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Md. Gov. Calls Seasonal Flu Shots a 'Patriotic Duty'
Washpost ^ | 09/02/09 | Aaron C. Davis

Posted on 09/02/2009 10:08:01 PM PDT by freespirited

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) on Wednesday said it was residents' "patriotic duty" to get seasonal flu shots in coming weeks to make it easier for health officials to determine if outbreaks are related to H1N1, or swine flu.

If residents do not get vaccinated against seasonal strains and later get sickened by them as a result, there will be little way to determine if those falling ill this fall and winter have been infected by less worrisome strains, or by the more contagious H1N1 virus, O'Malley said.

The governor characterized that scenario as serious because it could stress supplies of antiviral treatments and other resources needed to care for swine flu victims, since only those Marylanders sick enough to be hospitalized may undergo tests to confirm the presence of swine flu, state health officials said.

"You'll be doing your patriotic duty to get your seasonal flu shot this year," O'Malley said. If you've never received one, "by golly, this is a very good year to do it for the first time," he said. ...

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; US: Maryland
KEYWORDS: duty; flu; flushot; h1n1; influenza; omalley; patriotic; seasonal; swineflu
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

Quarantine has its place. In the old days, it certainly did. Now I’d imagine it’s only needed for some few select diseases that balloon.


41 posted on 09/05/2009 6:09:30 PM PDT by the OlLine Rebel (Common sense is an uncommon virtue./Technological progress cannot be legislated.)
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To: the OlLine Rebel
The Regional director of the World Health Organization for South-East Asia said this in the July 2009 address...

“Furthermore, the AI (H5N1), which has been prevailing in our countries, can complicate the situation. Reassortment may also take place due to coinfection of H1N1 and H5N1 viruses. We have, therefore, to be sure that the endemic AI H5N1 in countries of the Region is properly contained.”

http://www.searo.who.int/LinkFiles/RD_Speeches_9July2009THA.pdf

At the present time, H5N1 is NOT easily spread from human to human contact. If it was (ex. reassortment with H1N1), the casualties would be massive as the following article states......

“Influenza viruses keep changing. They mutate. And they exchange genetic material with other flu viruses, a process called reassortment. All that's needed is a mutation or reassortment that produces a new variant of H5N1 one that's as deadly as the current strain but as easily transmitted from human to human as lots of other flu strains. Most virologists believe something like this will happen sooner or later, and many believe it will happen soon. When it does, H5N1 will inevitably spread throughout the world. Worldwide mortality estimates range all the way from 2-7.4 million deaths (the “conservatively low” pandemic influenza calculation of a flu modeling expert at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) to 1 billion deaths (the avian influenza pandemic prediction of one Russian virologist).”

http://www.avianinfluenza.org/mutated-avian-influenza-virus-h5n1.php

The primary reason the avian flu is so deadly is because humans have not acquired any immunity to it through past exposures.

It is similar to the Europeans, unwittingly decimating other cultures during explorations due to the transmission of pathogens to which the native peoples had not previously been exposed.

Here is the CDC timeline for Avian Flu. Scroll down to the last page for information on outbreaks thru July 2009 and pray it never becomes the "worst case scenario".

http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/Timeline090727.pdf

42 posted on 09/05/2009 11:16:23 PM PDT by dianed
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks
You said.....”...hypothesis that government could be using the relatively exotic H1N1 as a boogeyman to scare people into accepting bigger government....”

I couldn't agree more. This may very well be the chosen “crisis” but, that does not negate the fact that it could devastate the population if a reassortment of H5N1 with any easily transmissible virus occurs.

There are some odd things that have happened recently that are not easily explained.
1. Baxter, a flu vaccine company which is one of the few companies who claimed they could fast track the H1N1 vaccine, sent out avian flu infected SEASONAL flu vaccine in Feb.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aTo3LbhcA75I

2. The scientist who was instrumental in discovering Tamiflu, came out with a statement that H1N1 may very well be a “lab- manufactured” virus. The WHO quickly dismissed his comments.
3. The push to put out a vaccine which will take weeks, and 2-3 doses to be effective, when the virus has already infected large numbers of people without an enormous number of deaths is puzzling.
Any virologist would tell you that there is no guarantee that the vaccine they finally produce will have any effect at all if the virus mutates.

This website will ensure you that there are others skeptical of the hype surrounding the present state of the H1N1 condition....

http://www.legitgov.org/pandemic_pushers_profiteers.pdf

43 posted on 09/05/2009 11:47:58 PM PDT by dianed
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To: the OlLine Rebel
Here is the latest suspected case of a co-infection of the 2 viruses in a pregnant woman reported Sept 4th...

http://birdflucorner.wordpress.com/2009/09/04/bali-avian-flu-outbreak-an-pregnant-woman-dies-of-h1n1-infection/

In the first week of Sept., there was a bit of a panic because a man returning to Egypt from Saudi Arabia was reported to have a co-infection. The authorities in Egypt quickly denied the account.

44 posted on 09/06/2009 1:13:30 AM PDT by dianed
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To: dianed

This still sounds like the main thing we’re worried about is BIRD Flu.

So, why H1N1 Swine Flu any worse than any other flu for recombining?? Is is simply that it hasn’t been around in a while, so people are more susceptible, and thus when infected, more susceptible to the H5N1 Bird?

Or is it simply on the fat chance that 1 catches Bird Flu that it might become highly transmissible?

I’m trying to weigh the risks, here. It seems to me it’s a fat chance to catch the Bird Flu. And it seems to me the Swine Flu in itself isn’t all that horrible.


45 posted on 09/06/2009 9:43:23 AM PDT by the OlLine Rebel (Common sense is an uncommon virtue./Technological progress cannot be legislated.)
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To: the OlLine Rebel
What I'm most worried about is the Bird flu mix but this article on “Numbers don't tell the Whole Story” will give you some insight into why this flu is more concerning than the regular seasonal flu as it stands right now....

http://afludiary.blogspot.com/2009/09/numbers-dont-tell-whole-story.html

I speak from experience when I say the flu is generally pretty typical in it's clinical presentation. All 5 of us in this family have been infected, one is still presently in recovery. I can also tell you that any numbers they throw around are completely inaccurate.

For Example, University of Kansas told students to stay home and not to come in for testing. Whole sorority and fraternity houses as well as some dorms were completely infected. During “rush” in beginning of Sept, the girls shook 800 prospective sorority “sister's’ hands. It was endemic from that point forward. CNN had a news story on one of those girls at KU being “isolated”...rather pointless at that juncture!

The problem with H1N1 is the TRANSMISSIBILITY rate which appears to be incredibly high. They expect 30-50% of the population in the US to be affected, far more than the regular seasonal flu. Again, more “incubators” to harbor the virus and therefore, more potential for it to combine and potentially more young, healthy kids fatally infected.

Presently H1N1 has completely outstripped all other seasonal flus. If you come down with the flu, chances are at least 95% that it is H1N1. It is transmitted easily, consequently, it has become the 1st virus most people are exposed to. If they become infected with the seasonal flu AFTER contracting H1N1, their immune system has already been activated which will kill the seasonal flu quickly and leave the H1N1 ( which took hold and replicated before the immune system activated)as the only virus left standing. This is why you have almost 100% swine flu infections left infecting people.

http://www.14wfie.com/global/story.asp?s=11029516

Take your Vit D., Canada is presently doing a study to see if Vit D deficiency is the reason why some people, who seem healthy, have increased mortality.

http://www.whale.to/a/cannell.html

46 posted on 09/09/2009 8:42:36 PM PDT by dianed
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