People pointing to there being no bird flu pandemic as proof there won't be one this time is so ridiculous. Bird flu never mutated into a form which could be transmitted from human to human, whereas it's obvious swine flu has already done so. Evidence shows that the world gets a pandemic around every 30 years, and as we haven't had one since the 1960s, sadly we're overdue one.

 

This is going to come across as a bit controversial/insensitive and it is not meant that way but the world is over populated, the worlds resources and infrastructure can't cope with the current expansion so a bit of a "cull" of the population through a mutating virus that kills hundreds of millions globally might actually turn out to be a good thing long term in terms of reining in the population explosion and the draining of the infrastructure and resources but hopefully no Brits will be affected

 

Don't I remember you saying abortion should NEVER be allowed, not even in cases of rape? How someone could criticise killing a bundle of cells beacuse it would "stop potential life" and yet be fine with hundreds of millions of living, breathing humans with full lives is beyond me.

People pointing to there being no bird flu pandemic as proof there won't be one this time is so ridiculous. Bird flu never mutated into a form which could be transmitted from human to human, whereas it's obvious swine flu has already done so. Evidence shows that the world gets a pandemic around every 30 years, and as we haven't had one since the 1960s, sadly we're overdue one.

Don't I remember you saying abortion should NEVER be allowed, not even in cases of rape? How someone could criticise killing a bundle of cells beacuse it would "stop potential life" and yet be fine with hundreds of millions of living, breathing humans with full lives is beyond me.

 

Those that die will have already had a life and will have experienced life, babies that are aborted will never have experienced life

It's as much as any other country has.

more than some.

 

I think Australia only has about 45%

Why was there no doomsday/armageddon headlines in the Express about this ?

 

No one in this country died of it in the end and no one will die in this country of swine virus I am convinced

 

 

 

 

 

 

Deadly Australian flu 'may strike this winter'

Health officials have changed the flu vaccination over fears a deadly strain from Australia could make its way to the northern hemisphere.

 

 

By Chris Irvine

Last Updated: 6:42PM BST 29 Sep 2008

 

There are fears the virus, called Brisbane H3N2, could arrive in Britain over the winter.

 

The flu strain is so virulent that health chiefs have had to change the make-up of the flu vaccine to deal with it.

 

Related Articles

 

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Flu expected to worsen as deadly Australian strain hits Europe

It affects three times the number of victims hit by other strains, with many deaths resulting from pneumonia.

 

Between June and July 2007 in New South Wales, there were more than 800 deaths from pneumonia, many of them children.

 

Viruses from the southern hemisphere strike in the winter months, our summer, and tend to be transmitted north before the end of our winter.

 

Although that did not happen last year with Brisbane H3N2, The World Health Organisation has taken precautions in case it travels to Europe this year.

 

The WHO and Sanofi Pasteur, a vaccine manufacturer, have combined the Brisbane strain with two others in their latest flu vaccine.

 

Professor Bruno Lina, head of the National Influenza Centre in Lyon, France, said: "The upcoming season is notable in the sense that among the three new vaccine strains there is one that has proved to be very virulent in Australia.

 

"This further reinforces the importance to comply with health authorities' recommendation for seasonal flu vaccination."

 

In Britain, flu vaccination is offered to everyone over 65, many carers of the elderly or disabled and those with a range of conditions including asthma and heart disease.

 

A spokesman for the Department of Health said they were monitoring the situation and were treating it seriously.

 

He said: "Preventing and treating flu is a serious issue, and the NHS is well-prepared. Seasonal flu vaccination is available free to everyone in the at risk groups. England's seasonal flu vaccination programme has one of the highest uptake rates in Europe. In 2006/7, 74 per cent of people in the over 65 group were vaccinated.

 

"We urge people and children at risk from the effects of flue to get a flu job every year."

