Some Notes on Swine Flu
There is little chance that the American experiment would have survived a serious outbreak of the bubonic plague. The Athenians fought a war while stricken with the plague. Granted, it didn’t go so well, but that’s not the point. But a couple of kids get a new strain of spring flu (which is at least as accurate of a name for it as “swine flu”) and people start losing it.
Of course, law students are nothing if not susceptible to mass hysteria. Take this message that students at Loyola - Los Angeles received:
Dear Students,Please be advised that students will be permitted to wear breathing masks during an examination. If a student chooses to do so, he/she will be permitted to bring and use the mask at his/her seat in the examination room. This policy will remain in effect through the end of the 2009 Spring examination period. Thank you.
Office of the Registrar Loyola Law School
On the one hand, are people really wasting precious exam cramming time worrying about swine flu? Really?
On the other hand, if you have swine flu, you’re really going to go take your finals? You’re not going to use that as a convenient excuse to stay home? Even St. John’s has at least figured that out. Here’s how St. John’s is dealing with the situation:
If you have symptoms of the flu, whether it is specified as Swine Flu (A/H1N1) or not, in accordance with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, we strongly urge you to comply with the following:1. The most important thing for you to do if you have a mild respiratory infection is to stay home.
2. If you develop a fever, sore throat or a cough, it is possible for you to spread the virus to those who have close contact with you.3. To help prevent transmission of influenza virus to your close contacts, the recommendation is to stay home for seven days after onset of symptoms, or until 24-48 hours after resolution of symptoms, whichever is longer.
4. To wash your hands frequently; cover your mouth with a tissue and not with your hands when you cough; and dispose of the tissue in the trash.
Stay home. Don’t be gross. See a doctor. If you are sick, have some Sprite and Campbell’s Soup. You’ll be fine.
(88) Comments
Comments
Posting....FROM THE FUTURE!!!
first
stj's only claim to fame ...swine flu
Excellent point. Time to stop (s)whining, people.
MysTTTal
I'm glad you took my suggestion and wrote on something news worthy. Too bad your analysis left much to be desired.
This must be why its ranking is so low.
after the swine flu apocalypse and the subsequent fall of most of modern technology, i will look back fondly on this post and remember the good ol days when swine flu was just a punchline to a bad, tasteless joke
first a gunman, then the swine. stj is awesome.
The Mexican Pig Flu will strike you all down. Then you will be sorry. We are approaching a pandemic people -- sure, it's fun to joke. But 150 dead in a month is no laughing matter.
Grab your mariachis and sombreros, girls, The Mexican Pig Flu is coming to town.
Conspiracy theorists have to wonder if the government knows more than it's letting on...this could be really bad.
"stay home?...yeah, okay...like i don't pay for my quality education. me and the swine are sitting for finals."
As a result of the increasing incidents of reported swine flu cases in New York City, I will not be able to attend the May 1 demonstration on 53rd and Third. I am grateful that I possess the means to procure a vaccine from my good friend, Donald Rumsfeld's pharmaceutical company. Nevertheless, I could not obtain the vaccine in time for innoculation by this Friday. I pray that you unemployable malcontents stay home lest you want to risk acquiring the swine influenza.
ELIE:
I just told my wife, an infectious disease physician, about this post. She disagrees with you.
She says that the spread of this virus is almost inevitable, and that we will likely see thousands of deaths in North America from it.
She also called your post "irresponsible," in that it makes implicitly urges people not to wear the masks.
Oh yeah, and "There is little chance that the American experiment would have survived a serious outbreak of the bubonic plague." The next two sentences makes no sense when read together with the first. And the premise is stupid. Why would the Athenians survive the plague, but not the Americans?
I think that you were drunk when you wrote this post.
THIS IS THE TRUTH ABOUT ATL, THAT THEY DON'T WANT YOU TO SEE (WATCH HOW QUICKLY THEY DELETE THIS):
DAVID LAT IS A FAGGOT MIDGET FLIP.
