Swine Flu is a virus that passes with apparent ease from human to human and is thought to spread mainly person-to-person through coughing or sneezing of infected people, thus the cause for alarm as it can be contracted so easily and casually.

In contrast, herpes is transmitted by direct contact with a lesion or the body fluid of an infected individual. AIDS is similarly transmitted through exchange of bodily fluids, such as those occurring during specific sexual acts. Neither herpes nor AIDS are spread casually, e.g., via sneezing or coughing, and, therefore, a "tracker" similar to this one for Swine Flu would be needless and ridiculous. (Well, not that a Swine Flu tracker is all that much more helpful.)

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Stop with the whole there is no vaccine... it aint Ebola or the bubonic plague. Flu vaccines CHANGE YEARLY!!!! Educate yourself instead of wallowing in your ignorance.

There is no vaccine or even treatment for the common cold... we are not masking up for that. Nor are we masking up for every other viral disease. ITS NOT FREAKING AIRBORNE PEOPLE. Its contact and droplet transmission NOT AIRBORNE!!!

URRGHHHHH!!!!!!

/2nd Rant

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i've honestly been too busy with work to follow along more than cursorily with this swine flu thing, so i don't know what our vaccine situation is. my guess, however, is that we don't have the optimum vaccine for it, since it's a strain that jumped species (pretty tough to prepare for, since it can happen out of nowhere). however, given the mortality rate here in the US, i'm not worrying myself overly. just head to the doctor when you start getting symptoms and chances are you'll be just fine.

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Exactly. So if we forecast wrong then there is no vaccine.. then we have to catch up. Strains change and mutate all the time. They jump species more than we actually know.

The difference here is that we have antivirals to combat this strain... which means the DNA Protien is something we've either A.) Seen Before or B.) Got extra lucky that is responded to our first line drugs. I will hedge my bets with A. And even with a vaccine you can still get the flu. We only vaccinate against Influenzas A&B... now we have a C (not literally) and its just taking a second to get a vaccine to qualm the masses. Its funny... we are ok if we think there is a cure... when in essence there is no cure for ANY type of flu, but because we THINK there is no way to combat it (which there is) we freak out.

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BTW these masks do nothing for prevention. The pores in surgical masks are far too large to prevent the transmission of viral particles from getting through. Like you said though, hand washing is the best prophylaxis for the flu

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The point of my post was awareness. The reason for what you call 'foolishness' is to make people aware that there is a new strain of H1N1 in the environment. If we all play dumb like you suggest and think of it as just another flu, then it will surely rise to pandemic levels. Lack of organization, response and education are the best ways to get a situation seemingly under control get out of control.

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Droplets are not airborne.. they are too heavy to travel through the air. The may be PROJECTED but they are transmitted by the air. How about you look that up or... better yet [tinyurl.com] Get back at me when you realize that droplet and airborne are 2 diffrent vehicles of transmission.

Tell me.. can you name all the different flu strains that come out every year... do we even report them.... NO. So why all the fuss over a strain THAT WE CAN TREAT. We know what it is.... how to attack it... so where is the "playing dumb". If anything we DONT LISTEN and spout and recylce stupidity such as:

"If we all play dumb like you suggest and think of it as just another flu, then it will surely rise to pandemic levels. Lack of organization, response and education are the best ways to get a situation seemingly under control get out of control."

We have been educating you but you refuse to listen.... you can't even tell the difference in transmission vehicles...how am I supposed to expect you to understand that this is not as bad as the media is painting it.

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NO ITS NOT

"Secondly, the disease is fatal across the board regardless of age or immune system status (as is the case with the 'regular' flu that tends to kill babies, elderly, and "

NO ITS NOT.... if you dont treat ANY fever or FLU for days you DIE.... check out the WHO website. People die of Influenza A & B all the time... and we have vaccines for it.... explain that away... Its just as fatal

"Flu strains DO change yearly, but they generally undergo GENETIC DRIFT, which is entirely different from GENETIC SHIFT. Look up the difference between the two before you start telling people that there is nothing to fear

How about you do the same.... and next time read the whole Wiki. This is a shift not a drift.... but a shift that we could recognize and can treat. I even said in my previous post... if we forcast wrong we still dont have a vaccine.. just a pretty report with a forecast.... try to look up the wikki for forcast

"For flu vaccines, they are made from 3 strains of the influenza virus, 1 strain that was most prevalent the year before, and then 2 most popular strains that had popped up towards the end of the prior season. This is how they 'forecast' the next season's flu strains. The swine flu is entirely different. It is a flu that has extremely large mutations allowing it to look nothing like previous strains that we have been exposed to."

Its only 2 strains.... get your facts straight 1st... A&B then they cover both... not the most popular..LOL We have seen swine flu before in the 60's.... Its a variant of Type A influenza.... thats why we have antivirals for it.. WOW... just priceless. Read up first.

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[www.mansfield.ohio-state.edu]

Droplet transmission

Achoo!:

Droplet transmission is a form of contact transmission.

Basically it is the consequence of being:

coughed on

sneezed on

spit on

Still moving:

Note that to be considered droplet transmission the mucous droplet must still be traveling with the velocity imparted on it upon leaving the mouth.

As a rule of thumb this is up to one meter post-mouth.

Any further and this is considered airborne transmission.

Given interaction within one meter of people it is certainly more difficult to avoid droplet transmission than it is to avoid either direct or indirect contact transmission.

Not surprisingly, it is especially respiratory diseases that are transmitted by droplets.

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Best way to avoid the flu though is hand washing.

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O

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I do get a bit of a soggy ass sitting in the marshes, trying to catch that crap from mosquitoes and ticks. Also, I eat as many raw pigeons and robins as I can. So there, take that N95 respirator!

And you are probably right, Final, these are different, but I just wanted to sound like a funny German.

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I'm just saying.

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