Swine Flu Set To Be Declared A Pandemic

[Misawa]

It's only something to worry about if you're in some deprived nation like the virus' birthplace, Mexico. Over here all you need is the pill and you're right as rain. I hate how the media hailed it as the next bubonic plague or something.

[efq]

The thing is, if it gets to africa (if it hasn't already, didn't check) then tens of thousands would die because of the poverty. So they got to take precautions. If you think about it, if you go near someone and physical touch them or something then you are likely to contract swine flu but with the normal flu, I've been near loads of people and never got it + them sneezing and coughing over me. 27000 cases in over a month and a bit aswell and is rising in gradually rising in higher amounts.

[Plank]

The thing is, if it gets to africa (if it hasn't already, didn't check) then tens of thousands would die because of the poverty. So they got to take precautions. If you think about it, if you go near someone and physical touch them or something then you are likely to contract swine flu but with the normal flu, I've been near loads of people and never got it + them sneezing and coughing over me. 27000 cases in over a month and a bit aswell and is rising in gradually rising in higher amounts.

Yeah, but people are saying it is no worse than the normal flu, in fact probably better because it only lasts a couple of days and the death rate is lower. I'm sure there are much worse diseases spreading around in Africa. The way the media say things like "there are now 27,000 cases worldwide" is so misleading as well. I bet 70% of them are probably recovered and back to normal already.

[lew!]

Finally declared..

The World Health Organisation has said it is declaring a swine flu pandemic, raising its alert level to the maximum of six.


Pupils wear protective masks at a school in Mexico


It does not mean the virus has become more deadly, just that its geographical spread is now global.
The move came as the number of infections climbed in the United States, Europe, Australia, South America and elsewhere.
It is the first global pandemic for 41 years. The virus first emerged in Mexico in April and has now spread to 74 countries with a reported 27,000 cases and 141 deaths.
Twenty-five new cases have been confirmed in the UK, bringing the total number to 822. There have been no deaths.
A Department of Health spokesperson said: "The localised cases of swine flu found in the UK have so far been generally mild in most people, but are proving to be severe in a small minority of cases.
"We are continuing to work to slow the spread of the disease and to put in place arrangements to ensure that the UK is well-placed to deal with this new infection."

In a statement to member countries, the WHO said it decided to raise the pandemic alert level from phase five to six.
The decision was made after the UN health agency held an emergency meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, on swine flu with its experts.
Moving to phase six will trigger a large scale production of vaccines and prompt governments to devote more money towards efforts to contain the virus.
It will also raise questions about why the step was delayed for weeks as the virus continued to spread.
WHO chief Dr Margaret Chan quizzed eight countries with large swine flu outbreaks on Wednesday to see if a pandemic, or global epidemic, should be declared.
The WHO has urged countries not to close borders or restrict travel and trade.
It said: "At this early stage, the pandemic can be characterised globally as being moderate in severity. We remain in close dialogue with influenza vaccine manufacturers."
According to the WHO's own pandemic criteria, a global outbreak means a new flu virus is spreading in at least two world regions.


Flu Alerts Guide

Find out more about the six-point scale the WHO uses to assess the risk of a pandemic.




Sky's health correspondent Thomas Moore said any move to declare a pandemic did not mean the virus itself was growing in potency.
He explained: "This is a marker if you like of geographical spread. It's not an indication that the virus is becoming more severe."
GlaxoSmithKline is already working with a key ingredient of the swine flu vaccine to see how quickly doses can be produced.
And other major pharmaceuticals like Sanofi Pasteur have also been working on a vaccine after WHO gave them a "seed stock" of the virus last month.
However, drug giants say it could take up to six months before large amounts of a swine flu vaccine are available.

Edited by Catzsy [Forum Super Moderator]: Thread merged with earlier main thread.

[Hazza]

Oh god I thought this ended - Everyone forgot about it, get over it imo.

[Jorc]

Yikes scary, I can't believe its a pandemic. Lets hope it doesn't become and epidemic. :S

[Jack.Lfc]

God, im pig sick.

[efq]

Yikes scary, I can't believe its a pandemic. Lets hope it doesn't become and epidemic. :S

Lol a Pandemic is the worst, a epicdemic is in a local community or something.

[Wahey]

Don't care about it much, though apparently a house about 5 mins from me has been quarenteened or summin cuz someone has swine flu lmao

[FlyingJesus]

Claiming it as a pandemic would a complete waste of time, money and resources. I demand normal Flu, the common cold and cyber aids as pandemics, at least they've earned it! They've not been hyped by some W.H.O. who should have most of their members step down for wasting the world with their horror stories of death to everyone and mis-calculating the amount killed by it in Mexico (yes, Mexico did the numbers, but the W.H.O. should finalize them). Jeez.

Technically influenza and cold viruses are different each time you get them, there's just so many millions around And what's cyber aids is that like what you get if you're frisky on habbo