Swine Flu in Mexico
Apr 26th, 2009, 09:19 PM
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Swine Flu in Mexico
Has anyone recently come back from Cancun? What was it like over there in regards to the swine flu? Seen many people getting sick? We will be traveling there in a week and need to know how the atmosphere is like with this flu. Thanks.
Apr 27th, 2009, 05:19 AM
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Apr 27th, 2009, 06:05 AM
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MSNBC is reporting that the State Department in getting ready to issue a travel warning to Mexico. We were in Cancun a month ago and I feel terrible for the service people that were so wonderful to us during our stay. Good luck with whatever decision you make.
Apr 27th, 2009, 06:55 AM
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Here is the latest announcement from the CDC:
http://wwwn.cdc.gov/travel/contentSwineFluMexico.aspx
Here is the latest from the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City:
http://mexico.usembassy.gov/eng/eacs...uOutbreak.html
http://wwwn.cdc.gov/travel/contentSwineFluMexico.aspx
Here is the latest from the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City:
http://mexico.usembassy.gov/eng/eacs...uOutbreak.html
Apr 27th, 2009, 09:37 AM
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Now the poor souls had an earthquake.. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090427/...ico_earthquake
Apr 27th, 2009, 10:25 AM
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fyi- the advisory against Mexico travel has just been issued
WASHINGTON – U.S. officials advised Americans against most travel to Mexico on Monday as a swine flu virus that began there spread to the United States and beyond. With 40 cases now reported in the United States, President Barack Obama said there was reason for concern but not yet "a cause for alarm."
Dr. Richard Besser, acting director of the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, said that so far the disease in the United States seems less severe than the outbreak in Mexico, where more than 1,600 cases have been reported and where the suspected death toll has climbed to 149. No deaths have been reported in the U.S, and only one hospitalization.
"I wouldn't be overly reassured by that," Besser told reporters at CDC's headquarters in Atlanta. He raised the possibility of more severe cases in the United States.
WASHINGTON – U.S. officials advised Americans against most travel to Mexico on Monday as a swine flu virus that began there spread to the United States and beyond. With 40 cases now reported in the United States, President Barack Obama said there was reason for concern but not yet "a cause for alarm."
Dr. Richard Besser, acting director of the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, said that so far the disease in the United States seems less severe than the outbreak in Mexico, where more than 1,600 cases have been reported and where the suspected death toll has climbed to 149. No deaths have been reported in the U.S, and only one hospitalization.
"I wouldn't be overly reassured by that," Besser told reporters at CDC's headquarters in Atlanta. He raised the possibility of more severe cases in the United States.
Apr 27th, 2009, 11:07 AM
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quovadis-
Are you promoting Tamilflu as a prophylaxis? I thought it was only indicated if you were truly diagnosed with Influenza, and not as either a prophylaxis or treatment for other non-flu adenovirus infections
Are you promoting Tamilflu as a prophylaxis? I thought it was only indicated if you were truly diagnosed with Influenza, and not as either a prophylaxis or treatment for other non-flu adenovirus infections
Apr 27th, 2009, 03:19 PM
#15
I do not think qwovadis is promoting Tamiflu prophylaxis as such....however you CAN use it as a prophylaxis .
<u> let me make a comment about Tamiflu: </u>
I always take Tamiflu with me.....only used it once in Alice Springs( the Outback ) in Australia.
Wish I would have had taken it with me when I was in Alexandria Egypt...as I got the flu here on the last day of my holidays...what a long,tired ,sick plane ride it was coming home !
The drug is not cheap.....but it has a 5 years shelf life.
Yes,you can take Tamiflu BEFORE your trip.
1.It comes in a 75 mgm capsule ( half yellow ,half grey)
2. To try to prevent the Flu before a trip...you take one 75 mgm capsule once a day for SEVEN Days.
3. To treat the Flu once you have it ...you take 75 mgm twice a day for 5 days. (That is why there are 10 capsules in a box )
4. BUT if you get the flu or better still if you feel the flu coming on... you MUST take the capsule within 40- 48 hours of the onset of your symptoms
5.If you do not take the pills in this time interval ....then save your money...it will not help much ( if at all after that !!)
