Americans told to wear masks as swine flu spreads round globe

TimesOnline.CO.UK ^ | 4/26/09

[Crazieman]

Doctors in America are advising worried patients to buy painters’ masks as a precaution against the global outbreak of swine flu that appears to have spread from Mexico to the United States, New Zealand and possibly Europe.

With the worldwide death toll standing at about 81 and with about 1,300 people infected, authorities across the globe are torn between the desire to slow down a potential flu pandemic and the need to avoid bringing major cities on every continent to an economic standstill.

As of today, the US was still allowing people to cross the border from Mexico – where it is thought the swine flu emerged last week – although customs officials at the San Ysidro and Otay Mesa border crossings were given protective masks. It is thought that eight people in US border towns have gone down with swine flu, and tonight Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that a further eight cases have been confirmed among students in New York.

[mysterio]

The way I understand it from my micro classes, virus is transmitted through droplets that have been aerosolized or by physical contact. If an aerosolized dropled evaporates on the mask, the virus can’t just float on air through the hole. Some bacteria and fungi can, however.

[exit82]

How will they protect the Teleprompter? /s

[thesearethetimes...]

Who is that behind Gibbs... our smiling friend, Rahm?

[SkyDancer]

Maybe that’s what I heard ....bacteria can and virus’ can’t ....

[Ted Grant]

I want a Batman mask.

[Windflier]

Why are some people dying in Mexico, instead? Simple, they are drinking Mexican water. And dying of dysentry as usual.

Reports coming out of Mexico indicate something quite different. Doctors and health workers in hospitals are dying of this bug.

Not all of Mexico is a third world backwater. Mexico City is bigger than Los Angeles, and just as modern, and most of the deaths so far have happened there.

Obviously, there's something different about American immune systems and Mexican immune systems. People are dying of this virus there, while they're recovering from it here. Until a full scientific study has been done on it, no one knows why.

[Nuc1]

Won't call ya crazy but ya got to have better than 6-7% mortality for me to consider it a bio-terrorism weapon. More people die from varsity dodge ball wounds every year. :D)

[AmericanInTokyo]

Now I just caught a mainline Japanese daily newspaper ONLINE, smacking the Mexican Government for refusing to quickly seal the border with the USA, stop outgoing airlines, trucks, cars, ships, etc. and from coming and, and sealing up the country in order to get a quick hand on what is going on and avoid its spread to others. It is from the distinguished Japanese daily YOMIURI NEWS.

The headline offers THIS:

メキシコ国境に旅行客往来、豚インフル封じ込め徹底せず

AiT Rough Paraphrase in English: "Travelers Able to Continue to Go Over the Mexican Border Back and Forth; No Effort to Energetically (in Detail) Contain The Swine Influenza."

This, top of the hour, in major Japanese newspaper.

[Salamander]

"Captain Trips" ping.

[Salamander]

We'll need more than a stupid "mask" for a mutating killer virus.

[JasonC]

But this didn't happen. Only hysteria happened. The stampede is of bored people yearning for the apocalypse just to have something to watch on the tele.

[JasonC]

Wrong, I know exactly why. They aren't dying of it in Mexico either. They just aren't coming in to the hospital unless they already have p double pneumonia. There is nothing here whatsoever. It is pure hysteria, of the kind we've seen a million times before.

[Windflier]

They aren't dying of it in Mexico either.

So, tell me why Mexico City is on a virtual lock down? Do you know how large that city is?

[shibumi]

Only the Dreamers will be saved.....

http://new.music.yahoo.com/videos/—2154458

[JasonC]

Hysteria. Seen it "n" times before.

People are overreacting to 149 deaths from pneumonia brought on by flu, in a city of 23 million people (metro area). The "high mortality rate" claims around 6% are based on the notion that only a few thousand have it, which is ludicruous on its face. That implies an infected rate of 0.01% (one in ten thousand). If as is miore likely it it more like 1% of the population, then the mortality is 0.06%. Utterly normal, and explains perfectly why no deaths have been seen anywhere else, since the number affected is so small.

Mexico city has a fifth of the entire country population. There are half a million deaths annually in the country, thus around 100,000 a year in the city, which is 275 per day. Normally, because the sun came up. The scare is now in its 4th day - 1100 people died in Mexico city for reasons having nothing to do with any of this in the same time period.

[mysterio]

a thin paper or cloth mask will stop a VIRUS?

Since much of the transmission is aerosolized droplets, the mask would stop the droplets. However, I think you would have to have your eyes covered, too, as that is a point of infection, as is touching your face.

[Salamander]

You always know where my “cry” button is.

Never saw that before.
Loved it.

One for you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GZlJr1c48k