be a combination flu that made people way sicker and no one would be able to avoid it - except maybe the people who already had H5N1. So getting it now would maybe be protection from getting a more serious form later - maybe!
How did they know it was swine flu though and not just another kind?
I heard that if you take Tamiflu you have to take it within 48 hours or it won't work and you need a prescription. When I had the flu I thought it would not get as bad as it did so just did the normal things you do for flu, I wouldn't dream of going to the doctor for the flu especially only after a day or so of feeling sick. I can just see doctors offices having lineups out the door if people get infected in the Fall and Winter :(.
A friend of mine was quarantined with this flu. She is a healthy individual in her 40's and said that it felt like any other flue did but she said that the reaction to her symptoms was quite quick on the part of the hospital staff. They had her removed from the waiting room, masked and diagnosed quickly and then she was quarantined, in her own home of course.
I really dislike the way they make such a big deal of it and make it so dramatic and then say "don't worry" without giving any of the information we really want to know. Like how sick? How long? How do you know if you need a hospital?
So, I finally did some research and found this:
[url]http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/alert-alerte/swine-porcine/guidance-orientation-amb-07-16-eng.php[/url]
The first half of the page is just how to control the spread for health care workers - common sense stuff - and how to decide if there's a need for control (i.e., asking if you have sudden onset cough and fever). If you scroll down to where it says
History
and read from there it gives you a lot of real information.
They should just tell the public this instead of keeping it sequestered in the health care professional section.
There was a large number of people in the UK reported last week who have contracted it.
Not hearing much about lately in Canada.