Poll: Swine Flu: It's such a boar.

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Well, I guess it had to happen sooner of later. I've developed swine flu, and I have to say that I'm on the 2nd day of infection and it's more of a nuisance than anything else. It does get me five free days off work, but as you can guess: it hit me just at the start of my three days off. Typical.

The thing is though, while Swine Flu can be a killer, real flu has always been a killer; and having had both, Swine flu is boring. There's no real umph to it. It's just mild fever, dizziness and lack of energy. I can get that after playing Team Fortress 2 for a bit.

We've been told that H1N1 is already a pandemic, but I can't see it myself. Of the people I know (a good 100 or so), I'm the first one to get it. But is this due to the Government's action or was H1N1 just a kid's disease that they did a Madagascar [http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll100/CaptainFailcon/SHUTDOWNEVERYTHING.jpg] on?

 

[Vuljatar]

It's a pointless panic. If they hadn't started their bullshit fearmongering, people wouldn't have even noticed the different variety of flu.

I had it for a week... it was pretty nasty, but no worse than the flu I've had before. A lot of cups of water and cloves of garlic later, I'm good as new. Swine flu = regular flu, the differences don't make any difference.

 

[Seras54]

I got nailed with it, it sucked for a week, now I'm fine

 

[AkJay]

Glad to see someone working at the Escapist is a /b/tard, haha, but on topic, i'de say the government over-reacted to the whole "Swine Flu" thing.

 

[Kilaknux]

Excellent topic title, although I groaned pretty loudly.

 

[L4hlborg]

I'm actually sick at the moment. Not swine flu, just some stomach shit. Actually, I'd rather have swine flu, because the feeling of almost vomitting all the time is really fucking annoying.

 

[cartzo]

swine flue was and never will be a pandemic, the death toll may be in the hundreds region, but given the same amount of time normal flu has killed more than twice the H1M1 strain has.

 

[PaulaG]

The real flu kills far move people in a given year than Swine flu has so far. And there have been far worse "epidemics" in history as well (circa WWI for a start).

I work in a pharmacy, and the number of people who have called asking for masks is ridiculous. I was actually praised the other day by an old lady because I "sneezed correctly", as in, into my arm instead of my hands. Well, I work with your medication, lady, so I'd better not be sneezing into my hands!!!

The whole Swine flu thing has just been the media attempting to repeat the sales they got off of the Sars epidemic. Yes people have died, but there is no need to make us all think WE COULD BE NEXT!!!

 

[nekolux]

It's a pointless panic. If they hadn't started their bullshit fearmongering, people wouldn't have even noticed the different variety of flu.

I had it for a week... it was pretty nasty, but no worse than the flu I've had before. A lot of cups of water and cloves of garlic later, I'm good as new. Swine flu = regular flu, the differences don't make any difference.

You misunderstand. See the problem with epidemics or pandemics is that we don't know when they will become deadly. They ARE different btw and that difference is that swine flu spreads a lot quicker than regular flu, that makes all the difference in the world.

The panic comes from the fact that should the virus start to mutate, you can be sure that a few strains of this mutated H1N1 will be deadly and given it's fast rate of infection mutation can, will and already has happened. Should it turn nasty, we will die very fast, very quickly because the virus itself already has an ability to spread quickly.

Please don't just say " Oh it's nothing! I'll just go down to the store and grab a soda infecting more people there in the process. " It is individual behaviour like that that will worsen the situation.

swine flue was and never will be a pandemic, the death toll may be in the hundreds region, but given the same amount of time normal flu has killed more than twice the H1M1 strain has.

Dear sir, learn to spell flu. Then learn the definition of a pandemic.
Taken from www.tfd.com/pandemic
1. Widespread; general.
2. Medicine Epidemic over a wide geographic area and affecting a large proportion of the population: pandemic influenza.

It is already a pandemic. I'm sorry but the amount of misinformation here is ridiculous.

 

[The Infamous Scamola]

Wooo, run for the hills! The new SARS is upon us!

... not.

Also, puns are the lowest form of comedy.

 

[Rascarin]

Swine flu is the latest fad, because we didn't all die of Bird Flu last year, Global Warming five years ago, and AIDS in the last decade.

Yes, its bad, yes its contagious, but it does NOT warrant this kind of fuss! It's just flu! Why do we ALWAYS need *something* about to kill us?

 

[ZeroMachine]

By the official defining criteria of pandemic, in all technicalities it is a pandemic. But, pandemic doesn't neccessarily mean countless deaths. Just infection across a big chuck of the planet. Doesn't even need to be a ton of people infected, just a ton of countries that have had infections. Problem is, people don't understand this, and I'm sure there is at least one person out there, most likely a ton more, that think thousands of people are now dropping dead because of it. It's pure paranoia and panic. I think they need to change the criteria for defining pandemics or else if this happens again, well... that's just embarrassing.

Either way, get well soon man. Excellent picture, by the way

 

[Vuljatar]

You misunderstand. See the problem with epidemics or pandemics is that we don't know when they will become deadly. They ARE different btw and that difference is that swine flu spreads a lot quicker than regular flu, that makes all the difference in the world.

The panic comes from the fact that should the virus start to mutate, you can be sure that a few strains of this mutated H1N1 will be deadly and given it's fast rate of infection mutation can, will and already has happened. Should it turn nasty, we will die very fast, very quickly because the virus itself already has an ability to spread quickly.

