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gardenmom5

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I'm hoping this is just a coincidence. . . . .    wondering if this is part of why the Chinese insist it will likely mutate and become more deadly.

I was on "droplet" protocols (staff must gown and face mask (kind that covers eyes as well), washing hands with soap after removing gloves and before leaving.  they were running a host of tests to make sure I wasn't contagious.)-   A city in our area - has the US patient zero from this outbreak of coronavirus that began in Wuhan. - oh - SARS *is* from the family of coronavirus.

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2 hours ago, StellaM said:

I think that it's likely a coincidence; it's not as if it's unusual for animals (in markets or elsewhere) to be implicated in intial transmission of a virus to humans.

Yes.  Chinese markets often have live animals.  Chickens, for example, are killed and plucked to order.  I don't find transmission in those circumstances unexpected.

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I’m inclined to believe the Rutgers scientist who says it’s likely a coincidence.  That is to say, I believe he believes it’s likely a coincidence. There’s so much no one really knows yet.

I’ve been having a lot of anxiety about the flu for about a week now. (Our family isn’t in a WHO-classified high risk category, I just have an anxiety disorder.) This new virus has messed with my ability to regulate my flu anxiety!  It’s like haphazardly placing an odd shaped block on top of a jenga pile.

And yet, if I hear one more person compare this virus to the risks of flu, I might lose my mind.

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I would be suspicious of information about a possible health crisis written in The Daily Mail.   I read it too, but I know the source. 

Here is a helpful article from NPR:

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/01/24/798661901/wuhan-coronavirus-101-what-we-do-and-dont-know-about-a-newly-identified-disease

and The Guardian: 

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/jan/24/what-is-the-coronavirus-wuhan-china-virus-symptoms

 

 

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2 hours ago, Carrie12345 said:

 

And yet, if I hear one more person compare this virus to the risks of flu, I might lose my mind.

May I ask why? They do seem quite similar to me. At this point I'm not particularly worried about either one, although both DH and I are considered high risk. The flu is certainly much more of a threat to us (the death toll in our state so far this season is at 41), but I am following the news about the Wuhan virus.

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I follow those stories with a fatalistic view. For some reason the apocalyptic center of my brain (whichever part that is) is convinced that it will be a virus that some day does a reset of the human population.

I was a little surprised to see that "the man" has temperature scanners sensitive enough to pick up fever in pedestrians.

I think Atlanta vs Sea-Tac monitoring is because Atlanta is the main Delta hub, while Sea-Tac is the hub for Alaskan. I wonder what path the US patient zero followed to get to Seattle.

 

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14 minutes ago, Pawz4me said:

May I ask why? They do seem quite similar to me. At this point I'm not particularly worried about either one, although both DH and I are considered high risk. The flu is certainly much more of a threat to us (the death toll in our state so far this season is at 41), but I am following the news about the Wuhan virus.

I’ve had multiple reasons circulating through my head. First and foremost, there’s so much that hasn’t been learned yet.  We know a lot about the average influenzas.  Knowledge absolutely does have power in prevention and treatment.

Though far from perfect, we have a flu vaccine that aids in reducing transmission and symptoms. And we have antivirals, however less than ideal they may be.

The amount of people I know/see who treat the idea of the flu and its effects as just a bad cold freak me out.  My (healthy) family had H1N1 in 2009, and it was SO far from a bad cold for us.  Thinking about people who don’t take those precautions seriously (I mean, how many posters have recently posted about people knowingly mingling while exposed?) acting nonchalant about another virus we don’t know a whole lot about and don’t have resources for freaks me out even more.

My gut feeling is that, by the time we do know more (scientifically and the actual sharing of full findings), a lot of people could potentially suffer because of a combination of the virus itself and the general public’s insistence on being nonchalant, refusal to let the media “win”, and distrust in science/government.

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7 minutes ago, Laura Corin said:

Those scanners were used for SARS, I was living in Hong Kong at the time, so it's established technology

No doubt. I got so frustrated with the silly pediatric thermometers that I eventually threw them all out. The pediatrician's office could just set up a scanner like this next to the weight and height measurement station...

