oh, that's just the crux--sanitation is worlds better than it was in 1917... however, our ability to spread an infection over large areas of population is MUCH more dangerous than it was in 1917... in 1917, one could only get from europe to america via ship which took several weeks--in several HOURS now, a guy who's infected with virus A (fictional virus for this example), he could have flown from southeast asia, infected about ten people onboard, and infected 10% of the people he comes in contact with via sneezes/etc... by the time he's at his american destination (or in the hospital ER), he's already infected at LEAST a 20-30 people (conservative estimate)

and THOSE people infect another 20-30 people each

all of the sudden, even if THOSE people don't catch another airline or drive somewhere, you've got a MAJOR outbreak on your hands--even worse if it infects stew people (airline steward/esses--supposedly how HIV ran rampant in early 80's)

that's the whole issue with the next pandemic--history tells us that there's generally a major pandemic (be it flu or another virus/bacterium) every century or so--we're due, honestly... and the problem with our sanitation is that even if we have the BEST sanitation in the world, if you dump a few thousand corpses into the best hospital and overwhelm the doctors/nurses of the hospital, they won't be able to contain the infection via the safe 'barrior' methods of quarantine

so all of the sudden, you're going to hell in a handbasket whether it's flu or another virus/bacteria--I've talked with jimnasium about this before (he's the resident public health expert, I'm merely a student)--when it really comes down to it, there's absolutely NO defense against the 'perfect storm'--you do what you CAN do, protect the very young and very old

that's basically where 1917 differentiated from other flu strains--it didn't just run roughshod through the elderly and extremely young, it ran rampant in the 'young adult' and 'middle aged' people--which is what they're afraid Avian flu will do if/when it ever comes

jeesh--sorry for the encyclopedia, this is just a subject (public health) that I'm passionate about

and apparently big daddy doesn't understand it either--that post was TIC (tongue in cheek)--

you have to remember, I'm in college to go INTO the public health field (hopefully CDC one day)-- you can find examples of people who never get sick a day in their lives whether they have vaccines or not

and you can find examples of people who don't have the vaccines who are sick all of the time--

it's like anything else--you can use the statistics to prove whatever you want in the end

2001 stats?? get new info, dude

it's like AIDS

technically, AIDS doesn't kill you--it opens up your immune system so that other infections (called opportunistic infections) can kill you from something as simple as pneumonia

the upcoming (if/when it ever comes--though as I said before, we ARE due) flu pandemic is like a ticking time bomb--the most obvious flu strain to fear is called, aptly, H5N1--those influenza deaths are NOT deaths caused by H5N1--those are other substrains of the influenza virus

it's like saying 'the chiefs are gonna win the super bowl' and putting our hopes on it every year--we know (HOPE) that one day it'll happen, but if the easter bunny don't come, we're obviously out in the dark/dissapointed

mark my words--we're due for a major pandemic--are we ready to handle it? I don't know for certain--if things go our way, we might be able to keep it from being a 'global' killer like black death or the 1917 flu pandemic--

if it comes unexpectedly because we DIDN'T PREPARE because people like you and BD think it's reeruned to prepare, we're fucked

Wow dude......... [whistle].............out there...............

Some other thoughts on the flu:

http://journals.cambridge.org/action...ine&aid=469543

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medi...p?newsid=51913


I don't know for sure if it works for the flu, but I do know that since we started supplementing with Vitamin D, we just don't get sick. I have two kids in school (4th and 6th grade) and a wife that volunteers/works at the grade school, and we don't get the bugs that go around. My youngest has had two colds in the last year but they were just sniffles that lasted a couple of days - no fever or missed school. He also didn't get the cough afterwards like he always did before.

The sky is falling!!!!

NICE!!! How does it feel to have that shit running through your veins? :Lin:

I don't know about "flu paranoia", but there a lot of people talking about something called "Captain Trips". ;)

I usually get a flu shot, and can't remember the last time I caught it.

no it's not--however, if you choose NOT to prepare for something just because you think the big bad medical community is after you to poison you with mercury, (therefore NOT preparing), you're just plain assinine