81 dead - Swine Flu

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surcaliman

surcaliman

Sicc OG
#264
Nov 1, 2005
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#264
Media outlets, particularly those on TV, display a lack of proportion in spinning the story of the disease. Terrible things may happen -- or they may not.
James Rainey
May 1, 2009
I'm huddled here under my desk, face covered in a paper mask, bottle of hand sanitizer by my side, a sharp stick at the ready in case anyone from Mexico ventures within breathing distance.

Reports about the swine flu outbreak make it pretty obvious that something really, really, really bad is happening. Unless it's not.



While most news outlets strive mightily to strike the right balance -- spreading information about a public health concern, while tamping down alarm -- others seem to have a congenital inability to tell this story with precision or proportion.

Television in particular can struggle with a story like this, when reporters and news anchors muddle along, untethered for hours in the vast space-time continuum created by the Web and cable TV.

Desperate to fill to the top of the hour and armed with little clarity -- no one can say for certain how prolonged or deadly this flu episode will be -- some newsies can't stop spinning. And conjuring a frightening reality that isn't quite real.

An on-screen headline for CNN shouts: "Bracing for the Worst." The 24-hour outlets endlessly scroll new numbers, of states and nations reporting possible cases, of schools closing, of death totals rising.

Fox News anchor Trace Gallagher might not have intended to project alarm. But he did Thursday when he scanned a map and declared that the virus is "spreading from coast to coast."

Was it really "troubling new information," as Gallagher asserted, that the young boy who died of the disease in Texas had spent hours in an indoor mall?

We have no details and no way of knowing if the child could have spread the disease to others. So why set our imaginations running overtime?

But Fox had not even close to a monopoly on swine flu blather.

I listened incredulously as CNN star Wolf Blitzer asked an official from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Is it time for people . . . . to stop shaking hands and to stop hugging each other?" (The doctor answered evenly that frequent hand-washing would suffice.)

Not to be outdone, his CNN colleague, Kyra Phillips, relayed a report that a couple of Marines at Twentynine Palms might have the illness. "It's pretty frightening," Phillips chirped, "if our U.S. military gets infected as well."

Not as frightening as when the voice of a major news outlet extrapolates inanely, turning a single unconfirmed report into some kind of dire harbinger.
Click to expand...
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-et-onthemedia1-2009may01,0,3878187.column
 
5-Dime NwK

5-Dime NwK

Sicc OG
#265
Nov 1, 2004
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#265
Right now there is 367 confirmed cases in the WORLD. There is 300 Million people in America. How the fuck is this something to worry about?
God damn it, people are dumb.
 
rmillerpacers31

rmillerpacers31

Sicc OG
#268
Oct 2, 2006
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#268
5-Dime NwK said:
Right now there is 367 confirmed cases in the WORLD. There is 300 Million people in America. How the fuck is this something to worry about?
God damn it, people are dumb.
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This is exactly what I've been saying throughout this thread. Why are ppl so concerned about the fucking animal flu? Its the same shit every year with a different name.
 
Nuttkase

Nuttkase

not nolettuce
#269
Jun 5, 2002
38,763
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at the welfare mall
#269
I don't think anyone here is arguing with you that people are stupid for being overly concerned about it, because they are. What we are saying is regardless of that people are still freaking out because most people are idiots and will continue to freak out for some time to come.
 
N

NorthBay 415

Sicc OG
#271
Nov 8, 2007
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#271
LOL EARLIER I WAS AT THE HILTOP MALL AT RICHMOND N I WAS GOIN DOWN THE ESCOLATORS (SP) RIGHT BEHIND THESE BLACK FEMALES AND I COUGHED N THEY RAN DOWN THE ESCOLATORS WITH THE QUICKNESS
 
BASEDVATO

BASEDVATO

Judo Chop ur Spirit
#273
May 8, 2002
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#273
No Offense to ClickClack but you are an RN not a Medical Doctor, nor Phd in BioChem or a microbiologist. You don't even need to take upper division sciences for a RN just the water down classes. You expertise is in nursing - respect that - but your not the authority.

From the professionals I work with says its hype... yes its strong flu, yes it could kill you - but like 95% seem to live through this, and people die from the flu every year. Wash your hands, dont pick your nose, or suck your thumb... drink OJ - take a deep breathe we'll be ok
 
ClickClack

ClickClack

Sicc OG
#274
Feb 25, 2006
1,977
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#274
N JAIL U MY HOE said:
No Offense to ClickClack but you are an RN not a Medical Doctor, nor Phd in BioChem or a microbiologist. You don't even need to take upper division sciences for a RN just the water down classes. You expertise is in nursing - respect that - but your not the authority.

From the professionals I work with says its hype... yes its strong flu, yes it could kill you - but like 95% seem to live through this, and people die from the flu every year. Wash your hands, dont pick your nose, or suck your thumb... drink OJ - take a deep breathe we'll be ok
Click to expand...
lol never said i was the authority bro..just stating my opinion on the potential of this particular virus..either way, no one knows for sure..

and for the record, i was a microbiology major at UC Davis before I got my RN..i've taken all the upper division science courses...worked at Bayer Pharmaceuticals in Berkeley in the microbiology dept isolating bacteria all day..
 
Sydal

Sydal

Sicc OG
#276
Apr 25, 2002
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www.idealsentertainment.com
#276
N JAIL U MY HOE said:
From the professionals I work with says its hype... yes its strong flu, yes it could kill you -
Click to expand...
Actually, so far, the doctors and scientists are saying this flu is WEAKER than the seasonal flu. People have been dying in Mexico because their healthcare system SUCKS! Simple as that. One guy was turned away, they told him he had tonsilitis...he died. SO, I imagine that has happened quite a bit down there.

Most people don't die from the flu itself, they die from complications caused by the flu. Shit like pneumonia kills people after the fact. With our medical systems and drugs, pneumonia is usually only a concern for young children, old people, and those with compromised immune systems in the United States and most other developed nations around the world. A few people have been diagnosed with H1N1, but have had symptoms similar to a mild cold...
 
BASEDVATO

BASEDVATO

Judo Chop ur Spirit
#278
May 8, 2002
8,623
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#278
ClickClack said:
lol never said i was the authority bro..just stating my opinion on the potential of this particular virus..either way, no one knows for sure..

and for the record, i was a microbiology major at UC Davis before I got my RN..i've taken all the upper division science courses...worked at Bayer Pharmaceuticals in Berkeley in the microbiology dept isolating bacteria all day..
Click to expand...

my bad I was assuming... I just run into to many RN's that feel they on Doctor status. Go for practioner and make bank! Im taking mcat next year, if I bomb it, i'm going the PA route.

I work in a BioChem lab doing similar shit... I'ma MicroBio major aswell... there's probally only like 5 science majors on this site...
 
surcaliman

surcaliman

Sicc OG
#279
Nov 1, 2005
8,178
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#279
According to the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), more than 200,000 people are hospitalized from influenza and its complications, while about 36,000 people die from influenza and its complications during each influenza season. This period can begin as early as October or November and continue through April.
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36,000 a year in the U.S. alone.
 
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