Heat-display technology is old news isn't it? I'm just surprised at the apparent sensitivity of it. And for no good reason, since I was around when gps went from +/-3m error to essentially none.

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I want to add, a chunk of my concern isn’t yet about the virus (because I sure as heck don’t know enough) but about capabilities IF this virus is A Big Flipping Deal.  I’ve done a good bit of studying emergency management through FEMA, and I’ve witnessed a lot of poor emergency management IRL.  There are great protocols out there, but humans stink at them.

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The best thing to do at this stage, if possible, may be to get vaccinated for flu.  When SARS hit Hong Kong, anyone with flu-like symptoms was treated as if they had SARS.  The side effects of the severe treatment has had life-long consequences for some people who simply had flu.  I don't know if the situation will be different with this virus, however.

Edited by Laura Corin
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1 hour ago, Carrie12345 said:

I’ve had multiple reasons circulating through my head. First and foremost, there’s so much that hasn’t been learned yet.  We know a lot about the average influenzas.  Knowledge absolutely does have power in prevention and treatment.

Though far from perfect, we have a flu vaccine that aids in reducing transmission and symptoms. And we have antivirals, however less than ideal they may be.

The amount of people I know/see who treat the idea of the flu and its effects as just a bad cold freak me out.  My (healthy) family had H1N1 in 2009, and it was SO far from a bad cold for us.  Thinking about people who don’t take those precautions seriously (I mean, how many posters have recently posted about people knowingly mingling while exposed?) acting nonchalant about another virus we don’t know a whole lot about and don’t have resources for freaks me out even more.

My gut feeling is that, by the time we do know more (scientifically and the actual sharing of full findings), a lot of people could potentially suffer because of a combination of the virus itself and the general public’s insistence on being nonchalant, refusal to let the media “win”, and distrust in science/government.

 

Do we think there's no possibility at all that we are dealing with mutations of the flu virus because of the vaccines? I tend to wonder with all these "flu-like" viruses that keep popping up. I mean bacteria sure do know how to get around antibiotics, so it seems like this could be a possibility.

Edited by StaceyinLA
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We managed to come down with H1N1 at my house in 2009.  They cancelled MDA camps across the country that summer because of the outbreak.  Ds was only 9 at the time, but it was more dangerous for the older kids with muscular dystrophy.  He's 19 now so we have to be much more careful.  

The worst hit-by-a-truck flu I've ever had in my LIFE was in 1998.  I was horizontal for weeks and took over a month to get my strength back.  Miraculously, DH and DD (two at the time) didn't get sick.  Dh worked over a week of half-days at the office because he was staying home until our toddler went down for her nap.  I only had to survive with her between when she woke and when he got home from work.  Luckily she was one of those little adult toddlers and didn't insist upon being on top of me while I was sick.  

Knock wood, but we haven't had a flu since 2009.  We all get the shot because of Ds and because Dd works in public schools.  We do have the luxury of a lighter more flexible schedule now that only ds is home.  Dh works from home to, so our exposure is greatly reduced compared to when the kids were little homeschoolers and had an activity EVERY afternoon in a different public place.  

Dd's university did send a coronovirus alert to students and families to be on the lookout for symptoms.

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39 minutes ago, StaceyinLA said:

 

Do we think there's no possibility at all that we are dealing with mutations of the flu virus because of the vaccines? I tend to wonder with all these "flu-like" viruses that keep popping up. I mean bacteria sure do know how to get around antibiotics, so it seems like this could be a possibility.

I’m not sure what reason there would be to doubt the WHO’s identification as a Coronavirus.  As a zombie buff, I’m not above entertaining *anything, but it’d be a giant miss, labeling it corona if it were flu, no?

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Virologist Yi Guan is worried. He is a top notch virologist in Hong Kong who helped to identify the coronavirus that caused the SARS outbreaks. He was not terribly worried about SARS but is worried about this virus. People from Wuhan have already traveled for the Chinese New Year. It will be very difficult to contain. Heaven help places like India if it’s there.

