I'm not unduly worried about contracting Sars, particularly as the chances of getting it are remote. There's plenty more threatening illnesses around that aren't remote, but leastways I can have some control over these far more dangerous diseases by how I conduct my lifestyle.
Englishman.
Sars A Red Herring.
by Englishman 17 Replies latest jw friends
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Englishman
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Pleasuredome
i think SARS is being over hyped in the media. with a 4-5% fatality rate(as far as i know at thre moment), its not a KILLER like the media makes it out to be. if it's true that its a type of pneumonia, then even if there's no mediction available, there's some good herbal remedies like essential oil of oregano which reduces fluid build up in the lungs.
maybe the media's conditioning us for the real big one?
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searchfothetruth
I think they are testing out how people will react to news of an outbreak.
Testing what lengths they can go to in the name of protecting the population. The Patriot Act II says that if an alert is sounded, the government can quarantene whole cities, even stop parents from collecting children from school.
What lengths will people allow the government to go to, to protect their health.?
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Pleasuredome
http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1346560,00.html
Sars biological weapon?
11/04/2003 15:13 - (SA)Moscow - The deadly pneumonia that has killed more than 100 people around the world may be a man-made biological weapon, Russian experts said on Friday.
Nikolai Filatov, head of Moscow's epidemiological services, told the Gazeta daily that he thought the pneumonia was man-made because "there is no vaccine for this virus, its make-up is unclear, it has not been very widespread and the population is not immune to it."
Yet he had some reservations, since the virus has a low mortality rate - so far killing 4% of those infected -, and because it is relatively difficult to pass on - through direct contact or inhalation.
The virus, according to academy of medecine member Sergei Kolesnikov, is a cocktail of mumps and measles, whose mix could never appear in nature.
"We can only get that in a laboratory," he told a conference in the Siberian city of Irkutsk, quoted by RIA Novosti news agency.
It may have spread because of an "accidental leak" from a lab, he added.
More than 100 people have died and some 3 000 others have been infected by Severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars), which is believed to have originated in China's southern Guangdong province.
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Abaddon
Hmmm... I agree completely about how many people have a severe problem with relative risk assesment.
However, mortality of SARS, looking at resolved cases (survived/died), as compared to current cases (still sick/died) gives it a mortality rate of between 15-20%.
It appears to be out of containment at least in some areas.
Whilst we have vastly better medical facilities than during the Spanish Flu etc., SARS is showing signs of being a fast mutator... it isn't very transmissable at the moment, but could become more so... some starins (the Amoy Apartment one) act more on the gut than the respitory system.
It could be serious. Imagine, 1.2 billion dead people in the next year. It is very unlikely to do tha, but it is possible.
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VeniceIT
If you ask me it sounds like something out of a Robin Cook book or Richard Preston. Maybe someone launched a strain that's not as deadly to see how fast is spreads, where it spreads, and what the reaction time and reaction of the people and health care professionals are. This information is neccessary to launch a true biological attack, and I'm sure CDC, CIA and many others are looking into this possibility.
Or it could just be a flu going around.
Ven
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JH
What scares people is the unknown. All of what you wrote up there Englishman is known, so it's accepted.
SARS is mysterious and new. The experts all agree that sooner or later something big (virus) could kill many people.
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ozziepost
I never did like herring....but Mrs Ozzie does, though!
Cheers, Ozzie
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Shakita
We used herring heads to fish off the piers of the Jersey Shore to catch some mighty tasty Jersey Crabs!
SARS probably is here forever. I believe that it will probably reach a peek and then start to level out globally. But, being a virus, I think it will take its place along with the flu as hopefully the researchers will find a treatment and eventually a "SARS shot" that will keep the virus in check.
Malaria is a much bigger problem which makes SARS look like a day at the beach. Taken from WHO...
More than 3000 children die each day due to malaria
25 April 2003 -- The death toll from malaria remains high and effective anti-malarial drugs are not reaching those who need them, according the Africa Malaria Report released today by WHO and UNICEF. The report, launched to mark Africa Malaria Day 2003, also stresses that far too few children at risk of malaria are protected by life-saving insecticide-treated nets.Mrs. Shakita
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Simon
I think you are missing the potential.
If it kills 1 in 7 and is fairly virulent then it's pretty dramatic stuff !
Sure, we may have no deaths in the UK ... yet. But that is only treating 5 cases - put a slight load on the NHS and watch it crumble (as happens each year currently with flu)
By the same reasoning, we should not have been concerned about AIDS or any number of other things (Spanish Flu either) as hey, no on here has died ... yet.
The reality is that if thousands or millions start dying in Asia then it will affect us.
25 April 2003 -- The death toll from malaria remains high and effective anti-malarial drugs are not reaching those who need them, according the Africa Malaria Report released today by WHO and UNICEF. The report, launched to mark Africa Malaria Day 2003, also stresses that far too few children at risk of malaria are protected by life-saving insecticide-treated nets.