Comments on: How do you know when to start worrying about the new Swine Flu threat?

By: Monado

Monado — Fri, 29 May 2009 21:36:23 +0000

I got ready for SARS by life-insuring my credit card debt. It had a very bad prognosis for people over 50.

By: sff

sff — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 03:10:56 +0000

Well, would cutting off air travel to Mexico help?

By: Hilary

Hilary — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 21:05:00 +0000

Yes very american-centric response Katharine. Cracking down on the US/Mexico border is not going to help the rest of the world, where people are far more likely to have been flying to/from Mexico

By: Bryn Davies

Bryn Davies — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 03:34:17 +0000

Where on earth did people get the idea that the physical border is going to be the big deal here? Your problem is high speed transport (so travelers remain asymptomatic while traveling) in cramped environments with closed air supplies – aeroplanes.

By: Wayne Conrad

Wayne Conrad — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 01:51:47 +0000

“Provided border control has an adequate response to this and the US and Mexico work together to contain the disease, I think we’ll be okay.”

The U.S./Mexican border is, although tightly regulated by law, essentially open. If border control “closes the borders,” that only means closing the official entry points. The unlawful traffic cannot be stopped using current border patrol staffing: otherwise, it already would be.

By: Nathan Myers

Nathan Myers — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 00:52:21 +0000

Katharine: I can’t tell if you’re joking.

By: Katharine

Katharine — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 15:20:20 +0000

I’m not worried.

Provided border control has an adequate response to this and the US and Mexico work together to contain the disease, I think we’ll be okay.

Mexico is not the third world. It’s not first world, but it’s not Zimbabwe. Provided people are going to the border, Guadalajara, Monterrey, and Torreon have an important part to play in this, as they are situated along Mexico’s three main routes to the border. Also, the US and Canada have an interest in making sure Mexico is secure, so I would advocate sending, perhaps, some humanitarian aid health workers down there to provide assistance and drugs to the overtaxed Mexicans.

I’m not saying the response will be perfect, but there is a way to combat it.

By: Crystal D.

Crystal D. — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 10:34:25 +0000

Sometime during the whole ‘avian flu’ thing, someone at work suggested that we start purchasing body bags because if there was ever an epidemic, there would be a shortage of body bags, and we would need them for all of the dead piling up.

Let’s just say that I refuse to go quite that far in planning and preparing for anything, it seems a wee bit odd to me. 🙂 I did vote that we not purchase any body bags at this time…

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 06:38:11 +0000

It could be a factor in determining the level in that if the mid-agre range healthy people are getting it, then transmission is easier.

By: Omphaloskepsis

Omphaloskepsis — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 23:39:47 +0000

I just read that many of the people affected are healthy young adults, not the elderly, young or already ill. Is that considered a factor in determining the level?