The “better” news is that healthier individuals appear to be able to survive it. It can wop the heck out of your lungs, though.

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The Daily Mail has a history of sensationalist reporting on medical topics. From the wiki:

The Daily Mail has been widely criticised for its unreliability, as well as printing of sensationalist and inaccurate scare stories of science and medical research,[13][14][15][16][17] and for copyright violations.[18]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daily_Mail

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1 hour ago, StaceyinLA said:

 

Do we think there's no possibility at all that we are dealing with mutations of the flu virus because of the vaccines? I tend to wonder with all these "flu-like" viruses that keep popping up. I mean bacteria sure do know how to get around antibiotics, so it seems like this could be a possibility.

 

It is the nature of the flu virus to mutate -- vaccine or no vaccine.  I recently read _The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History_ by John Barry  where they raced to create something that would slow the spread in 1918.  I am unclear if a effective vaccine was ever really accomplished -- as I recall it they came up with something that helped, and they stopped moving people around, and it ran out of victims (and maybe even mutated away from the most virulent form).  A combination of things.  But it also stated some organizational things that did not help -- and one was the way the government and the media lied to the people early in the epidemic so they stopped believing them and then didn't have the trust to do what was necessary as the epidemic deepened and people were dying.  And it didn't help that the government didn't know how to stop it. Or even how to implement all the ideas they had.

 

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1 hour ago, StaceyinLA said:

 

Do we think there's no possibility at all that we are dealing with mutations of the flu virus because of the vaccines? I tend to wonder with all these "flu-like" viruses that keep popping up. I mean bacteria sure do know how to get around antibiotics, so it seems like this could be a possibility.

Influenza viruses and coronaviruses are entirely different in structure and genome. For starters, influenza has about 11.6 thousand RNA bases divided between eight different segments; coronaviruses have closer to 30 thousand RNA bases on a single long strand.

Not even vaguely related to each other; for a virologist with the proper equipment to mistake one for the other would be like a zoologist mistaking a cockroach for a whale.

Edited by maize
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15 minutes ago, vonfirmath said:

 

It is the nature of the flu virus to mutate -- vaccine or no vaccine.  I recently read _The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History_ by John Barry  where they raced to create something that would slow the spread in 1918.  I am unclear if a effective vaccine was ever really accomplished -- as I recall it they came up with something that helped, and they stopped moving people around, and it ran out of victims (and maybe even mutated away from the most virulent form).  A combination of things.  But it also stated some organizational things that did not help -- and one was the way the government and the media lied to the people early in the epidemic so they stopped believing them and then didn't have the trust to do what was necessary as the epidemic deepened and people were dying.  And it didn't help that the government didn't know how to stop it. Or even how to implement all the ideas they had.

 

Odd thought: I exist because of the 1918 flu epidemic.

My grandfather's parents each lost a spouse to that epidemic, which subsequently led to them marrying each other and ultimately resulted in my grandfather.

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I've read so many things over the last 20 years of the fears of another "flu" epidemic ala 1917-1919.  it killed a lot of people worldwide.  they don't really know what it was, or how it killed.  they've periodically found a body that still had the possibility of finding the virus so they could sequence it and figure out what it was.  the hope being what they learned would allow them to prevent it from happening again.

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1 hour ago, StaceyinLA said:

 

Do we think there's no possibility at all that we are dealing with mutations of the flu virus because of the vaccines? I tend to wonder with all these "flu-like" viruses that keep popping up. I mean bacteria sure do know how to get around antibiotics, so it seems like this could be a possibility.

Quoting this one more time you address the part I bolded: when flu-like virus or flu-like illness are mentioned the phrase doesn't usually refer to the actual virus being similar to or related to the influenza virus, it refers merely to symptoms being similar to flu symptoms. There are lots are different viruses that can cause flu-like symptoms.

Most often "flu-like" is used in situations where the actual virus hasn't been identified--right now my family is fighting a respiratory virus with flu-like symptoms but I have no idea whether it is caused by influenza or something else because no test had been run.