KASHMIR HILL IS A WORTHLESS CUNT WITH A FACE ONLY INTERNET LOSERS COULD LIKE.
ELIE MYSTAL IS A FAT NERDIGGER.
I REPEAT,
DAVID LAT IS A FAGGOT MIDGET FLIP.
KASHMIR HILL IS A WORTHLESS CUNT WITH A FACE ONLY INTERNET LOSERS COULD LIKE.
ELIE MYSTAL IS A FAT NERDIGGER.
(And yes I did get laid off/deferred or something like that. and now I'm doing this as I beg for work. Fuck you if you don't like it. I didn't like losing my job when I have $340k of debt. and I didn't say it was ATL's fault. and I am looking for work but it's a brutal market.)
Hey Partner Emeritus:
A pharmaceutical company is your good friend? Your bad grammar has just given your true identity away. PE = Elie.
I'm a 3L. I don't care if I have ebola, tuberculosis, smallpox and the plague all at once- I'm not deferring my exams till next semester.
If the CDC wants me to stay home, they can pay my summer living expenses, bar fees, and another semester of tuition.
Elie come on, I'm normally on your side but really?
-"spring flu" is as accurate as "swine flu" you claim? H1N1 is a combination of swine influenze, avian influenze, and human influence. What the hell are you talking about?
-You criticize law schools for being proactive and law students for being subject to mass hysteria. 1) law schools are only doing this to cover their ass and mitigate potential liability. Bear in mind, dozens of schools in the US are closed and every indication is that hundreds will have to follow course. 2) Fair enough, if a student wears a mask during the final then that is a little melodramatic. Strictly on the merits you win. But from a public policy stand point, do you really want to send the signal "wearing a mask=lame and overly hysterical."
-Subtlety is a useful tool. If government officials are mobilizing 1.5 billion dollars, tens of thousands of man hours, and issuing public statements, don't you think there's something to this swine flu thing? The government itself right now is saying to expect deaths in healthy 20-40 year olds. Ask any doctor who even remotely knows about infectious diseases and they'll tell you that it is likely there will be a pandemic, thousands will die, and there won't be enough medicine, breathing machines, and hospital beds for everyone.
-Closing thought: while 150 or so suspected fatalities no where near compares to the 400,000 average yearly worldwide flu deaths (approximately 36,000 US annual deaths) there are 2 points to be made. 1) Fatalities are in healthy 20-40 year olds. This demographic IS AMERICA. If these people start dying off it will have more impact than when elderly, already sick, people die. and 2) the strain is continuing to mutate and could become more virulent than it already is.
-In sum: Please stop putting out bad public policy posts that encourage a cavalier attitude to an imminent pandemic. While most of us on this board will be able to get medicine and hospital rooms since we have health insurance, money, and influence, the poor, minorities and those without health insurance are going to bear the brunt on this disease. Have some class please.
1992-1995 -- HUZZAH, THE USSR HAS COLLAPSED, IT'S THE END OF HISTORY!!!
...
1996ish -- MONICA LEWINSKY, MONICA LEWINSKY, MONICA LEWINSKY....
...
1998 -- LTCM COLLAPSED, THE WORLD ECONOMY IS ENDING!!!
...
1998-99 -- THE STOCK MARKET IS GREAT, THE STOCK MARKET WILL NEVER FAIL!!!
...
Every Few Months -- THERE IS A 0.00007% CHANCE AN ASTEROID WILL DESTROY LIFE ON EARTH WITHIN 400,000 YEARS!!!
1999 -- Y2K..., THE COMPUTERS WILL EAT US, WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!!!
...
Interlude At Some Point: NATALIE HOLLOWAY, NATALIE HOLLOWAY, NATALIE HOLLOWAY....
...
2001-2002 -- 9/11 MEANS BOMB EVERYONE, BOMB EVERYONE, AND DISSENT IS EVIL!!!
...