 

That worries me more than this Swine Flu, given that i live in Brisbane, the place it's named after :mellow:

 

Good thing i brought Buttercup Syrup with me, i'll kill the bloody cold dead the first symptom i get ^_^

That worries me more than this Swine Flu, given that i live in Brisbane, the place it's named after :mellow:

 

Good thing i brought Buttercup Syrup with me, i'll kill the bloody cold dead the first symptom i get ^_^

 

Am sure you will be fine

 

I posted it as an example that there was no media mass hysteria about this, I had to search heavily on Google to find it so was comparing the mass hysteria of the swine flu whereas there was no publicity about this that had a very significant death toll in a massive tourist hotspot for UK people

 

I just think the whole media reaction to this swine flu is completely over the top

It looks like it was mainly contained to NSW, The border to which i am an hour north of.

 

Hopefully i'll be alright, Australia does get nasty flu seasons.

 

But when you have over 12million people living within 25miles of the South-East/East Coast it's not surprising

This is what i'm getting from Yahoo at 6am:

 

Europe faced up to the reality of a trans-Atlantic outbreak of Mexican swine flu on Monday after two patients tested positive in Scotland following an initial case confirmed in Spain.

 

The first confirmed infections of the new strain of the H1N1 virus outside the Americas came as the European Union (EU) called for urgent talks to confront the threat and the 27-nation bloc advised against non-essential travel to outbreak centres in Mexico and the United States.

 

As fears for airlines sent shivers down stock markets, a German tour operator cancelled trips to Mexico , Russia began airport checks, Poland tightened border controls and Ukraine banned the import of pork products from Mexico , the US, Canada and New Zealand , where 10 suspect cases have also been identified.

 

World health officials have stepped up the battle against the new virus as Mexico upped the probable death toll from the epidemic to 149 after the US declared a public emergency. The number of cases under observation in Mexico was more than 1,600.

 

Two people admitted to a hospital in Scotland after travelling to Mexico have been confirmed as the first cases of swine flu in Britain, Scottish Health Minister Nicola Sturgeon said.

 

"I can confirm that tests have demonstrated conclusively that the two Scottish cases of swine flu are positive," said Sturgeon, also Deputy First Minister of the semi-autonomous country north of England, adding that the two confirmed patients were "recovering well."

 

Seven other people who came into contact with them, among 22 tested, have developed mild symptoms of the flu, she added.

 

"I would reiterate that the threat to the public remains low and that the precautionary actions we have taken over the last two days have been important in allowing us to respond appropriately and give us the best prospect of disrupting the spread of the virus."

 

The health minister for the government in London, Alan Johnson, said earlier that "enhanced" health checks were being implemented at entry points across the British Isles to identify passengers arriving with symptoms of the illness.

 

Spain's health ministry said tests on a 23-year-old man who returned from Mexico last week confirmed he had contracted the disease. Spain has another 20 suspected cases.

 

Elsewhere in Europe, six suspected cases are being investigated in Belgium, along with five each in Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland and one in France. Three tested negative earlier in the day in France.

 

EU Health Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou advised caution for all travellers.

 

"I would try to avoid non-essential travel to the areas which are reported to be in the centre of the cluster," she said in a video statement.

 

People "should avoid travelling to Mexico or the USA unless it's very urgent for them," she said, adding that the precaution was necessary "to minimise the personal risk and to reduce of the potential risk to spread the infection."

 

In remarks to the BBC, which qualify her comments about travel to the US and Mexico , she stressed: "I meant advice, not a ban, to Mexico City especially and those states in the US where we have many outbreaks."

 

Her spokeswoman also underlined she was not advising against travel to Spain.

 

European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said European authorities would remain vigilant.

 

"We will continue to assess the information we are getting from the experts, evaluate the potential danger and decide together with member states on the measures to take," he said.

 

Germany's leading tourism group, TUI, cancelled Mexico City visits until May 5, and said it would offer alternatives to clients who had planned to travel to other parts of Mexico .

Personally i would have described Scotland as the $h!t Tip above England but never mind.

 

Two people who reported to Brisbane's Prince Charles Hospital have been cleared of having swine flu.