In other cases the effects of a known virus (such as a coronavirus) may be described as flu-like as a shorthand to convey the types of symptoms that might be expected. 

Coronavirus, as it happens, is also the virus family frequently responsible for that illness we know as The Common Cold 🙂

Edited by maize
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NPR has a nice chart https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/01/22/798277557/how-does-wuhan-coronavirus-compare-to-mers-sars-and-the-common-cold

Had an appointment with my oncologist yesterday and he asked if I was aware of the wuhan virus. Obviously since Chinese New Year is tomorrow and the wuhan virus has been in the news for days. One of my niece was born during the SARS crisis and the maternity hospital followed ICU procedures for everyone. 

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41 minutes ago, chiguirre said:

The Daily Mail has a history of sensationalist reporting on medical topics. From the wiki:

The Daily Mail has been widely criticised for its unreliability, as well as printing of sensationalist and inaccurate scare stories of science and medical research,[13][14][15][16][17] and for copyright violations.[18]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daily_Mail

so - you think it is sensationalist that china has now locked down 11 cities?

that the US is diverting anyone coming from Wuhan into specific airports for extra screening?

that there are now two confirmed cases in the US (and another two being tested), that another 63 people in the US are being watched?

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1 hour ago, BeachGal said:

Virologist Yi Guan is worried. He is a top notch virologist in Hong Kong who helped to identify the coronavirus that caused the SARS outbreaks. He was not terribly worried about SARS but is worried about this virus. People from Wuhan have already traveled for the Chinese New Year. It will be very difficult to contain. Heaven help places like India if it’s there.

The “better” news is that healthier individuals appear to be able to survive it. It can wop the heck out of your lungs, though.

they've locked down Wuhan.  no trains, the roads, etc. - are blocked. and it has expanded to other cities.  bejing cancelled Chinese new year festivities - they dont' want people out in large groups in public.

one of the people in the US being watched/tested - flew in from mexico city.  

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1 minute ago, kand said:

As far as coronaviris vs flu danger, while the potential danger of Wuhan is much worse, it still seemed weird to me that my daughter’s college sent a Wuhan warning to all students yesterday and said they would be wiping down surfaces daily and what symptoms to watch for, etc, but they’ve never done that for flu. At this point, while the flu is unlikely to be a danger to most people who get it, it’s still a bigger risk overall to people so far than this new virus. Far more people have died of it so far. So why not those precautions with the flu?

Now, if this does start spreading, obviously we have a bigger problem. The statistic I have seen is a 3% death rate from it. Which is obviously much worse than flu.

you have to look at percentages.  the percentage of people who catch flu who die, is miniscule compared to this virus. (and usually only those immune compromised).  right now, death toll is 2 per 100 cases, and the virologists studying it expect it to mutate and get more leathal.

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10 hours ago, TravelingChris said:

What I do not understand is why they haven't put health inspectors at Sea-Tac since this is where the only confirmed patient entered the US>  Are there really all that many flights coming from China to Atlanta?  i would guess there are more to your area, Kristen.

they're diverting planes/passengers originating from there to other airports.

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10 minutes ago, kand said:

As far as coronaviris vs flu danger, while the potential danger of Wuhan is much worse, it still seemed weird to me that my daughter’s college sent a Wuhan warning to all students yesterday and said they would be wiping down surfaces daily and what symptoms to watch for, etc, but they’ve never done that for flu. At this point, while the flu is unlikely to be a danger to most people who get it, it’s still a bigger risk overall to people so far than this new virus. Far more people have died of it so far. So why not those precautions with the flu?

Now, if this does start spreading, obviously we have a bigger problem. The statistic I have seen is a 3% death rate from it. Which is obviously much worse than flu.

Socially, “we” are pretty darn complacent about the flu.  While two students in my dd’s college class wore masks the other day, I was also just in a place where people brought themselves and kids who “might” be sick, but they didn’t want to miss out.  (They were.) The careful can’t compete with the careless.

