Anyone changing travel plans due to swine flu?
 

Just wondering if anyone has/is changing travel plans due to the swine flu problem. I'm going to Italy next week, how concerned should I be? What would you do? Cancel?

Aranda

I would NOT cancel a trip to Italy.

I would cancel a trip to Mexico.

As of this writing there is only case in Italy that I have read about. It is a 31 year old woman from the Region of Veneto who just returned from a trip to San Diego (think it was San Diego). She is in isolation in a hospital in Venice. Of course my friends who live in the Region of Veneto just flew home a few days ago from Mexico City. As of Sunday they are thankfully feeling quite well. But planes are sure a place where viruses can be picked up. Like girlonthego I would not cancel a trip to Italy but I would not go to Mexico.

you betcha... I was just about to buy a ticket to Guanajuato and MExico City. Don't think that is such a good idea right now.

Not unless the airlines/government cancels travel. I will leave for Rome tomorrow afternoon for one great week.

Mexico, yes. Italy, absolutely not.

We're going to Italy the end of May. There are more cases of swine flu in Texas, where we live, so..... you bet we're going to Italy!

Yes - the cab driver who drove me home tonight. He and his wife were planning on a vacation in Cancun in June. Now they're going to Cape Cod and Maine instead.

I'm not changing my plans: I'm still going to Germany next month, and I'm still not going to Mexico next month!

Thanks for sharing your opinions and for helping me through this decision. I didn't know about the case in Italy, but you all are giving me great courage, so Italy it is!

Happy trails!

Here's the latest update. NY leading with the most cases

http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/

Good thing I'm leaving for Italy in a few days!

A friend told me that she heard a public service announcement on the radio today here in Austin from the U.S government advising residents to stock up on bottled water and canned goods and make other "standard disaster preparations". She found it creepy, but plans to go to Costco tomorrow.

Like wug, I am glad we are heading out of state in a few weeks.

I'm leaving for London in 10 days and my main fear is -- IF more cases start showing up here in California, the UK authorities might impose extra screening at immigration. So LHR could be even more of a hassle than usual . . . .

In fact for those of us in Europe, the EU has recommended only going to 'affected countries' if absolutely necessary. That technically means no trips TO the US,rather than from . I'm off to see my mother in Canada on May 20, and hoping nothing gets worse. I find it slightly ridiculous that anyone should suggest I don't go to Canada,which is a huge country, because there are suspected cases on the east coast, thousands of kilometres away from where I would be. Just hoping it stays that way.

Agree with Carlux. I'm planning a holiday from the UK to Canada in June. At the moment there seems like a lot of hype about this. I will not be cancelling my holiday, unless forced to by matters outside my control. Obviously I hope this won't develop into something nasty but my fear is that the hype alone could cause panic and maybe travel restrictions.

At the moment only travel to Mexico has been officialy warned against in the UK (by the foreign office) and I heard on the news that flights from Manchester have already been affected. Anyone affected by this would be able to claim on their travel insurance. Any other cancellations, at present, would not.

T4TX: I think that is odd that there would be a public service announcement like that issued in TX. That is a little scary.
We are going to Bermuda in June on a great deal and I do not want to have to cancel that trip for flu either here or there so I hope they clear things up soon for everyone's sake (not just us travelers).

If Paris CDG (and probaly other airports) don't get their act together.. who knows what will happen.

A resident came back from Mexico the other day and showed up at work. He was asked what controls he had gone through, as they knew he had been in Mexico.

The traveller said there had been NO CONTROL at all in CDG when their plane from Mexico landed.

He then proceeded to Valencia, where there was no control either, as it was a flight arriving from Paris.

I sure hope everyone gets organized as there are already a couple cases in Valencia from a group of university students who went on a trip together.

This is exactly how the system breaks down.
Poor control, then some of these people go off to work in public places.. and there we go.. massive exposure.

Everyone take care.. only time will tell how serious this is going to be in Europe.

To clarify: A hospital resident in Valencia, Spain.

My concern is that travel restrictions may be imposed traveling back to the US. If airlines were more concerned about the safety of the world community they would offer the option of canceling flights to anywhere without cancellation fees.

I did read on a news wire that this flu is a combination of elements and therefore could have been created in a lab. As it is the drug companies are salivating at the prospect of selling vaccines.

On a lighter note I'm speculating about eating prosciutto! "They" say it's safe.

This whole thing is crazy. I'm going to Ireland in two weeks, and for a second I was thinking about cancelling because of just the fear of being on an airplane at all....but I think I"m just feeling the panic from the media hype, and no way am I cancelling. If I get nervous I'll just wear a mask....it is scary though

Going through passport control (or whatever it's called--where they just usually stamp your passport, few/no questions asked) took a long time in PHL on Tues. We couldn't figure what was taking so long with some people, and then I saw that a plane from Cancun arrived a few minutes ahead of ours from CDG. We sailed right through--no questions, but my guess is that they were spending lots more time with the folks getting off the Cancun plane. So my assumption is that it's already taking more time in airports; we had two hours between connections to PIT but it took every minute of that. Some personnel in airport were wearing masks.

