Swine Fever (Err...Flu) Concerns Making Hospitals Paranoid About Foreigners?

[Iraira]

People as healthy as soccer players should be shouldn't have to worry about Swine Flu that much, should they? I thought it was just the elderly, very young, or physically weak who had to worry about it being potentially fatal.
Seems a bit paranoid on their part.

Viral and bacterial diseases that are relatively new to a species tend to exhibit a high pathogenicity, often killing their hosts very quickly (ie. Ebola). Over time and repeated contact with their host, they evolve to be less pathogenic and may even become commensials. Parts of mammalian telomeres and other structural components of chromosomes appear to have remnants of viral and transposable elements.
Your test will be next Tuesday.

[Samurai_Jerk]

People as healthy as soccer players should be shouldn't have to worry about Swine Flu that much, should they? I thought it was just the elderly, very young, or physically weak who had to worry about it being potentially fatal.
Seems a bit paranoid on their part.

What about obese drunks? I mean, should I be worried?

[Behan]

What about obese drunks? I mean, should I be worried?

I think the alcohol will kill the virus.

[Mike Oxlong]

I think the alcohol will kill the virus.

Yes, it will. However, it is absolutely essential that you keep your BAC in the ideal range of 0.20-0.40%.

[Iraira]

Yes, it will. However, it is absolutely essential that you keep your BAC in the ideal range of 0.20-0.40%.

Can one substitute THC (or include it) for/with the alcohol?

[FG Lurker]

Can one substitute THC (or include it) for/with the alcohol?

I suspect that THC may not have the same sort of disinfecting abilities as alcohol.

[Mike Oxlong]

I've seen some stuff that sez viruses can enter cells more easily when THC is present, and other stuff suggesting viral replication is hindered by THC. The main thing is to keep that BAC just as close to the LD50 as you possibly can...

[Iraira]

I've seen some stuff that sez viruses can enter cells more easily when THC is present, and other stuff suggesting viral replication is hindered by THC. The main thing is to keep that BAC just as close to the LD50 as you possibly can...

That's because the cell receptors are so baked, they just want to veg, "Yeah, it's cool, come on in, but don't make a lot of noise, I'm watching the Three Stooges." and it's relatively the same with stoned viruses trying to replicate, "why can't I find a cytosine, man...fuck it, I'll just use another thymine...it's all pyrimidine, who'll know the difference?"

[Bucky]

Mark Ubert remains in quarantine in Tokyo, but he is showing no signs of the H1N1 virus. His sister-in-law in Topeka, Ann Ubert, said Mark apparently will be held in quarantine for the entire 10 days prescribed by Japanese quarantine law. He has been in quarantine since May 8.
His greatest challenge, she said, is boredom. That may be alleviated some as the U.S. consulate in Tokyo has promised to provide him with a DVD player and some movies.

from here

Are there any reports as to what the cost is to quarantine all these folks? Do the folks in quarantine have to pay for the lodging themselves?

[Mulboyne]

Yomiuri: Govt apologizes to 5 over flu risk

Five of the 12 people who flew into the country last Friday after supposedly sitting near a person infected with a new type of influenza were not at high risk of infection, despite a previous claim to the contrary, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry announced Wednesday. The five, who were among 12 people on the flight not sequestered at the airport, have been strongly urged to stay indoors since Saturday. However, it has since transpired that the five individuals were not sitting near the infected person. The ministry apologized to the five for placing restrictions on their daily lives. The ministry said the five people are four U.S. tourists staying in Kyoto and one Japanese who lives in Ibaraki Prefecture. They were thought to have been sitting in close proximity to an infected high school student from Osaka Prefecture who was thought to have changed seats during the flight.

On Monday, the Osaka Prefectural Board of Education told the ministry the student had not changed seats, and the ministry confirmed the information with the student, presently in a hospital isolation ward. On Friday, the student said he started feeling ill after leaving the plane following the onboard quarantine procedures. As a result, the 12 people entered the country without being sequestered in accommodation near Narita Airport in Chiba Prefecture. The ministry tracked them down and issued strong demands via local governments that they should refrain from going out. On Wednesday morning, the Kyoto municipal government sent an official to an accommodation facility where the U.S. tourists were staying to apologize to them and explain what had happened.

[Blah Pete]

People as healthy as soccer players should be shouldn't have to worry about Swine Flu that much, should they? I thought it was just the elderly, very young, or physically weak who had to worry about it being potentially fatal.
Seems a bit paranoid on their part.

Two of the best Japanese players already are in the US playing for the new Womens Pro Soccer league. I don't they have dropped dead yet.

[Mulboyne]

I've only just noticed this blogger's account of dozens of foreigners being quarantined in Korea.

[Bucky]

Dusseldorf - Lab tests show an outbreak of the new strain of H1N1 virus at a Japanese school in Dusseldorf is bigger than the initial tally of 46 children and 3 adults, German officials said Friday. Laboratories were still gradually reporting back Friday the results for hundreds of people connected to the school who underwent swab tests the previous day to see if they had the swine-flu virus, so no precise numbers were available yet.

Health officials say the schoolchildren caught the virus either while staying at a youth hostel in Germany during a class excursion or from a child who had apparently been infected at an airport.

Story here

[Mike Oxlong]

WTF?! None of the school staff, students, or members of their family traveled to Japan recently? It's just as likely Japan could be the source of the infections.