To be completely fair, I brought a teen who had been exposed to a child of someone with dx’ed H1N1. I put everyone in my family through a reminder lecture for reducing transmission even though not one of us had any symptoms within normal transmission timeframes.  And none of them are little kids who haven’t mastered elbow sneezing, were they to sneeze!

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3 hours ago, Carrie12345 said:

Thinking about people who don’t take those precautions seriously (I mean, how many posters have recently posted about people knowingly mingling while exposed?) acting nonchalant about another virus we don’t know a whole lot about and don’t have resources for freaks me out even more.

I think that mingling if you've been exposed but are not symptomatic is normal. I mean, if a friend I had lunch with yesterday thinks she has the flu today, do I stay home? Nope - unless I'm feeling unwell. If one of my family members has the flu, I'm restricting optional activities - but if I worked, I'd still go to work. I'd still go grocery shopping (assuming I *had* to). And often you are exposed before someone shows any symptoms and you don't know you were exposed, so you go about your daily business. BUT, if you are showing symptoms, please stay home. If your family members has the flu - or even flu like symptoms, don't meet me for a play date nor send your kid over to my house to play! 

Edited by Bambam
corrected wrong word.
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30 minutes ago, gardenmom5 said:

so - you think it is sensationalist that china has now locked down 11 cities?

that the US is diverting anyone coming from Wuhan into specific airports for extra screening?

that there are now two confirmed cases in the US (and another two being tested), that another 63 people in the US are being watched?

I don't think anyone is disputing the existence of the illness or the lockdowns. The Daily Mail has chosen to headline the most sensational origin story, even though they admit that few scientists believe it.

Edited by Laura Corin
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34 minutes ago, gardenmom5 said:

so - you think it is sensationalist that china has now locked down 11 cities?

that the US is diverting anyone coming from Wuhan into specific airports for extra screening?

that there are now two confirmed cases in the US (and another two being tested), that another 63 people in the US are being watched?

No, I think it's sensationalist to say that it came from the biological research facility instead of the exotic animal market snakes.

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10 minutes ago, Bambam said:

I think that mingling if you've been exposed by are not symptomatic is normal. I mean, if a friend I had lunch with yesterday thinks she has the flu today, do I stay home? Nope - unless I'm feeling unwell. If one of my family members has the flu, I'm restricting optional activities - but if I worked, I'd still go to work. I'd still go grocery shopping (assuming I *had* to). And often you are exposed before someone shows any symptoms and you don't know you were exposed, so you go about your daily business. BUT, if you are showing symptoms, please stay home. If your family members has the flu - or even flu like symptoms, don't meet me for a play date nor send your kid over to my house to play! 

I can agree with most of those things in theory, and practice a lot of them. But my brain refuses to quit reminding me that so many people DON’T stay home when they know they’re sick. And there’s a wide variety of reasons for that, but reasons don’t change what happens. I could relax a bit more if I felt like I could trust more people!

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43 minutes ago, gardenmom5 said:

they've locked down Wuhan.  no trains, the roads, etc. - are blocked. and it has expanded to other cities.  bejing cancelled Chinese new year festivities - they dont' want people out in large groups in public.

one of the people in the US being watched/tested - flew in from mexico city.  

 

Yeah, thank goodness.

Yi Guan mentioned that the locals should have been doing more to prevent its spread much sooner. I am reading that they knew something serious was happening around December 8th. Not sure how accurate that is, though.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/23/world/asia/coronavirus-victims-wuhan.html

They are observing a number of people in the US who were in Wuhan in December and January. It's just observation, though. The problem is that the initial symptoms are similar to a cold or flu. A young, healthy person might just develop mild symptoms and if they don't know they have this coronavirus, they could possibly spread it to others. The lung problems and fatigue can be really severe so in those cases, a person would likely go in to get that checked. I'd hope.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

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1 minute ago, BeachGal said:

 

Yeah, thank goodness.