2004 -- BUSH BOMBED EVERYONE ALL BY HIMSELF, BUSH BOMBED EVERYONE; WE COULDN'T HAVE DISAGREED WITH HIM MORE; HOW AWFUL HE IS!!!
...
2005-2007 --THE STOCK MARKET IS GREAT, THE STOCK MARKET WILL NEVER FAIL!!! WHY AREN'T YOU BUYING A HOUSE YOU MORONS?!?!?
...
2008-2009 -- THE WORLD IS ENDING, SELL YOUR STOCKS, PUT MONEY IN MATTRESSES!!!
...
2009 -- SWINE FLU HAS KILLED 30 PEOPLE!!! THAT'S LIKE 1/1000TH OF WHAT THE YEARLY PANDEMIC KNOWN AS FLU SEASON KILLS!!! (RUNS AROUND LIKE SWINE WITH HEAD CUT OFF).
Sincerely,
24-Hour Cable News Media
(Will somebody PLEASE put these people out of their misery? And us out of ours?)
Jokes connecting/blaming Elie and/for swine flu commencing in 3...2...1...
If 14 actually does get deleted, as he/she wishes to be, then this post will look stupid, I grant you. But weird. I am not 14. But I am struck by the similarity of the structures of our posts. Thanks for stealing my ALL-CAPS thunder to be a stupid, douchy-Von Dousherson, 14!
18
14, I find your thoughts intriguing and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
Ummm guys, I know the mass media freaks out just to try to sell more copies / get more viewers, but the World Health Organization doesn't normally try to make people nervous or scared just for kicks...
I don't think you realize what is happening here.
i've still got a cough from my cold last week (sometimes a cold is just a cold, not the swine flu, even in new york... or thus is the theory i'm working under) and I'll be damned if i'd even consider missing my finals that start friday. I'll just sit there and eat ricolas the entire exam.
18 - once or twice a century there is a worldwide flu epidemic. What concerns epidemiologists about swine flu is that the people dying have been young, healthy individuals. This is of concern because normally the flu kills the elderly and the very young because they have weakened immune systems. Contrast that with the Spanish Flu, which killed somewhere between 50 - 100 million people worldwide from 1918-1920 or so. The Spanish Flu also killed mainly young, healthy people. The reason was that their immune systems are stronger and the Spanish Flu caused a cytokine storm—it caused an uncontrolled positive feedback loop in the immune system that resulted in the fatalities. People with stronger immune systems were more likely to die. The concern with swine flu is that it too has killed mostly young, healthy individuals. Thus, the fear is that it is also causing a cytokine storm. Also, it appears to be highly transmissible. This doesn't necessarily mean that a pandemic is inevitable, but it is starting to look extremely likely. Luckily, we are nearing the end of the flu season, so swine flu may disappear this summer. However, even if it does epidemiologists fear that a pandemic will still occur next flu season. Ask the WHO if they think the threat is overblown. They just raised their alert level to Phase 5. This has never been done before. Phase 6 means a pandemic is underway.
According to the WHO website:
“Phase 5 is characterized by human-to-human spread of the virus into at least two countries in one WHO region. While most countries will not be affected at this stage, the declaration of Phase 5 is a strong signal that a pandemic is imminent and that the time to finalize the organization, communication, and implementation of the planned mitigation measures is short.”
HAHA 14! I bet they didn't delete it just so you wouldn't get the satisfaction of being right! And for some one who's already as bitter as you, that must really grind your gears huh?
This is actually one of the worst posts I've seen on this blog. What Lat leaves town and the place goes to shit?
What's next for the class of 2009? Locusts?
Huh? Oh shit: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124052112850249691.html
I hate to stoop to this level and acknowledge this jerk, but I feel like someone should point out that Kashmir is fairly attractive.
hahaha 27
What's wrong with breathing masks? Our school's Chinese LLM students wear them all the time. Something about not catching the plague of the capitalist pig and a secret weapon from the homeland... or something like that.