6. I will tell you why !
7. Once the virus infects your cell...it replicates ( doubles itself)....this goes on very quickly...and you start feeling sick.
8. BUT in order for the virus to keep moving to other cells it requires and enzyme called Neuraminidase (this is easly available right on the new viral particle....
so the virus goes on infecting cell after cell... BUT !! guess what Tamiflu does !
Yes !!!it inhibits this enzymes that is so vital for the virus to keep infecting your other cells.
Now you can see that the earlier you STOP this process, the better off for you....so you have to stop this infecting process within 40 to 48 hours....
after 48 hours,it is like trying to stop a leak in a Dam with gum!!
I always take Tamiflu with me ...winter or summer holidays ,like I said it is good for 5 years.
<u> let me make a comment about Tamiflu: </u>
I always take Tamiflu with me.....only used it once in Alice Springs( the Outback ) in Australia.
Wish I would have had taken it with me when I was in Alexandria Egypt...as I got the flu here on the last day of my holidays...what a long,tired ,sick plane ride it was coming home !
The drug is not cheap.....but it has a 5 years shelf life.
Yes,you can take Tamiflu BEFORE your trip.
1.It comes in a 75 mgm capsule ( half yellow ,half grey)
2. To try to prevent the Flu before a trip...you take one 75 mgm capsule once a day for SEVEN Days.
3. To treat the Flu once you have it ...you take 75 mgm twice a day for 5 days. (That is why there are 10 capsules in a box )
4. BUT if you get the flu or better still if you feel the flu coming on... you MUST take the capsule within 40- 48 hours of the onset of your symptoms
5.If you do not take the pills in this time interval ....then save your money...it will not help much ( if at all after that !!)
6. I will tell you why !
7. Once the virus infects your cell...it replicates ( doubles itself)....this goes on very quickly...and you start feeling sick.
8. BUT in order for the virus to keep moving to other cells it requires and enzyme called Neuraminidase (this is easly available right on the new viral particle....
so the virus goes on infecting cell after cell... BUT !! guess what Tamiflu does !
Yes !!!it inhibits this enzymes that is so vital for the virus to keep infecting your other cells.
Now you can see that the earlier you STOP this process, the better off for you....so you have to stop this infecting process within 40 to 48 hours....
after 48 hours,it is like trying to stop a leak in a Dam with gum!!
I always take Tamiflu with me ...winter or summer holidays ,like I said it is good for 5 years.
Apr 27th, 2009, 03:35 PM
#16
Doctors were on the news tonight saying they hope people DON'T take Tamiflu as a preventative because that will cause further problems. Just like people taking antibiotics every thime they have a sniffle has caused certain strains of infections to become resistant to the antibiotics, taking Tamiful "just becaue" could cause the same thing to happen to the fllu.
Apr 27th, 2009, 04:15 PM
#18
I have no idea why a doctor would say he hopes people do not use Tamiflu.
It has been extensively studied in both Canada and the USA and IS approved for prophylaxis.
Some bacterial have mutated over time and become resistant to the action of certain antibiotics....
This is NOT the case for tamiflu... the virus can and doses mutate BUT it still requires neuraminidase.
Let me explaina little:
Viruses are divided into many subtypes on the basis of TWO proteins on their surface.
The "H" proteins is hemagglutinin and this is where the "H" comes in .
The "N component" is for NEURAMINIDASE.
Therefore when the experts say on the news that the strain is
H1N2 or H3N2.......they are giving you the subtype..
however, in any case, the N is for Neuraminidase, which Tamiflu inhibits.!
Now as I said Tamiflu is only slightly beneficial once you are infected.
In reality ...it will reduce your sick time by about 2 days at most.
BUT, where it helps most importantly is that it REDUCES the severity of your symptoms.... so though you are still sick, you are not totally wiped out !!
Right now ( if you could get it ) a Flu vaccine shot will do nothing for the Swine Flu.