Yi Guan mentioned that the locals should have been doing more to prevent its spread much sooner. I am reading that they knew something serious was happening around December 8th. Not sure how accurate that is, though.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/23/world/asia/coronavirus-victims-wuhan.html

They are observing a number of people in the US who were in Wuhan in December and January. It's just observation, though. The problem is that the initial symptoms are similar to a cold or flu. A young, healthy person might just develop mild symptoms and if they don't know they have this coronavirus, they could possibly spread it to others. The lung problems and fatigue can be really severe so in those cases, a person would likely go in to get that checked. I'd hope.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

they're observing people who were exposed by the two confirmed cases in the US - they are people who were exposed in the US.

US patient zero is local to me, so there's a fair amount on our local news.

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26 minutes ago, chiguirre said:

No, I think it's sensationalist to say that it came from the biological research facility instead of the exotic animal market snakes.

they didn't say it did - they said it was a possible escape.

escapes from research facilities do happen - and are documented.  the number of medical personal practicing all protocols while treating patients - who themselves end up ill, is still much too high.

having just been a patient in "droplet" protocols for two days before it was dropped - I watched at least one nurse be lax because it was "too much bother" to do the full protocol.

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At the university that my two sons attend, there are a number of people recently arrived from Wuhan. From what I've gathered, some of them are international students and others were visiting China. The university says they are monitoring them and there are no signs of illness so far. It's making me a bit nervous, though, because they live in the dorms and of course germs spread like wildfire in a dorm environment. 

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7 minutes ago, gardenmom5 said:

they're observing people who were exposed by the two confirmed cases in the US - they are people who were exposed in the US.

US patient zero is local to me, so there's a fair amount on our local news.

 

Great. One is confirmed in Chicago. 😞

There are six students at University of Wisconsin-Platteville who are being monitored. They were all in Wuhan and came through O'Hare in Chicago. No signs of anything, just being monitored.

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Just now, Selkie said:

At the university that my two sons attend, there are a number of people recently arrived from Wuhan. From what I've gathered, some of them are international students and others were visiting China. The university says they are monitoring them and there are no signs of illness so far. It's making me a bit nervous, though, because they live in the dorms and of course germs spread like wildfire in a dorm environment. 

 

Yeah, that would not be good in a university.

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43 minutes ago, Thatboyofmine said:

I think so much of it is inconsiderate and/or clueless people.  Let me tell y’all what I have dealt with for the last 3 weeks.  My neighbor77 got sick and went to urgent care.  She called me saying she needed a ride home and that she would wear a mask in the car.  Of course I go get her.  There’s no mask to be seen.  *i* was not about to walk into urgent care during flu season to get one.  At 77, I couldn’t make her go back and get one.   So I figured it would be fine, she is just breathing, no coughing.  So we leave and half way home, the coughing starts (apparently it had also kept her up all night).  She coughed on every damn surface in the front half of my car.   I took her home, went to my house and stripped down just inside the door to rid myself of germs, and took a shower.  24 hours later I had it. I went to the doctor’s office and was the only person in the waiting area wearing a mask.   A week later, I finally feel normal.  No one in my house has gotten it.  Dh goes to work The following week and a coworker is out Monday & Tuesday with the same crap.  The guy comes back on Wednesday to work (in their small mobile office building), coughing the whole time.  He calls in sick on Thursday and Friday.  By then, the 2 guys on either side of him have it also.  2 days later, guess who’s sick?  Dh.  Dh was supposed to fly to philly on Wednesday but had to cancel his much, much anticipated plans.  I take him to urgent care.  It’s full.  Guess how many are wearing a mask?  One-dh.   Now, my ears are starting to get infected again and the side of my neck hurts.   I just don’t freaking get it.   Isn’t it common sense to take precautions and look out for those around you??
 

ETA; this was a response to another post above, just an observation... it’s not a comment on the wuhan virus, just viruses in general.  I hope that’s clearer. I threw my back out while ago and am out of it. 

I wonder if a big public health campaign to convince people too wear masks would make a difference? It's very common in Japan for example to see people in masks. They do seem to help prevent transmission--healthy people who wear a mask in public are less likely to get sick, so it would be nice if we could normalize their use.

