Should I be worried about swine flu during my summer placement in the UK?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around concerns regarding swine flu during a summer placement in the UK, particularly focusing on the perceived risks associated with rising case numbers, preventive measures, and healthcare access for non-EU nationals. Participants explore both personal apprehensions and broader implications of the virus's spread.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express significant concern about the rising number of swine flu cases in the UK and the potential for virus mutation, suggesting that this could pose a serious problem during the placement.
  • Others argue that the A/H1N1 virus is not a major concern, stating it is less dangerous than seasonal flu and that media coverage may be exaggerated.
  • Preventive measures are suggested by some, including hand hygiene, diet, and vitamin intake, as ways to mitigate risk.
  • A participant raises questions about healthcare access for non-EU nationals, inquiring whether they would receive the same treatment as local patients if infected.
  • Concerns are voiced about the potential for a future spike in cases during fall or winter, emphasizing the importance of health insurance coverage for treatment and potential travel disruptions.
  • Some participants indicate they are not taking additional precautions beyond normal hygiene practices and express a belief that the virus will spread regardless of individual actions.
  • There is a mention of the production of a vaccine and varying opinions on its necessity and timing.
  • One participant references a report suggesting a more severe classification of the pandemic, contrasting with others who downplay the severity based on hospitalization rates.
  • Questions are raised about the recovery process for those who have contracted the virus, indicating interest in understanding the illness's impact.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus; there are multiple competing views regarding the severity of swine flu, the adequacy of precautions, and the implications for healthcare access. Some express confidence in the situation while others remain concerned.

Contextual Notes

There are limitations regarding assumptions about healthcare entitlements for non-EU nationals and the varying interpretations of the virus's severity based on differing data and reports.

  • #31
You're panicking because ONE person died without an underlying health condition? And, that's no KNOWN underlying health condition. It is not worse than regular flu, it's hardly infecting anyone compared to regular flu.

Let's put it this way, would you avoid traveling in December because it is flu season? You have FAR more risk of catching a nasty case of flu then than you have of catching swine flu now. If regular flu scares you, okay, lock yourself up in the house and don't leave. But, if you're fairly mentally healthy, you'll apply a bit of reasonable common sense about hygiene and continue to do the normal every day things you enjoy doing.
 
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  • #32
jarednjames said:
Make your own decision, you seem set on it and just want people here to agree you should.

No sir, not at all. The reason I'm posting this is that I am consulting with friends and good people who have high awareness. As a fellow human, I do care if you put yourself in danger and as so, if I knew anything that can help, I would say it.
 
  • #33
I'm not panicking. I think in the UK the instructions are that if you get a high fever you should call a doctor. People suspected of having swine flu will be given tamiflu.

That's not the same as how people typically act in case of ordinary flu. Many people who get ordinary flu don't see a doctor at all despite having a high fever. So, if you're used to acting like that, then you need to know that this time that's not a wise thing to do.
 
  • #34
Count Iblis said:
I'm not panicking. I think in the UK the instructions are that if you get a high fever you should call a doctor. People suspected of having swine flu will be given tamiflu.

That's not the same as how people typically act in case of ordinary flu.

I agree. But if you do get the ordinary seasonal flu, you should see a doctor. You'd be safer, statistically speaking, if you saw a doctor only when getting the seasonal flu rather than the other way around, simply as a numbers game. (Of course you should go to the doctor either way.)
 
  • #36
Count Iblis said:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31889365/ns/health-swine_flu/
It seems that the 1918 flu epidemic may have actually been due to tuberculosis, not a concern in developed countires now.

http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/389/flu.html

Berkeley - There has never been a flu epidemic like it. In one year - 1918 - half a million Americans died from a contagion often identified as the deadliest epidemic of the 20th century, a flu so severe that the fear of it happening again causes public health authorities to go on global alert.

Now a researcher in demography at the University of California, Berkeley, has evidence that undetected tuberculosis, or TB, actually may have caused much of the mortality in 1918.

If so, such a deadly flu may not occur again, at least not in the United States which has low rates of TB infection, reports Andrew Noymer, UC Berkeley doctoral student in demography, a department in the College of Letters and Science. He published his findings in the current (September) issue of Population and Development Review, the main journal of the Population Council.

Noymer's evidence comes from patterns of mortality in the U.S. population in the years after the epidemic year. Death rates from tuberculosis fell dramatically in 1919 and 1920 and, for decades thereafter, changed an historic gender pattern in mortality.

Apparently, those who died from the flu already had diseased lungs. When they got the flu, it turned into pneumonia, which in those people with TB became especially severe. It was the pneumonia complicated by TB that killed them, said Noymer. Their early demise depressed the death rate from TB in the following years.
 
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  • #37
Count Iblis said:
That's false:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/essex/8145389.stm

I only glanced over the link but it doesn't mention the age of the patient at all. We don't know if it was a young child or and old age pensioner. Either could increase the likelyhood of death. Also, no previous health problems doesn't really mean anything. Does swine flu weaken your immune system? I'm not sure, anyone know the answer?

Further on it also says "It is important to stress that the symptoms of swine flu are, relatively speaking, mild. "

Obviously some people will get very ill as with all illnesses, however, they are a minority. The transimission rates are low.

"Virology expert Professor John Oxford, of Queen Mary's College of Medicine in London, said the death was to be expected and should not cause panic."
 

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