The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Coffee Lounge => Topic started by: rustyme on June 24, 2009, 01:39:42 pm
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an update on swine flu matters.... Here in Wales a very rural part , you would think it would be pretty safe from SF. Not so . A little boy has it in New Quay , some 12 miles from me . He goes to a playschool there and one of the other kids who had contact with him , is my niece and nephews half sister. My nephew was there visiting his dad before they knew anything about the boy . So goes to show how fast it can spread . He , my nephew , has two kids of his own , who were also there with him , and he works in a care home . His half sister is on Tamiflu , but has no symptoms so far . The current thinking by all of the experts is that 50% of the population will become infected by the end of the year , and that 40% of the work force will get it. They still have no idea if it will change from a mildish type to a more nasty one. However , they are putting in place, all over the country (UK) , tamiflu pickup points .
cheers
Russ
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We've had smattering locally - probably not helped by the infected couple ignoring quarantine and swanning round the village. Scotland seems to have a higher proportion of cases.
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yes ...Wales and England have been sending their cases up to Scotland .... ;D ;D ;D
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We have it too... The junior part of my sons school has a victim, so we are all waiting to see if it moves through siblings and friends down to the infants, which is 1/2 a mile away. I suppose it is beneficial to get a small dose of it and build up resistance but as an asthmatic I don't need to take that risk. My doctor says I am on the list for immunisation in september along with a pneumonia jab. Makes you a bit xenophobic about foriegn travel.
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i havent heard of any cases in my area, i hope it stays that way!
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I had avion flu back in the late 60's and was hospital for 8 weeks!!! Hope I don't get the pig version...they are much bigger :pig:
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8121292.stm
below is what the bbc put on their news web site on 26/06/09, the link to which is above.
Swine flu cases soar in England
The government hopes to provide anti-flu drugs for 80% of the population
The number of confirmed swine flu cases in England has jumped by nearly 20% in a single day, latest figures show.
The Health Protection Agency statistics show that 535 new cases were confirmed on Friday, bringing the total to 3,364.
Scotland registered another 72 cases on Friday, an 8.5% rise, bringing the total to 922, and a 25th case was confirmed in Northern Ireland.
With 12 cases confirmed in Wales, the total number of confirmed UK cases now stands at 4,323.
Sir Liam Donaldson, the chief medical officer for England, warned on Thursday that the UK could soon expect to see a surge of new cases.
He predicted tens of thousands of cases of swine flu could be emerging each week by the autumn.
The West Midlands remains the most badly affected area of England, with 158 new cases confirmed on Friday, bringing the total to 1,516.
Some hospitals in that region have created triage areas to cope with complaints of symptoms.
London is the other swine flu "hotspot" in England, recording 225 new cases on Friday, taking the total to 985.
Change of policy
Officials in both areas announced on Thursday they had abandoned attempts to contain spread of the virus, instead opting for a policy of managing the outbreak.
The containment policy involved trying to ring-fence outbreaks by tracing the people with whom confirmed cases have come into contact and giving them drugs to try to prevent flu developing.
This approach has also involved the closure of several schools.
But once the virus starts to spread freely in a community that policy becomes impractical.
At this stage, anti-viral drugs are only given to those people showing symptoms, and tracing of contacts is abandoned.
The practice of waiting for laboratory confirmation of new cases is also scrapped in favour of clinical diagnosis based on symptoms.
A Department of Health spokesman said: "The cases of swine flu found in the UK have so far been generally mild in most people, but are proving to be severe in a small minority of cases.
"We are continuing to work to slow the spread of the disease and to put in place arrangements to ensure that the UK is well-placed to deal with this new infection."
Sir Liam said on Thursday that the UK was likely to receive its first batches of swine flu vaccine in August, rather than in the autumn as first expected.
The government has contracts with two manufacturers for 132m doses - enough for the whole population.
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The Irish government has also put safety measures in place, current advice is not to breath. The reakon it'll kill off swine flu and dramatically shorten the ever lengthening dole queues.
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;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Rustyme
yo really need to relax, there is no conspiracy, the world is not about to end, just relax - i'm convinced you believe the worlds governments are out to get us - but they ain't that bright!