-1L. (Love house, Love blackbird)
14 is a whiny bitch. Please moderate.
revised WALL OF SHAME
(Firms that are both V100 and AmLaw 100, but have yet to announce start dates)
------------------------
Arnold & Porter LLP
Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP
Covington & Burling LLP
Dickstein Shapiro LLP
Fish & Richardson P.C.
Howrey LLP
Kirkland & Ellis LLP
Reed Smith LLP
Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP
Williams & Connolly LLP
Good to have the KKK in the house. Welcome, 14!
All this concern over whether or not it is a "pandemic" is unmerited fearmongering. The flu strains that come around every winter are "pandemics"; all that that means is that it is very transmissible. This swine flu will indeed be a pandemic, and will hit level 6 by Friday, but that in and of itself is completely irrelevant.
The fact that it is a pandemic says nothing about the mortality rate, which is what I would be most concerned about. So far I haven't seen any non-Mexicans dying, and I won't get concerned if I don't see significant US deaths by Friday. We have no idea yet if this flu kills via a cytokine storm at the moment. If this is just a second flu season, I couldn't care less about it.
24 - your propaganda is disturbing. I await the unveiling of your true agenda.
Why would any law student at Loyola even bother with finals--none have even a remote shot at law firm employment in any way, shape or form.
24 - please see http://www.smh.com.au/world/only-7-swine-flu-deaths-not-152-says-who-20090429-aml1.html
After reading that, please smack yourself a couple times. The only cytokine storm you need to worry about is an over-application of Aldara.
36 - so they can put "Esq." on their Lexis business cards.
the swine were bound to rise against their human overlords. it was only a matter of time. oh how the tables have turned. let the human slaughter commence.
I hate to have to ask this question, but are Loyola and St. John's accredited by the American Bar Association?
40 - No. I don't believe so, but I would have to look into it to be sure.
To all who read 24's post, please note that the "cytokine storm" is and will remain a theory, since the pandemic took place a rather long time ago before cytokines were characterized or even known. It is known that certain microorganisms encode a so-called "super-antigen" that has the capacity to hyperactivate the immune system and cause elevated levels of certain cytokines (especially IL-2), however the Influenza virus has not been known to be one of these microorganisms.
As many posters before me have noted, every year there is an Influenza pandemic that kills thousands of people across the globe, however some sceptical posters have noted that the annual influenza epidemic mainly kills infants and the elderly (Benjamin Button must be scared shitless by now). Whereas this is generally true for Western Europe and North America, this is the case because the virus has been attenuated during its spread across the globe. In Southeast Asia, where the annual flu epidemics originate, the initial outbreak kills healthy individuals as well.
In conclusion, the only reason to be more worried about the "swine flu" as opposed to the annual flu is the fact that it originated in our back yard, and therefore will be more virulent than the common flu when we are being exposed to it.
Remember that 36,000 people in the United States die from influenza related illnesses each year. Even if "thousands" die of the H1N1 variant, that will barely be above statistical noise. That is meant somewhat to minimize the issue as the precautions that are recommended are precautions everyone should be taking ALL THE TIME! Wash your hands, cover your mouth when you cough, don't just throw those nasty snot bunnies on the ground - put them in the trash, wash your hands again. This is a simple sanitation issue. And stay home if you run a low grade fever (over 100 F). Simple stuff, really. Even if a "pandemic" occurs - then the recommendations are generally to isolate those who have the illness and treat them an their contacts. In the United States, most public health departments are pretty competent at doing this job.
Also, 17 - I haven't heard the WHO or CDC state that this version is mutating. That is wild speculation at this point in time. It seems to be related to the normal Influenza A (it is detected by a rapid Influenza A antigen test, that is the screening test). In the absence of some evidence it is mutating, such speculation is irresponsible.
Again, do what you should do all the time - wash your hands and don't be gross. That should do it for most people.
M, RN, soon to be JD
***REMEMBER THIS***
The swine flu will die out in the hot summer months.
