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Straight from the Horse's, er, Pig's mouth..

jarhead

jarhead

UAL CA; retired hinge
pilot
can somebody explain to me why this is such a big deal? There's tens of thousands of deaths associated with the flu yearly in the US according to the CDC ... this thing has affected only 5 people so far in the US, with no deaths... huh? please... I know the news media is struggling for ratings, but this is comical... especially seeing people walking around wearing masks...

oh, did anybody else get a chuckle out of Bill O'Reilly, on his Mon night show, talking with some Doc about this swine flu, and calling it a bacteria ... LOL, I thought he was educated? Does he not know the flu is a virus? But the best part was the MD not correcting him... she went right along with it....

whatever

S/F
 
Flash

Flash

SEVAL/ECMO
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
jarhead said:
can somebody explain to me why this is such a big deal? There's tens of thousands of deaths associated with the flu yearly in the US according to the CDC ... this thing has affected only 5 people so far in the US, with no deaths... huh? please... I know the news media is struggling for ratings, but this is comical... especially seeing people walking around wearing masks...
Click to expand...

The vast majority of the flu-related deaths in this country are the young, old or already sick. Basically it is the final 'push' that puts many over the edge towards their deaths. This outbreak in Mexico has a very high mortality rate for the reported cases (there are probably more sick at home) and the fatalities have all been people between 3 and 60, people that are rarely victims of the flu. It is also a new strain of the virus and regular flu vaccines are not effective against it.

Those factors are all very similar to the previous outbreaks of flu pandemics in the past century. Here is a decent overview of the whole thing.

jarhead said:
oh, did anybody else get a chuckle out of Bill O'Reilly, on his Mon night show, talking with some Doc about this swine flu, and calling it a bacteria ... LOL, I thought he was educated? Does he not know the flu is a virus? But the best part was the MD not correcting him... she went right along with it....

whatever

S/F
Click to expand...

O'Reilly educated? Maybe. Smart? Not so much......
 
das

das

Well-Known Member
Contributor
The problem is that this H1N1 swine flu appears to have about a 5-7% mortality rate in persons 20-45 years of age.

By comparison, the 1918 flu outbreak had a mortality rate of about 2.5%, and may have killed as many as 100 million people.

It's also possible that many more people have been affected by this outbreak and not gotten seriously ill, and it's only seriously ill people and deaths that are getting attention right now, so the mortality percentage for this outbreak may decrease. And there is the consideration that it seems deadly in Mexico, but not elsewhere yet.

But even if it's 1%, that means many millions of people could die. Or, it could just fizzle out and rear its head when the winter months come or next flu season, as the 1918 virus did.

So the sky hasn't fallen yet, and may not, but all of the measures being taken are prudent. Many epidemiologists agree that it is/was only a matter of time before we see a flu pandemic to which humans have limited defenses.
 
Big Biff

Big Biff

Got Em
Flash said:
Ask and ye shall receive, here are they are. Don't laugh too hard, the Merchant Marine, NOAA and NASA get their own too.
Click to expand...


Oh Kay... The NOAA Rifle/Pistol Ribbons?!? That has got to be something related to WW2 like all of the Merchant Marine medals. I cannot imagine a bunch of weather guys in Alaska thinking they are going to be the front line of defense when Ivan comes pouring over the Bering Straight.

Edit: I am a jackass, I had no idea NOAA had a paramilitary wing, BOTC, Navy rank structure, uniforms, and the like... wow. So the CDC employees are wearing Navy uniforms too. This is just confusing now.

Even has their own fight song...

Forward with NOAA
With the Corps that's got it all
Science and Service
We are always there to meet the call
We survey the oceans
And we track storms in the air
Forward with NOAA
We're the NOAA Corps, we're always there
 
das

das

Well-Known Member
Contributor
It's not "CDC"...it's the Public Health Service, which is a part of HHS and has 11 agencies beneath it, one of which is CDC. The vast majority of employees are ordinary federal civilian employees. But the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps has about 6000 professionals who are commissioned as one of the seven US Uniformed Services. As you pointed out, the NOAA Corps is another.
 
usmarinemike

usmarinemike

Solidly part of the 42%.
pilot
Contributor
Big Biff said:
Oh Kay... The NOAA Rifle/Pistol Ribbons?!? That has got to be something related to WW2 like all of the Merchant Marine medals. I cannot imagine a bunch of weather guys in Alaska thinking they are going to be the front line of defense when Ivan comes pouring over the Bering Straight.

Edit: I am a jackass, I had no idea NOAA had a paramilitary wing, BOTC, Navy rank structure, uniforms, and the like... wow. So the CDC employees are wearing Navy uniforms too. This is just confusing now.
Click to expand...


Good edit. I thought it was interesting that they observe a pretty good chunk of Naval tradition. I have an old friend who joined the NOAA officer corps. He left the Marine Corps as a Sgt. I guess someone has to drive the ships and fly the planes. With my degree and interests it's certainly something I would consider if the Marine Corps went away tomorrow.
 
Mumbles

Mumbles

Registered User
pilot
Contributor
It's getting ugly out there....

when pooh starts getting homicidal....watch out.
 

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BACONATOR

BACONATOR

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor
Mumbles said:
when pooh starts getting homicidal....watch out.
Click to expand...

That reminds me of some podcast/recording of some radio show or something reading aloud a story called "Pooh Goes Ape-S***". One of the funniest thing I've ever heard. I wish I still had it.

EDIT: Here it is!


/threadjack
 
blarged

blarged

ready
OttoWrote8 said:
That reminds me of some podcast/recording of some radio show or something reading aloud a story called "Pooh Goes Ape-S***". One of the funniest thing I've ever heard. I wish I still had it.

EDIT: Here it is!
Click to expand...

MY CHILDHOOD! :(

ps. hah, not sure which is funnier, the actual story or the monkey in the background seemingly peeing his pants uncontrollably
 
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