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errr remind me .. didn't you also think I was dying or going to top myself before ..? ::) ;D I am relaxed mate .... any wobblies I may throw , actually take up about ten minutes or so, of my day . The rest of the time I am just doing whatever I want to do ...growing veg , making something , walking my dogs whatever. I do not walk around thinking that the world is going to end or that the EU is going to control every part of my life , I really don't think about it at all , to many other things on my mind . I read about it and then comment on things , but it is only a very small part of my life. I am much more interested in growing my veg or propagating and growing reed for my water filter system . Thanks for the concern mate , but there is no need , really , there isn't . I am so laid back I am almost asleep most of the time. Just for ten minutes now and then I may comment on something that I read and then I forget about it , till I read some more the next day , week or even months later.
cheers
Russ
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It's only another strain of flu!!!!!
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well not really , it is a stain of flu that we (humans) , have no resistance to , unlike the normal stains that come around most years. So far we have been lucky in that it has been very mild , but the reason they are worried, is that so was the 1918 flu which was very similar, and that was around in the spring as a mild flu (like this one now ) and then came back in the autumn and killed 20 million . The reason I am concerned about it and follow what is going on , is I had Hong Kong in 1969 and very nearly died . I get very mild forms of normal flu , but the rogue ones seem to get me every few years . My nephews little 3 year old half sister only has one kidney , so this form of flu , which attacks humans in a different way to normal flu , can be fatal to someone like her. The reason I have to watch it, is my immune system is very strong . In normal circumstances thats a good thing . Not with this flu . This flu makes your immune system attack the body , thats why it sort of attacks the reverse type of people to normal flu . Normal flu attacks the old , the very young and the sick . This one attacks the healthy ones in between , in the main. Now although I am watching what is going on with swine flu , and I keep up to date with it all , I am not panicking or sealing myself in some sort of hermetically sealed container. I am living my life perfectly normally , speaking to people as normal , going where I normally go ( although I do spray everybody with domestos now , and the Tazer I just carry in case )... ::) ;D Oh and the huge hole I have dug is for ...eeeeerrrr a pond thats it a pond , not a burial pit ...anyway must go , there is another delivery of domestos just arrived and I have to put away the new bio/chemical suits too, and then check the seal on the new bio/chemical container .
cheers
Russ
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I slept for weeks with the flu of 1969 as I was so weak, I was in hospital for 6 of them, and did not reaturn to work for months, my Dr lost a daughter with it and some famous singer died of it, forgot her name so I know what I am talking about, it is hard to avoid though. I have some idea as we keep a B&B and I have not caught anything for nearly 3 years of running it but I know as soon as I go in to clean someones room I can react with sneezing as if I am getting a bug, I open the windows and do not go back in for a while, sometimes taking quilt covers out of the room to change them and funnily enough my runny nose etc goes, the only reason I am saying this is I have worked in care previously and wow, how quick things spread, I had the most horrendous cold after starting a mainly office based job where people had colds, I think if we work inside confined spaces or with vulnerable people, we need loads of fresh air to help your lungs to ventilate, I am amazed at how quickly we pick up things on public transport, fingers crossed X
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yes thats right Sandy things do spread very fast . Round here at the moment it is measles and mumps. When little kids first go to school, they go down with everything known to man in a very short time . Also as you say , working in offices you get everything that comes around , same in factories. Being like I am , outside and mainly without too much contact with loads of people , I miss many colds and flu's and other viruses that go around , but the other side to that coin is I don't build up a resistance to them either. As you say ... fingers crossed .... must go and put the next row of razor wire up now....
cheers
Russ
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There's been another death in Scotland
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yes, another one with underlying serious health problems . This time a man in his 70's I think , been in hospital for about 12-15 days being treated . This , although terrible for the persons family, is to be expected with any flu , and would not, under normal circumstances, be mentioned much above very local news paper reports . 3 people were sent home from Glastonbury yesterday , having been found to have swine flu symptoms , the numbers that get infected from there will be interesting to see.... I hope it is none !!! But it will be interesting to know how easily it spreads from 3 among 180,000 . I would not use the term interesting if the virus were worse ie more fatal , and don't mean it to be offensive in any way ...
cheers
Russ
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n the same way I find it interesting going into rooms and sneezing etc. I worked within a small community once and they all had sickness bug, I was cooking and evening meal and me, being :pig: thought more for me, well just after my last mouthful I had such bad cramps and did not knwo what to do first, I drove home to spend most of the evening in the Bathroom!!!! I bet loads of people have been on planes and long coach trips and caught bad throats!!!! My worse one although not life threatening was working with an ASBO child, he had a HUGE cold sore, I took a week off for a break and when I came back, ALL the staff had cold sores as he used to spit at them and wim for thier mouths eeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!! As a self employed person and my partner an agency worker, neither will get sick benifits so I am a bit concerned!!!!