In the fall, with cooler temperatures, it will come back, and it will come back hard.
You do not have to worry about this now. Next flu season, though, many, many people are going to die.
***REMEMBER THIS***
Swine Flu deaths to 190?
44 - What's your authority for that assumption?
40 & 41 - St. John's is ABSOLUTELY accredited by the American Bar Association - since 1937.
17 = 24 = idiot sticks
37 - that article also says there have been only 79 confirmed cases of the disease. The CDC says that 91 cases of the disease have been confirmed in the U.S. alone. However, it also appears that the strain responds well to Tamilfu, so that's good.
http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/
Elie will come out of this smelling like a rose. You are more likely to get hit by a car going to Duane Reade to fill your perscription for Tamiflu than you are to die of whatever thing the media trumps up next.
Oh my God, seriously? Above the Law is not supposed to be about stupid law school emails. I'm IN law school and I think this website sucks. It was great when it focused on prestigious law firms and the higher-ups in the legal community. Now it just appeals to the lowest common denominator. You really need to step it up! You suck at your job! I've never posted this type of remark before, but I have had it. Enough with the law school bullshit. People don't deserve to be on ATL until they have proven themselves in their career.
@45: tasteless yet hilarious. I love it.
47 - Way to bight on an joke. Idiot.
I suspect that if someone suffered on their exams due to the outbreak of this contagion, they would have some sort of tort claim against that Mexican boy who first contracted the disease. I don't know for sure but I think there is guidance in Section 90 of the Restatements. Does anyone have experience in bringing lawsuits against small Mexican children infected by US corporations acting recklessly with respect to porcine hyginene?
54- brilliant insight. Perhaps you can one day own all the assets of said infected child. I imagine you would use them well to make genuine tortillas and other things gringos might buy.
54: Here's your ticket to the village George Bush was raised in.
America would survive though some of its Momma's boys wouldn't. America is an idea, you see. Not a place. Not even a people.
America is the mightiest child of the Enlightenment. It's the distillation of mankind's hopes and dreams. Rage all you want against your own fears and impotence. Your narcissism will not avail you, though your nihilism will devour you.
It's past midnight, and I'm still at work with no signs of a break or any rest. Oh Biglaw, how I love thee...
if I die, then the my student loans discharge. Suck it, sallie mae!
SISSY ATL EDITOR REVEALS HIMSELF AS INTERNET TOUGH-GUY / MORON HYBRID, CALLS CAUSE OF WHO PANDEMIC LEVEL PHASE 5 "SPRING FLU," TELLS SICK TO HAVE SODA AND SOUP: "YOU'LL BE FINE."
1) This virus is weak. If it actually lived up to its name we would be seeing footage of Mexicans piling bodies on the sidewalks of Mexico City.
2) I welcome a killer flu. History shows that after a viral epidemic, the survivors do incredibly well in comparison to their predecessors. Simply put: Go Swine Flu / New York to 190!
PROMISSORY PIGSTOPPEL
37 - that story appears to be in conflict with pretty much every other news report out there. The health officials in Mexico are still saying that, while the WHO as of now has been able to confirm 7 deaths have been a result of swine flu, another 150 or so deaths are suspected of being a result of swine flu. Before linking to an Australian news story that quotes what one WHO official said in a radio interview, I'd suggest you read what a few other sources are saying, including the Mexico health officials themselves. If the WHO had come out and stated that it believed the death toll was going to remain at 7 and that the number of deaths suspected to have been caused form swine flu was greatly exaggerated, don't you think that news sources in this continent would have picked up on the story? In particular, in Mexico, where government health officials are still stating that, while 7 deaths have been confirmed, over 150 deaths are suspected to be a result of swine flu? Moron.