Vaccines are created from antigens (and other substances) that stimulate the production of antibodies (against this antigen) when it is introduced into your body.
There is no vaccine right now to protect you against the HN subtype of the swine Flu !
It has been extensively studied in both Canada and the USA and IS approved for prophylaxis.
Some bacterial have mutated over time and become resistant to the action of certain antibiotics....
This is NOT the case for tamiflu... the virus can and doses mutate BUT it still requires neuraminidase.
Let me explaina little:
Viruses are divided into many subtypes on the basis of TWO proteins on their surface.
The "H" proteins is hemagglutinin and this is where the "H" comes in .
The "N component" is for NEURAMINIDASE.
Therefore when the experts say on the news that the strain is
H1N2 or H3N2.......they are giving you the subtype..
however, in any case, the N is for Neuraminidase, which Tamiflu inhibits.!
Now as I said Tamiflu is only slightly beneficial once you are infected.
In reality ...it will reduce your sick time by about 2 days at most.
BUT, where it helps most importantly is that it REDUCES the severity of your symptoms.... so though you are still sick, you are not totally wiped out !!
Right now ( if you could get it ) a Flu vaccine shot will do nothing for the Swine Flu.
Vaccines are created from antigens (and other substances) that stimulate the production of antibodies (against this antigen) when it is introduced into your body.
There is no vaccine right now to protect you against the HN subtype of the swine Flu !
Apr 27th, 2009, 04:59 PM
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I disagree with Percy's recommendation. The concern is one of supply. If individuals start stockpiling Tamiflu for prevention use, where will it be for treatment when it's needed? No one lives for travel more than I do, but society's needs in a possible public health emergency take priority in my book.
The typical pharmacy stocks maybe one or two boxes of Tamiflu outside of normal flu season, and maybe not even that. This is not aspirin where you keep an entire shelf of the product. Given that Tamiflu turned out to be less effective against the routine strains of flu this past flu season, that's why I say "and maybe not even that." So if someone else who goes to your pharmacy beats you to that one bos, you have to wait. In a community pharmacy, you dispense a prescription item and it gets reordered from the wholesaler or distribution center for the next day, but if there's some kind of run on the product, I could see it being back-ordered.
There's also the matter of Tamiflu's side effects. All in all, they're not bad, but about 10 percent of adults who take it develop nausea, vomiting and/or diarrhea. It's slightly higher with kids. Not an unsubstantial number. If you are self-medicating, and you're one of that 10 percent, are you going to be able to distinguish between routine drug side effects and flu symptoms themselves?
I think this is not a good idea. Save getting Tamiflu for after the fact, if it should come down to that, and let's hope it never does.
The typical pharmacy stocks maybe one or two boxes of Tamiflu outside of normal flu season, and maybe not even that. This is not aspirin where you keep an entire shelf of the product. Given that Tamiflu turned out to be less effective against the routine strains of flu this past flu season, that's why I say "and maybe not even that." So if someone else who goes to your pharmacy beats you to that one bos, you have to wait. In a community pharmacy, you dispense a prescription item and it gets reordered from the wholesaler or distribution center for the next day, but if there's some kind of run on the product, I could see it being back-ordered.
There's also the matter of Tamiflu's side effects. All in all, they're not bad, but about 10 percent of adults who take it develop nausea, vomiting and/or diarrhea. It's slightly higher with kids. Not an unsubstantial number. If you are self-medicating, and you're one of that 10 percent, are you going to be able to distinguish between routine drug side effects and flu symptoms themselves?
I think this is not a good idea. Save getting Tamiflu for after the fact, if it should come down to that, and let's hope it never does.
Apr 27th, 2009, 05:08 PM
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Schmerl, you're right too. Tamiflu does help prevent the flu, but there's a real worry that resistance will develop if it is used willy-nilly. It's one thing to administer the drug to prevent the flu possibly to nursing home residents during flu season. That's a population siginificantly at risk. If everybody traveling to Mexico starts taking it, though, resistance could be a real worry.