 

Earlier today two women from the Gold Coast and Brisbane returned negative results to tests done at the weekend.

 

Swine flu has now killed more than 100 people in Mexico , with suspected cases reported in Israel and Europe.

 

Doctors warn it is likely swine flu will arrive in Queensland in some form.

 

Australian Medical Association (AMA) state president Chris Davis says anyone who has returned from overseas with symptoms should seek immediate medical treatment.

 

"If people do have symptom - such as a high fever, runny nose, diarrhoea and vomiting and, particularly if they've been in contact with someone who has travelled or the person themselves has been travelling - then they should certainly see their general practitioner as a matter of urgency," he said.

 

However, Premier Anna Bligh says no-one in Queensland is panicking.

 

"We have been planning for a possible event involving an epidemic of serious flu for a number of years," she said.

 

She says there are warehouses full of face masks and gloves, if they should be needed.

 

Anti-flu drugs have also been stockpiled.

 

Five people in New South Wales are also being tested for the virus.

 

The Federal Government says it has strengthened border surveillance measures at airports in response to the potential spread of swine flu.

 

The captains of all planes landing in Australia from the Americas will have provide a report to the Quarantine Service on the health of all passengers on board.

 

If Anna says if safe, i'm safe at the moment.

 

and this next one made me LOL!!

 

Many Australians will scoff at the very idea of wearing a face mask in public, yet it's a highly effective way to protect yourself against swine flu.

 

The potentially life-saving accessory should be worn in all "crowded situations", says University of NSW Professor of Infectious Diseases Epidemiology Raina MacIntyre.

 

This includes the bus and the train on your work commute and other confined public spaces like a plane.

 

"We're one month away from the start of winter and we've already had suspected (swine flu) cases in Australia and New Zealand ," said Professor MacIntyre, a member of the Scientific Influenza Advisory Group to the Chief Medical Officer of Australia.

 

"I think any time from now, people who are in crowded situations, caring for sick people either as healthcare workers or in their own families, travelling on public transport, (they) should wear a mask."

 

It's a message Prof MacIntyre knows won't be readily accepted with research showing many Australians would rather risk getting sick than wear a face mask.

 

Prof MacIntyre headed a study which took in more than 140 NSW children who, in 2006-07, had suffered a bout of the flu so serious they were taken to a hospital emergency room.

 

Their parents were given face masks in a bid to test their effectiveness at preventing the virus' spread.

 

Parents who wore face masks during contact with their sick child were four times less likely to contract their child's virus than those who did not.

 

The masks offered a "very significant degree of protection", Prof MacIntyre said, but the study's secondary finding was that Australians don't like wearing them.

 

"Less than half of the parents actually complied with the mask wearing and they weren't protected," she said.

 

"But behaviour is always governed by perception of risk and this (swine flu) is going to be perceived as a serious risk, people will behave differently to when it is your normal winter colds and coughs."

 

Prof MacIntyre said face masks would be vital in the event of a full-blown pandemic, when vaccine development was likely to be delayed and treatment drugs in short supply.

 

Until a human vaccine was matched to this strain of swine flu, people should use all other protective measures available, she said.

 

"I was on a flight recently next to someone who was coughing and sneezing the whole way and I put on my mask for the whole flight," Prof MacIntyre said, confirming she is taking her own advice.

 

"This is the closest we have been to a pandemic in a long time.

 

"I think it is a serious concern because there is clear evidence that it is spread from person to person, that there is a high fatality rate, and it is a nasty infection."

 

Swine flu hotline: 180 2007

 

I lol'd for about 30mintues at that.

 

Australia hasn't even had a confirmed case yet :rofl:

http://swineflu2009.com/ says that england is on 9 suspected cases, 2 of which confirmed.

Right now there are 73 confirmed cases of swine flu around the world, including 40 in the United States. No one has died in the U.S. and all the patients are recovering.

 

Wisconsin public health officials say samples from ten residents have been tested for swine flu since Saturday and none has come back positive.