63 - thanks for providing links to "pretty much every other news report out there"
Here's a link for you: http://www.who.int/csr/don/2009_04_29/en/index.html
Oh no - 26 confirmed cases in Mexico with 7 deaths!! Oh, but there are surely hundreds of undiagnosed cases out there, you whine. Fine, that brings the mortality rate of this flu to fractions of a percent. Oh, but there are surely also hundreds of unreported deaths from the flu out there. Ok, let's talk in a few days when the world governments have uncovered where all the corpses flu-ridden corpses hid for the past week. Moron.
26- This site is shit when Lat is here. Its just gay-er
63, 64, settle down now. The truth is probably in between your two positions. This is a great article on kill rates:
http://www.slate.com/id/2217019/
24. I bet you own radiation tablets, and that you have considered buying a spot in a bomb shelter..., and that you watch a LOT of cable news. Wanna know what? I think the WHO's arbitrary pandemic "rating" system smacks a lot of the Bush Administration's utterly moronic terrorist threat level colors, and it's extremely recent. (OH MY GOD, WE'RE AT ORANGE! ORANGE I TELL YOU!!!)
A level 6 pandemic, by the WHO's definition, is when there is, what, human-to-human transmission in multiple, distinct geographic areas? Are you f***ing kidding me? A level 6 pandemic risk level should be defined as when when bodies are already rotting in the streets because the rest of us are too busy hiding to clean them up and bury them!!! What would the WHO call THAT? Their moronic "pandemic ratings" and their whole paradigm demean the concept of a REAL pandemic..., and are designed for replay on cable news networks. They are crying wolf, and the media is bleating wolf, and it will make it worse when the real thing strikes, because then people like you will ignore it, having embarrassed yourselves this time.
...
Meanwhile, drug-resistant TB continues its irresistable, incredibly deadly, and media-ignored spread, antibiotics continue to be abused, including by pig and cow farmers, educated morons continue to refuse to vaccinate their children with the MMR vaccine, thousands upon thousands die of malaria, and the Pope largely gets a pass for telling Africans that condoms contribute to AIDS, and gets to go around hugging the few hundred Italians most affected by an earthquake (chiao!).
And by the way, in 1918, the US suffered an approximately 3% death rate from Spanish flu, and that was with vastly poorer sanitation, vastly less technology, and no anti-viral drugs. That is not to say it wasn't bad. And it was vastly worse in other countries. But calm the F down.
Eight-effing-teen, baby.
OH MY GOD. There has been a swine flu death in the USA.... Let's report on that for the next 24 hours until someone else dies. Meanwhile, over the past decade, something like over 100 people in the USA have died EVERY DAY in car accidents. (Ignore, ignore, ignore, no ratings, no ratings.)
18, 67
TURN OFF THE CABLE NEWS!!!
64 - reading comprehension. 26 confirmed cases and 7 confirmed deaths in Mexico. Meanwhile, the Mexican government suspects over 2,500 cases and over 150 deaths. Is it any surprise that we have been quicker to confirm cases of swine flu in the United States? Do you really believe that there are almost four times as many people with swine flu in the U.S. as in Mexico, where it originated and where the U.S. cases are traced from? Reread post 63 two, three, four times. However many times it takes you to comprehend it. Health officials in Mexico are saying that 7 deaths have been confirmed and over 150 deaths are suspected. Your post does nothing to refute what basically all media outlets are reporting - WHO confirmed 7 deaths in Mexico and Mexican health officials suspect somewhere around 150 deaths that have occurred are a result of swine flu. The people for the most part were young, healthy individuals and died of swine-flu-like symptoms. English. Do you speak it?
Also, just crunch the numbers. If your numbers accurately reflected the number of people in Mexico with swine flu and the number of deaths that have occurred from swine flu in Mexico, that would mean 7 out of the 26 people with swine flu died in Mexico. 27%. Obviously there are unconfirmed cases out there and 27% of the people with the virus aren’t dying. If the health officials estimates are correct, that would mean around 150 out of around 2500 people infected with swine flu died. Around 6%. The virus appears to respond well to existing flu drugs and death rates have dropped significantly in Mexico since treatment with flu drugs began earlier this week, so we probably wouldn’t see anywhere near that percentage of people die. Still, it seems like it is a particularly deadly strain of the flu and is obviously causing public health officials great concern. I’m not saying it is the end of the world, but it is a cause for concern.