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23 minutes ago, EmseB said:

Is it true that most of the deaths from Wuhan so far are elderly people? I'm not saying that's a good thing, but it seems like it has pretty common respiratory virus symptoms that are more serious in at-risk populations, from what I'm reading.

From what I've read most of the deaths have been older men who had pre-existing health issues that perhaps made them higher risk. One victim was a 48 yo woman who had diabetes. The youngest I've seen mentioned was a 36 yo man. I haven't seen anything that said he had any pre-existing conditions. Link

Edited by Pawz4me
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3 hours ago, BeachGal said:

Virologist Yi Guan is worried. He is a top notch virologist in Hong Kong who helped to identify the coronavirus that caused the SARS outbreaks. He was not terribly worried about SARS but is worried about this virus. People from Wuhan have already traveled for the Chinese New Year. It will be very difficult to contain. Heaven help places like India if it’s there.

The “better” news is that healthier individuals appear to be able to survive it. It can wop the heck out of your lungs, though.

 

Yes, I read his statements.  That is what got me really freaked. 

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1 hour ago, Thatboyofmine said:

I think so much of it is inconsiderate and/or clueless people.  Let me tell y’all what I have dealt with for the last 3 weeks.  My neighbor77 got sick and went to urgent care.  She called me saying she needed a ride home and that she would wear a mask in the car.  Of course I go get her.  There’s no mask to be seen.  *i* was not about to walk into urgent care during flu season to get one.  At 77, I couldn’t make her go back and get one.   So I figured it would be fine, she is just breathing, no coughing.  So we leave and half way home, the coughing starts (apparently it had also kept her up all night).  She coughed on every damn surface in the front half of my car.   I took her home, went to my house and stripped down just inside the door to rid myself of germs, and took a shower.  24 hours later I had it. I went to the doctor’s office and was the only person in the waiting area wearing a mask.   A week later, I finally feel normal.  No one in my house has gotten it.  Dh goes to work The following week and a coworker is out Monday & Tuesday with the same crap.  The guy comes back on Wednesday to work (in their small mobile office building), coughing the whole time.  He calls in sick on Thursday and Friday.  By then, the 2 guys on either side of him have it also.  2 days later, guess who’s sick?  Dh.  Dh was supposed to fly to philly on Wednesday but had to cancel his much, much anticipated plans.  I take him to urgent care.  It’s full.  Guess how many are wearing a mask?  One-dh.   Now, my ears are starting to get infected again and the side of my neck hurts.   I just don’t freaking get it.   Isn’t it common sense to take precautions and look out for those around you??
 

ETA; this was a response to another post above, just an observation... it’s not a comment on the wuhan virus, just viruses in general.  I hope that’s clearer. I threw my back out while ago and am out of it. 

Having just recovered from the flu (miserable), I feel so bad for ya'll and I totally get it!  It was so kind of you to get your neighbor, and I'm sure she wasn't trying to get you sick, but just UGH!!!!!  Call me crazy, and I don't care, but I now have a pack of masks that I carry in my purse for just such an occasion!!!  And...people who aren't wearing masks in the doctors office these days, I don't get that either.  You would think they would want to protect themselves from bringing home something they don't already have as much as a courtesy to other patients.  I took myself to Minute Clinic in Target when I thought I had the flu.  Having to walk by all the registers to get to the clinic, I wore a mask because I didn't want to get anyone sick.  You'd think I had the plague - people walking way wide of me and giving me dirty looks-- LOL.  I'm thinking I could be breathing in the air you are walking through and you not even know I was sick --LOL. 

I hope your DH is feeling better soon and that you aren't getting it again!!!

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3 hours ago, BeachGal said:

Virologist Yi Guan is worried. He is a top notch virologist in Hong Kong who helped to identify the coronavirus that caused the SARS outbreaks. He was not terribly worried about SARS but is worried about this virus. People from Wuhan have already traveled for the Chinese New Year. It will be very difficult to contain. Heaven help places like India if it’s there.

