A bit worrying

[squarebear]

http://news.uk.msn.com/world/article.aspx?cp-d ocumentid=16362277

[sqad617]

What happened to bird flu?
After all the big scares a cuple of years ago over the H5N1 bird flu virus, what is the stuation with it now? The way I understood it, it was when, not if, we would have a major outbreak pandemic. I realise tha... [more]
Sammylad
21/04/09
20:27
8 answers (last answered: 22/04/09 10:26)

No surprise there then!!!

[Julnar]

It is very worrying because one day, one of these flu viruses is likely to take hold globally, similar to the Spanish flu epidemic immediately after the First World War. Apparently, that killed more people than the war itself and we are due for another worldwide pandemic.

[BilleeSugger]

Now seems to have been found in New Zealand , as Julnar says maybe this is the one that takes hold

[daffy654]

I will only start worrying about this if someone in my local area is confirmed to have it at any time,otherwise why worry too much about something that is on the other side of a large continent and ocean.

[Totterdown]

Perhaps "worry" is a bit to strong a word, but I am certainly "concerned" even if it is happening to people in another part of the world. What is different about us? How long before some anti government nutcase tries to pin this on our "incompetant" Gordon Brown.

[sqad617]

Totterdown....."the other part of the world" is only 8hrs flying time away.

[BilleeSugger]

Possible 2 cases somewhere in Scotland latest . Worried yet ?

[Totterdown]

sqad617, my point was not that this is happening "in another part of the world", but that wherever it is, it is a concern. I am not distancing myself from the problem just because it is not just round the corner from me. I was criticising daffy 654 for being a bit flippant about it just because it does not affect him/her (yet).

[birdie1971]

I think the best course of action is to do absolutely nothing. There are literally hundreds of stories every year that predict hundreds if not thousands of deaths due to some unknown/unstoppable disease, etc. I remember several years ago that there was a headline in most of the 'redtop' newspapers which said something to the effect of, �Deadly Flesh-Eating Bug Attacks Britain!�. This apocalyptic headline was accompanied by a skull-and-cross-bones emblazoned on the map of the British Isles. If I remember correctly, about four or five people were affected...

The fact is that scare stories sell newspapers and sell advertising space. It's in the news corporation's interest to tell everyone that they're in immediate danger. Governments also profit from using this tactic too � terrorism anyone?

I'm not saying that another Spanish flu outbreak will not happen again (it almost certainly will and because of the increased population density, it is likely to be even more devastating than the previous one), but what I am saying is that there's nothing you or I or anyone else can do about it so don't let a hypothetical situation freak you out.

[daffy654]

You can criticise my 'flippancy' all you like Totterdown.I refuse to be afraid of something I can do nothing about.
I have emphysema and asthma so am more at risk from any strain of flu than most people,but I will not change my habits because of this news of swine flu.

[Bbbananas]

Must admit, I'm pretty scared. For my kids mostly. Working where I do, I tend not to get panicky over virae etc, but an outbreak such as this, and the pandemic that is threatened / forecast, does scare the pants off me.

[Totterdown]

I, like everyone else on here, have my own opinion about this but unlike some people I will not ignore this news item just because "I personally cannot do anything about it" attitude. If an epidemic did come to this country I would be fighting to get in the queue for a jab as no doubt most of the sneerers would be.

[daffy654]

I am not ignoring the news item Totterdown,I am following the story and waiting for news of a confirmed pandemic before I worry about it.
I refuse to live my life in a perpetual state of panic because of every news report about contagious diseases/illnesses or contaminated food etc.