 

But that's not the story south of the border. In Mexico, where health officials believe the strain originated, the government closed schools around the country after the suspected swine flu death toll rose to 149 people.

 

While it's important for local hospitals to have emergency plans in place, prevention specialists we spoke with Monday said the public must be proactive in their prevention.

 

They include washing your hands often, covering your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze, and avoiding close contact with sick people.

 

Symptoms of the swine flu are very similar to regular flu strains, including fever, lack of appetite, and coughing.

 

There is no immunization from this strain of swine flu but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends two flu fighters, Tamiflu and Relenza.

 

Health officials stress the swine flu is passed person-to-person -- not through food, and you cannot get swine flu from eating pork or pork products.

That nation's top health official says nearly 2,000 people have been hospitalized since the first case of swine flu was reported two weeks ago.

 

28 cases were confirmed in New York City. They consist of a class and a teacher who recently took a trip to Mexico.

 

I don't know if anyone posted this yet, but the WHO has heightened the alert to 4 on the Global Pandemic scale. 6 being the highest. :o

Edited April 27, 200916 yr by Unusual Me

and this next one made me LOL!!

I lol'd for about 30mintues at that.

 

<article referring to wearing face masks as a deterrent>

 

Australia hasn't even had a confirmed case yet :rofl:

 

I work in bio-sciences and if I were given a government recommendation (we haven't reached this stage yet and what has happened so far doesn't seem likely to be a decimation of the human populace!) to wear a face mask - I'd sure as hell follow it. I don't wish to be a panic-monger as much as the press might like to be, but as has been stated previously in this thread, it's only a matter of time before a virus mutates to the extent that it will have a major effect.

Those that die will have already had a life and will have experienced life, babies that are aborted will never have experienced life

 

Better a hundred million unformed foetuses die than 100 million living, breathing human beings mate..... <_< Prat.....

 

Better a hundred million unformed foetuses die than 100 million living, breathing human beings mate..... <_< Prat.....

 

I would not be that fussed if 100m died during this outbreak, it would be a natural levelling off / culling of the species, it has happened many times before and will happen again

 

Of course it would be a tragedy for those affected and I hope it does not kill Brits / Australians / Americans but the population explosion on the planet and the worlds resources that are being used up is unsustainable and the world can't cope with such a population explosion so if there is 100 million less people using oil, using CFC's and god knows what else while initially it would be a tragedy in the long term it would be the best thing that could have happened to the planet and hopefully slow down the population explosion and the draining of the worlds resources

 

The above does not change my view on abortion, the best thing would be for people to use condoms and contraception so that babies are not created in the first place hence my hatred of catholicism but once a child has been created in the womb it should be entitled to life

 

I am not sentimental about the human race as far as I am concerned we are merely animals that are more advanced than other animals so a mass cull of the human population through swine flu would mean no more to me than a cull of kangaroos or a culling of deer when they get out of control population wise

 

 

I am not sentimental about the human race as far as I am concerned we are merely animals

 

Okay, well, if you're that unsentimental, why give a sh!t about some parasite in the womb being aborted.....? I personally have far LESS sentimentality towards that, because that's what a foetus is basically, a PARASITE (in the biological definition, as in an organism which lives off a host body....)..

 

Sorry, as far as I'm concerned, abortion is a very acceptable form of population control.....

 

Sorry, as far as I'm concerned, abortion is a very acceptable form of population control.....

 

We may aswell bring in forced abortion then since it's just a parasite. :rolleyes:

We may aswell bring in forced abortion then since it's just a parasite. :rolleyes:

He's just pointing out how killing a couple of cells is more... "humane"? then taking a grown persons life away.

Okay, well, if you're that unsentimental, why give a sh!t about some parasite in the womb being aborted.....? I personally have far LESS sentimentality towards that, because that's what a foetus is basically, a PARASITE (in the biological definition, as in an organism which lives off a host body....)..

Exactly... it's not just that I disagree with the poster on this, I just can't understand how being against abortion but not caring about the deaths of 100m people can make any sort of logical sense to anyone.