I have one final at school. It is a classroom with only nine students. Highly unlikely that any of us will be close enough to another to infect.
I have a take-home final. No danger there.
I have two papers. No danger there.
Although my nurse friend did acquire about 100 masks for me to protect against potential infection.
Maybe this flu scare is what is needed to finally get me to stop biting my nails (I'm afraid of putting anything that didn't just get washed with soap or boiled/cooked near my mouth, nose, or eyes.
And on top of that, I'M STILL A NO-JOB 3L!
17 here.
-Both public health organizations (trying to spread 'concern' but not panic) and infectious disease experts hate you. You all are (likely) talking out of your ass, with your normal reactionary 'calm the f-down' schtick that is based on no medical background.
-43, I did not engage in "wild speculation" about the virus' possibility to mutate. It has ALREADY mutated by combining the genetic material of 3 strains, and the CDC acting director said the virus is currently mutating. The central question is will any of these mutations have a negative consequence. A virus (hell, any cell) mutates millions of times. Most are innocuous and cause NO CHANGE. But a single mutation can cause this to become highly virulent.
-I based my comment on information obtained from my uncle, who I talked with on Monday, and he's an infectious disease specialist. No offense to registered nurses, but I'll put my money on a doctor over a nurse any day when it comes to information re: a virus. Who can take a pulse faster or do CPR better? Probably a nurse. But you should be mindful of your place in the grand scheme of things. Paralegals shouldn't counsel a company on whether to bet the company, that's the job of partners for a reason.
-Besides, I don't think I'm being alarmist or wildly speculative. I'm mainly pissed that Elie is sending a bad message from a public policy standpoint. I already admitted wearing a mask in the US is currently melodramatic. My larger point was, and remains, that this is serious according to the doctor I talked to (my uncle) and all doctors I've heard of TV . Literally Mexico City is closed down, you don't f-ing close a city of 20 million people down to be "overly cautious." That is costing them a ton of money. It's the same reason we didn't and continue to not close the borders, we don't want to lose money and hurt government relations, even though it would curb the spread of the virus.
-And to those who compare number of deaths and death rates from swine flu to normal flu, traffic fatalities, heart disease, etc. Fair enough. You're right, the numbers are shocking and NOBODY reports on it to the level they need to. But guess what. EVERYONE already knows to 1) cut down on fatty foods, 2) exercise, 3) don't smoke, 4) wear a seat belt, 5) don't speed, 6) don't drive in icy weather unless it's an emergency. IF people choose not to follow those life saving (statistically speaking) instructions, then they run the risk of being hurt or dying. Here, we're not seeing a normal seasonal flu. It's killing healthy 20-40 year olds. Let's get the information out there and allow people, as in the case of backing off McDonald's and buckling up, to make informed decisions about their lives. To hear you tell it since heart disease is the number 1 killer in the world we should focus ALL of our resources into curing it. The world doesn't work like that,because of diminished returns in research and various other economic, moral, and political reasons, we as a society have chosen to focus on a multitude of issues. While death rate is relevant, it is not controlling. If it were, the UN would be spending a hell of a lot more money on malaria nets than it does on HIV antivirals.
-17
"Some 2,500 Mexicans have been sickened since the swine flu outbreak began last week in the town of La Gloria, 110 miles east of Mexico City. Mexico has reported just 99 confirmed cases of swine flu to the W.H.O., along with eight deaths, although as many as 168 people are suspected to have died from the disease there."
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/01/health/01flu.html?hp
Anyone notice that Notre Dame already had a confirmed case of swine flu this week? (not the law school, but the undergrads, though the law school is in the middle of the undergrad campus)
What is the proper definition of a 'colossal douchebag "?