Since the "fear" of germs on the plane has arrived.
http://www.aviation.com/travel/08050...on-planes.html


Basically the study (and others like it) show that the air in the plane is safer then the air on the ground!

As for a mask..... Healthcare Workers wear masks not to keep from catching something but to keep from infecting someone during "procedures" (or to keep from getting spashed with body fluids) Your real risk is touch. So don't kiss the Flight Attendanta and have a good flight!

As to getting through passport control..... I gess PHL is better then ATL. Two hours is NOT enough here on a NORMAL day. We specalize in Rude and inefficent. LOL!

I am not aware of any non-Mexican person on this planet dying from this renamed almost (stage 5) pandemic. The 23 month old child who died outside of Mexico had traveled out of Mexico. I grow more and more concerned each day about the way the news is reported to us all. Most people seem to have got over this form of influenza during a course of Tamiflu or other existing drug. I dont prescribe to complacent behavour but remain concerned about the way politicians seem to influence the news and the extent to which news has become core entertainment.

The media is hyping this to the point that people panic for no reason. Folks need to use common sense (like - gee, if you have a fever, DON'T go to work like you usually do!!! wash your hands, cover your mouth when you cough ;-), and educate themselves... as was mentioned before, no one has died but folks in Mexico - and those have been poor people with little or no health care. Thousands of people have died THIS year from the flu - regular flu - and how many have died so far from swine flu? And those affected so far have exhibited mild symptoms. I am traveling to Greece in a few weeks - have no plans to change anything and am hoping that some sanity comes to the media so that this can be clarified and the panic sybsides rather than ratchets up.

Travel insurance - from today's Sydney Morning Herald -'Travellers refused Mexican waive' -

http://tinyurl.com/crzw86

I don't understand this hysteria. The only place I won't go is Mexico and I started that before Swine Flu because of the drug wars.

35-40 thousand people die every year in the U.S. from the flu and we don't shut ever thing down and stay home.

I'm from Texas and they just shut down every academic/music/athletic competition for two weeks right as we are going into state finals. Some school district have shut down. Ft Worth has 80,000 students. They shut down all their campuses after a couple of kids in one school got it.

Yet we don't shut down the border--go figure! The only death in the U.S. was a Mexican girl who was visiting across the border in a border town.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/ar...Swine-Flu.aspx

Sorry but I don't know enough about computers to make this link work by just clicking on it. However, it's an interesting spin on the swine flu issue from a noted doctor who has the insight and intelligence to question mainstream medicine. It's on Dr. Mercola's site.

Yo, I think the link actually works.

Emmanuel, Obama's chief of staff, is quoted as saying something like, "never waste a crisis."
So is this getting hyped up for political and money (drug co's) purposes? Duh, ya think?

I have been using a product called Flight Spray, a natural anti-bacterial and antiseptic nose spray. I purchase it from the Magellan (800-962-4943; item #KR897 @ $15.85) when I fly.

Actually I keep one in my purse at all times and use it frequently, when in crowds, in a waiting room at a doctor's office, etc.

To put this into some perspective, the flu (all types) kills 36,000 people in every year in the USA: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/keyfacts.htm

According to a worst-case scenario published today, Swine flu would kill at most 1700 in USA. Of course, no one wants to be one of the ones killed. But I do not understand the sudden hysteria over Swine flu while there is total complacency over the huge numbers of people killed every year by non-Swine flu.

Maizy, May 1

We are going to Italy for sure, in a few weeks.

Ah, just don't kiss any pigs, and you will be fine!

Disclaimer: not ALL men are pigs.

Update from WHO today:

No rationale for travel restrictions
1 May 2009 -- WHO is not recommending travel restrictions related to the outbreak of the influenza A(H1N1) virus. Today, international travel moves rapidly, with large numbers of individuals visiting various parts of the world. Limiting travel and imposing travel restrictions would have very little effect on stopping the virus from spreading, but would be highly disruptive to the global community.

Influenza A(H1N1) has already been confirmed in many parts of the world. The focus now is on minimizing the impact of the virus through the rapid identification of cases and providing patients with appropriate medical care, rather than on stopping its spread internationally. Furthermore, although identifying the signs and symptoms of influenza in travellers can be an effective monitoring technique, it is not effective in reducing the spread of influenza as the virus can be transmitted from person to person before the onset of symptoms. Scientific research based on mathematical modelling indicates that restricting travel will be of limited or no benefit in stopping the spread of disease. Historical records of previous influenza pandemics, as well as experience with SARS, have validated this point.

Travellers can protect themselves and others by following simple recommendations related to travel aimed at preventing the spread of infection. Individuals who are ill should delay travel plans and returning travellers who fall ill should seek appropriate medical care. These recommendations are prudent measures which can limit the spread of many communicable diseases and not only influenza A(H1N1).