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sounds like it could have been the norovirus Sandy ? It does the rounds of hospitals and care homes most years nowdays , it can give you terrible cramps as in gastro enteritis and also make you puke at the same time .....had it !!! and you do not know what to do with yourself ...sat on the loo with a bowl on your lap ....or it may have been cryptosporidium, had that too .. very similar again ...terrible cramps . Also had a form of food poisoning from eating rare cooked meat . I can not eat anything rare at all , it has to be cooked right the way through , not a trace of any pink . I have tried, but after 3 bouts of terrible cramps and all that goes with it , I now accept that it is not for me ...lol . As for sh*tes gobbing in my mouth yuk ...I could not deal with that , I would have knocked his head off ....lol.... thats why I don't work with ASBO kids or the like ....no patience at all for that sort of thing . I was brought up under the old way .. there are consequences to your actions ...ie you misbehave , you get a thick ear ...and no I didn't get a thick ear very often, was I a goody goody ? NO, I just didn't get caught ::)
cheers
Russ
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I could tell some tales, your hands are tied when working with this sort of child, I have only moderate injuries but some people had horrid things happen, I am too old and to wise to work in that field anymore, strange thing is, even these sort of mis treated young people have some respect, if you go into the job with an attitude you end up in a battle, I used to be (and am more so) so laid back I did not always notice the danger I was in until after and belive you me, I was in danger, one lad I worked with used to try to snap your neck!!!!!!!!! I fell I have done my bit and NO MORE, I now have a BIG BOLD LAB that is intent in seeing me off!!!! ;)
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you have more patience than I do , my late dad was in the army for 16 years and for most was a drill Sgt ,and an absolute bast*rd of one at that . In his younger days in the army he taught unarmed combat etc in the SOE , the fore runner of the SAS , he was also a champion boxer in the army, so you can imagine me , being the eldest boy , I got it full on everyday . It made no difference to me I knew no other way . But I grew up knowing how to drop anyone in any situation if need be , but also not to take any crap from anyone for any reason . He got busted so many times as a younger soldier, as he would always fight against authority ( why join the army ???) , that unfortunately has rubbed off on me ::), and although I don't go round fighting these days (been there done that !!) ,no desire to do so now ( I must have grown up somewhere along the line) , if I needed to I could look after myself . But it is for those reasons I could not take crap from anyone , family is different , why I don't know but it is. I also have a very low breaking point as far as temper goes . That is due to the smash , very bad head injuries, but I have learned to control my temper to a degree, I shout at inanimate objects .... ::) So although I am laid back these days , and just do my own thing ,and let others do theirs , I know I couldn't do what you have done ...I would be up for GBH (been there done that too !!), or some similar act .....I know my limitations.....they are many ... ::) ;D
cheers
Russ
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see a few people sacked wen they have been punched in the face and retaliate!!!!! I wounder if because I am not that strong I have adapted a different approach, talk um to death ;D good at that!!
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Tut, tut Russ....Razor wire is contrary to the Geneva Convention. However, I understand that you can get away with landmines with a nod and a wink. Sure isn't everyone using them these days ;)
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OH MY GOD .... does that mean I am breaking a law ? oh well now that you have let the cat out of the bag about the land mines , I will say that if they can traverse the mine field to remove the razor wire, they are welcome to do so , I'll get them with the mortars anyway !!! Any that get past them I can pick off with the longbow !!! I have managed to get 6 40 foot containers buried out of sight , so I only need to poke my head out on very rare occasions now. Three years supply of food and water down there now , along with any medication I may need , any bodies up top can stay where they are , the local buzzards and crows will make short work of them . Mind you Swine flu is also part avian flu !!! so could introduce a new variant back to birds ? mmmm oh well , onwards and upwards , must not let a thing like swine flu change my way of life. Everything must carry on as normal , nothing to worry about . Just got hope that the wheat store doesn't get a touch of ergot !!!!! Yes, I will make some bread and give it to the neighbours first, see how they are a few days later......
cheers
Russ
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I can't fathom you out Russ. ;) Are you REALLY that obsessed ;) ;D ;D ;D ;D
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hard to answer with tongue firmly planted in cheek !!!!!!!!!! ::) :o ;D ;D err no, I think of nothing else , day in day out 24/7, to use the modern vernacular..... ;D ;D ::)
cheers
Russ
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But you DO have an underground bunker, yes? ;D
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of course I do , doesn't everyone ??
well no not really ..... I suffer from really bad claustrophobia, so I couldn't live in an underground bunker if I wanted to ::) :D apart from that, I will be a long time dead ...and I will be spending a long time underground then ...thats enough for me ....
cheers
Russ