It's just the flu. Each year, around 35,000 people die in the US from the flu, so what's the big deal with the so-called swine flu. Don't lick strangers, don't blow snot on those sitting beside you, take a bath at least once a week, and don't ride the subway without a gas mask.
Worst post ever. American Experiment? Bubonic plague? WTF.
And a single Tamiflu pill knocks this thing on its ass. The U.S. already has stockpiles of millions of doses of Tamiflu, ready to go. Why? Because several years ago the Bush Administration spent billions of dollars on it. You're welcome. Of course, the media will inevitably start giving Obama tongue baths over his "preparedness" and "coolness under fire," despite the fact that Bush saved our sorry asses yet again. Better still, back when the funding was first requested, liberals freaked out because Donald Rumseld coincidentally owned some stock in the maker of Tamiflu. "OMG! It's all a huge conspiracy to line the pockets of Republicans by making worthless medicine! I R a college grad-u-at!" Morons. Given the choice back in the day, Obama probably would have diverted the funding to making sure illegal aliens soaking up taxpayer funded healthcare in our nation's emergency rooms all got 18 karat gold bedpans. He truly is America's greatest hero.
And while we're talking medicine, it also bears mentioning that Bush is conservatively estimated to have saved over 2 million lives in Africa through his AIDS prevention and treatment programs. 2 million Africans are alive today because of Bush. But Republicans are all hateful racists, don't you forget it.
[Takes a puff]
Cue the next ATL "U.S. News" thread in 3 hours... 2 hours ....
Cue the ""TTTemple" and "RuTTTgers" comments in 3 hours... 2 hours ....
Oh, and I guess that clever guy Frederick B. Limerick will start writing his limericks about "There once was a TTT named SeTTTon Hall, etc." in 3 hours... 2 hours ....
I love readin that limerick guy's work when I'm high at about 4:20 man...
Maybe I'll be commenter number 420 in that thread when it comes today... maybe number 420 at 4:20 pm! ... Dare I dream...
-MIKEY PHELPS
REMAIN CALM!!!!!
ALL IS WELL!!!!!!!!!
18=post of the year!
What I find funny is that the swine flu will likely kill less people tthis year han about 500 other diseases I could name, including the regular flu.
Remember all the insanity about SARS and avian flu? Do you think those disappeared? Of course not, there's still reported cases. But people quit panicking about it.
This post is funny in the sense that all of the lawyers/law students who were in their previous life science majors of some kind salivated when getting to the comments section. "Cytokine" and "viral strands." Give me a break. I am going to go take my last law school final tonight (Med Mal) and hopefully give a hot med student my viral strain and increase her Cytokines. (Side note: medical school has three times the hot girls that law school does. Last time I went out with forty or so med students, three of them were TENS, and I don't mean law school tens, but actual TENS.) I am also going to wake up my roommate who has degrees in both Chemistry and Biology (and needs a job!) and ask him what the F is a Cytokine.
-Lotsolove (spreading the Cytokine)
IT's the MEXICAN FLU!
That's what the World Health Org says.
MEXICAN FLU! MEXICAN FLU!
Please use accurate terminology. Thx.
End of days.
Two words: life insurance.
If you're going down by the swine, at least leave the family some loot.
Better question for Loyola is not why are law students worrying about swine flu instead of cramming for exams but rather why is the policy permitting breathing masks only temporary? It begs the question, when it ends are breathing masks banned? Why in the world would a law school ban breathing masks...I mean, who cares if someone wants to look like a paranoid fool?
80 FTW
80 FTW
7, 13, 17, 24, 44, 49, 63, 69, 72-
APOLOGIZE FOR BEING WRONG AND USE THIS AS A LESSON
87 Exactly. Where are all the panicked lemmings now? Let me see.... I suppose I'll have to turn on cable news on Monday to see what those channels are obsessing over on that day, and then I can assume you'll all be freaked the shit out about that. And you people are lawyers, who are, on average, smarter than average. You know what scares the shit out me? How stupid the vast, vast majority of people are.
18.