Will pandemic be mild, or kill millions? WHO expected to designate a full pandemic within days

The point they all fail to mention is that "pandemic" merely means that cases have been found of a new strain, that it infects humans, and that it spreads readily and sustainably. Nothing about severity or lethality involved.

The fact is, almost every year's flu epidemic is a "pandemic", since it almost always involves some new mutated form(which is why we need a new vaccine every year), infects people, and spreads readily.

WHO is coilluding with the media to spread hooey instead of information.

“The odds of this thing mutating again and becoming devastatingly lethal are very, very, very small.”

The odds of this thing mutating again are very high. Flu viruses mutate very quickly because they do not have DNA, only RNA. The question is whether the mutations will weaken or strengthen the virus. Nobody knows. This strain of flu has a history of becoming extremely virulent. That is why WHO and CDC have been concerned.

As an epidemic, this hasn’t even started yet. See charts of the 1918 outbreak. The first several months were very similar to this. It will probably be several months before the impact of this virus is known. It is very unwise to not take this seriously. It is also unwise to panic and believe all the hype in the media.

My advice to my friends and family is to take the potential threat seriously. Stay informed about outbreaks, practice good hygiene, and seek treatment immediately if you develop flu symptoms. Or more simply, act like a reasonably intelligent adult.

Viruses don’t have DNA?
Ever hear of a retrovirus?

What med school did you go to?

BTW, I never said at all the odds of it mutating were small. I said the odds of it mutating AND becoming devastatingly lethal were small.

If you feel I am wrong, then please point me to the journal, abstracts, clinical studies, or Pubmed reference.

I said FLU viruses don’t have DNA. I thought we were talking about the flu, however if we were talking about retroviruses I am sorry I must have missed it. Also, I don’t believe that I ever said that I went to medical school. Though I am a first responder, and we try to stay informed in case we might come across a case of the flu.

I actually wasn’t disagreeing with you, in fact I said that you were right that it probably wasn’t anything to worry about. I was only pointing out that the flu virus mutates very quickly, and this virus has a history of being severe. WHO and the CDC are reacting based upon that possibility No need to panic, but it is far too early to write this one off. Sorry that you seemed to take offense

No, didn’t take offense at all.
In fact, though, I think flu viruses do indeed have dna.

Bottom line is that flu is about as dangerous (most of the time) as crabgrass.

There are a couple viruses that are really, really dangerous. But in general, the heavy hitters in the disease world are bacteria. TB, Anthrax, Pneumonia, Plague.

Hell, simple cholera is gonna kill far more people this year than influenza.

Simple precautions. Wash your hands. Try to avoid crowds where there might be numbers of infected people. Don’t lick the door handle at the homeless shelter.

First off, don’t lick door handles anywhere.

Flu viruses do not have DNA. They replicate using eight separate pieces of genetic material, which allow them to combine with other viruses. This is why we have bird, pig, man flu. Other viruses have DNA, but not the flu, which is part of the reason it evolves so quickly.

There are dangerous viruses and bacteria. At least bacteria can be treated with antibiotics. Anti-virals are far less effective. Dengue, meningitis, Marburg, HIV, Ebola, SARS and Hantavirus are just a few of those that are horribly dangerous. Fortunately, they are not very prevalent in the US (except HIV which has a controllable set of risk factors)

Cholera is caused by contaminated water, so it is not transmitted from person to person in normal contact. Maybe it was a bad year for cholera, I am not sure. Usually, there are more deaths from the flu than cholera, by far. Mostly they are elderly people or those with compromised immune systems, but not always. Three or four years ago, we had a station chief who was completely healthy and he died after contracting the flu. He was only 44. try to keep in the back of my mind that previous flu epidemics have killed 50-100 million people. We have better medical care of course, but it is still a worthy enemy.

I still agree that this is far from the dangerous epidemic that the media wants us to believe. I also agree that standard precautions will probably be effective. We will see how this turns out by the end of next year’s flu season.

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