The “better” news is that healthier individuals appear to be able to survive it. It can wop the heck out of your lungs, though.

The government shut down travel outside Wuhan at 10am Beijing time (BJT). People that found out early were rushing to switch tickets if they had a later travel time.  

 

2 hours ago, vonfirmath said:

 

It is the nature of the flu virus to mutate -- vaccine or no vaccine.  I recently read _The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History_ by John Barry  where they raced to create something that would slow the spread in 1918.  I am unclear if a effective vaccine was ever really accomplished -- as I recall it they came up with something that helped, and they stopped moving people around, and it ran out of victims (and maybe even mutated away from the most virulent form).  A combination of things.  But it also stated some organizational things that did not help -- and one was the way the government and the media lied to the people early in the epidemic so they stopped believing them and then didn't have the trust to do what was necessary as the epidemic deepened and people were dying.  And it didn't help that the government didn't know how to stop it. Or even how to implement all the ideas they had.

 

This is the big contention in Wuhan right now. People are saying they weren't told about the seriousness or how it was spread until recently.

 

2 hours ago, gardenmom5 said:

they've locked down Wuhan.  no trains, the roads, etc. - are blocked. and it has expanded to other cities.  bejing cancelled Chinese new year festivities - they dont' want people out in large groups in public.

one of the people in the US being watched/tested - flew in from mexico city.  

The one 57-year old Mexican that flew into Mexico City a couple of days ago was on watch, but has now been tested negative. There are three other suspected cases in Mexico now, though.

 

1 hour ago, BeachGal said:

 

Yeah, thank goodness.

Yi Guan mentioned that the locals should have been doing more to prevent its spread much sooner. I am reading that they knew something serious was happening around December 8th. Not sure how accurate that is, though.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/23/world/asia/coronavirus-victims-wuhan.html

They are observing a number of people in the US who were in Wuhan in December and January. It's just observation, though. The problem is that the initial symptoms are similar to a cold or flu. A young, healthy person might just develop mild symptoms and if they don't know they have this coronavirus, they could possibly spread it to others. The lung problems and fatigue can be really severe so in those cases, a person would likely go in to get that checked. I'd hope.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

Yi Guan said the local "government" should have done more, not the people. The people (in Wuhan) say the government lied to them from the beginning (or at least withheld information), or they would have been doing more to prevent its spread. They're pretty upset for good reason. 

One of my students in China told me yesterday he doesn't know when school will start again (they are off for CNY, much like winter break here in the US), and he can't go outside. I could tell he was so stir-crazy during our class (online).

The Chinese school WeChat group in our area has been posting about this all week. They posted a notice a couple of days ago to just maintain caution and practice health safety. It hasn't been found in our state, but people have been traveling. I'm surprised/not surprised that there hasn't been much posted on general WeChat about it. Not surprised, because knowing China, their algorithm is probably snatching every mention of it as soon as it's posted. 

And it's been on the Mexican news stations because of first, the 57-year old (now known negative), and now three other suspected cases. Oops, now 5 possible cases.

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Thank you, Renai. I should have clarified that Yi Guan was upset with the local authorities. I'm sure the people there would have done more. They don't want to be sick. I feel very sorry for them and especially those who have the virus, their families and acquaintances and medical personnel who are trying to treat people.

The woman in Chicago who has the coronavirus did not have symptoms while flying from Wuhan to Chicago. She did start to get symptoms a few days after she arrived in Chicago. Before going to the emergency room, she called her doctor to try to minimize exposure to others. They isolated her and she is now being treated. She also did not take public transportation and was not in any large gatherings. Anyone who came in contact with her is being monitored. That sounds like it was handled reasonably well.

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1 hour ago, Pawz4me said:

From what I've read most of the deaths have been older men who had pre-existing health issues that perhaps made them higher risk. One victim was a 48 yo woman who had diabetes. The youngest I've seen mentioned was a 36 yo man. I haven't seen anything that said he had any pre-existing conditions. Link

Being an older male in China comes with a high likelihood of a lifetime of smoking.

Edited by Laura Corin
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