 

We may aswell bring in forced abortion then since it's just a parasite.

This will be controversial, but I actually think that, in cases where expecting parents are clearly not going to be able to look after a child properly, doctors/social workers should be officially within their rights to recommend an abortion (though not actually forced to do it). A foetus really is no different to a plant, it has no emotions, and the sad reality is that for many potential kids of chav scum, it really is often kinder for them to never experience life at all rather than to get such a poor start.

Exactly... it's not just that I disagree with the poster on this, I just can't understand how being against abortion but not caring about the deaths of 100m people can make any sort of logical sense to anyone.

This will be controversial, but I actually think that, in cases where expecting parents are clearly not going to be able to look after a child properly, doctors/social workers should be officially within their rights to recommend an abortion (though not actually forced to do it). A foetus really is no different to a plant, it has no emotions, and the sad reality is that for many potential kids of chav scum, it really is often kinder for them to never experience life at all rather than to get such a poor start.

 

Like I said above, those that die have already had a life of some sort, some, most infact will probably be old, some not old but they will have had a life and experienced life, an unborn baby that is aborted never gets to experience life

 

You don't know what you are killing when you have an abortion, you might have killed a future president or a childhood prodigy or the guy that finds a cure for AIDS somewhere down the line, an unborn baby deserves the right to experience life even if it is a "parasite"

 

If 100,000,000 die of swine flu at least they have already had a life of some sort

Edited April 28, 200916 yr by B.A Baracus

This will be controversial, but I actually think that, in cases where expecting parents are clearly not going to be able to look after a child properly, doctors/social workers should be officially within their rights to recommend an abortion (though not actually forced to do it). A foetus really is no different to a plant, it has no emotions, and the sad reality is that for many potential kids of chav scum, it really is often kinder for them to never experience life at all rather than to get such a poor start.

 

What is wrong with adoption ?

 

If chavs can't bring up a kid capably then why can't it be adopted ?

 

There is no reason at all why the offspring of a chav deemed unsuitable to be parents can't be adopted, there are lots of couples out there who would love to have a kid but can't for whatever reason, I would not even object to a kid being placed with a caring gay or lesbian couple

 

Aborting a perfectly healthy kid because the parents are deemed unsuitable is wrong

I would not be that fussed if 100m died during this outbreak, it would be a natural levelling off / culling of the species, it has happened many times before and will happen again

 

Of course it would be a tragedy for those affected and I hope it does not kill Brits / Australians / Americans but the population explosion on the planet and the worlds resources that are being used up is unsustainable and the world can't cope with such a population explosion so if there is 100 million less people using oil, using CFC's and god knows what else while initially it would be a tragedy in the long term it would be the best thing that could have happened to the planet and hopefully slow down the population explosion and the draining of the worlds resources

 

The above does not change my view on abortion, the best thing would be for people to use condoms and contraception so that babies are not created in the first place hence my hatred of catholicism but once a child has been created in the womb it should be entitled to life

 

I am not sentimental about the human race as far as I am concerned we are merely animals that are more advanced than other animals so a mass cull of the human population through swine flu would mean no more to me than a cull of kangaroos or a culling of deer when they get out of control population wise

 

There are some problems with this argument. First of all, it is pure myth that the world is overpopulated in terms of basic resources necessary for survival. The green revolution/science/technology have ensured that there is plenty of food for all 6 billion of us. Most researchers believe famines only happen because of a failure to distribute food (not because of a lack of food). As Amartya Sen famously said, "famines don't happen in democracies" because they are generally better as distributing food. Hell, the way Europe and the US overproduce food (thanks to outrageous farm subsidies), there will be plenty of it available for decades to come...

 

Also, I have to point out that you hope no Brits/Americans/Australians die, but also assume that a decrease in population would lead to less pollution and natural resource depletion. The problem is, well, it's us that use the most! A billion poor people in the third world may not slow climate change as much as a million in the developed world...