Please don't just say " Oh it's nothing! I'll just go down to the store and grab a soda infecting more people there in the process. " It is individual behaviour like that that will worsen the situation.

First off, if you're sick you shouldn't be hanging around with other people. That's common sense.

Second, I don't believe any of that shit for a second. The flu has been around forever and it hasn't mutated into some sort of killer epidemic. Hell, the common cold could turn deadly one day and we'd all be fucked, but I doubt it.

 

[effilctar]

It's a pointless panic. If they hadn't started their bullshit fearmongering, people wouldn't have even noticed the different variety of flu.

I had it for a week... it was pretty nasty, but no worse than the flu I've had before. A lot of cups of water and cloves of garlic later, I'm good as new. Swine flu = regular flu, the differences don't make any difference.

You misunderstand. See the problem with epidemics or pandemics is that we don't know when they will become deadly. They ARE different btw and that difference is that swine flu spreads a lot quicker than regular flu, that makes all the difference in the world.

The panic comes from the fact that should the virus start to mutate, you can be sure that a few strains of this mutated H1N1 will be deadly and given it's fast rate of infection mutation can, will and already has happened. Should it turn nasty, we will die very fast, very quickly because the virus itself already has an ability to spread quickly.

Please don't just say " Oh it's nothing! I'll just go down to the store and grab a soda infecting more people there in the process. " It is individual behaviour like that that will worsen the situation.

I've had swine flu and I can say that it IS nothing more than the regular flu

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Also, puns are the lowest form of comedy.

Don't get me started. I have a whole bag full of swine flu puns

 

[nekolux]

Spoiler

You misunderstand. See the problem with epidemics or pandemics is that we don't know when they will become deadly. They ARE different btw and that difference is that swine flu spreads a lot quicker than regular flu, that makes all the difference in the world.

The panic comes from the fact that should the virus start to mutate, you can be sure that a few strains of this mutated H1N1 will be deadly and given it's fast rate of infection mutation can, will and already has happened. Should it turn nasty, we will die very fast, very quickly because the virus itself already has an ability to spread quickly.

Please don't just say " Oh it's nothing! I'll just go down to the store and grab a soda infecting more people there in the process. " It is individual behaviour like that that will worsen the situation.

First off, if you're sick you shouldn't be hanging around with other people. That's common sense.

Second, I don't believe any of that shit for a second. The flu has been around forever and it hasn't mutated into some sort of killed epidemic. Hell, the common cold could turn deadly one day and we'd all be fucked, but I doubt it.

It could, it is growing more resistant to our antibiotics actually. So the common flu has been mutating. Now you see the thing with epidemics is that, they always grow exponentially. That's why before the full "potential" of the virus can be reached the health organizations cut in and try to stop it from the start because it's a lot easier then, than waiting for it to become deadly before stepping in.

My point here is that what the government did was NOT an overreaction. It was a necessary precaution to prevent a serious full blown epidemic with potential deadly strains of the virus from appearing.

Sure we saw now that it didnt spread too quickly due to the precautions taken and you can say that the virus did not mutate into any particularly deadly strain. That is all in hindsight, but given the responsibility of preventing such outbreaks the moment you see a hint of a potentially deadly virus, you have to stop it.

Spoiler

It's a pointless panic. If they hadn't started their bullshit fearmongering, people wouldn't have even noticed the different variety of flu.

I had it for a week... it was pretty nasty, but no worse than the flu I've had before. A lot of cups of water and cloves of garlic later, I'm good as new. Swine flu = regular flu, the differences don't make any difference.

You misunderstand. See the problem with epidemics or pandemics is that we don't know when they will become deadly. They ARE different btw and that difference is that swine flu spreads a lot quicker than regular flu, that makes all the difference in the world.

The panic comes from the fact that should the virus start to mutate, you can be sure that a few strains of this mutated H1N1 will be deadly and given it's fast rate of infection mutation can, will and already has happened. Should it turn nasty, we will die very fast, very quickly because the virus itself already has an ability to spread quickly.

Please don't just say " Oh it's nothing! I'll just go down to the store and grab a soda infecting more people there in the process. " It is individual behaviour like that that will worsen the situation.

I've had swine flu and I can say that it IS nothing more than the regular flu

Read : Spreads a lot quicker than regular flu.

Swine flu does not guarantee death or discomfort. User experience may vary =)

 

[Amnestic]

My friend had Swine Flu which she picked up in Hungary and got no medical treatment for it until she got back to England days later.

She's absolutely fine. I probably wouldn't even notice if I got it ;/

 

[ChromeAlchemist]

Every time I hear the same thing 'well normal flu kills X amount of people per year'.

The difference is, normal flu has been around for more than two years at a time and kills the weak. Swine Flu only just recently became a pandemic, and has the ability to mutate and has killed thousands since it was announced. It's not going to murder you instantly if you catch it, but it's not the same as regular flu, it is more dangerous. Perhaps not that much more dangerous, but more dangerous all the same. I have a friend who is suffering from swine flu now, but she's recovering nicely.

Also, puns are the lowest form of comedy.

Don't get me started. I have a whole bag full of swine flu puns

I have to say it was pretty punny.