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Kevin Hendrick · Post by **Kevin Hendrick** » Fri Dec 02, 2005 12:00 pm

So, it's because they "flu" 'em across the ocean to get 'em here? ('nuff ta make ya sick, innit?

)

I thought there was a law against "naming under the influenza" ...

Shockwave · Post by **Shockwave** » Fri Dec 02, 2005 1:43 pm

Everybody run for your lives! It's AAAAAAIDS, no wait this week it's....WEST NIIIIIIILE...no...um...SAAAAAAARS...no thats not right...MAAAAAAD COOOOOOOOW...oops that was last year....uhh...EEEEEEEBOOLAAAAA...no thats old news too...SPAAAANISH FLUUUUUUU...hehehe oops I'm not supposed to talk about that one yet. Ok I can't remember what it is but its really scary and it could be anywhere anytime, so can you just be really scared all the time? Thanks.

Joe Baker · Post by **Joe Baker** » Fri Dec 02, 2005 2:00 pm

Shockwave wrote:Everybody run for your lives! It's AAAAAAIDS, no wait this week it's....WEST NIIIIIIILE...no...um...SAAAAAAARS...no thats not right...MAAAAAAD COOOOOOOOW...oops that was last year....uhh...EEEEEEEBOOLAAAAA...no thats old news too...SPAAAANISH FLUUUUUUU...hehehe oops I'm not supposed to talk about that one yet. Ok I can't remember what it is but its really scary and it could be anywhere anytime, so can you just be really scared all the time? Thanks.

You left out alar and anthrax -- and that's just in the A's!

Seriously, though, we have to be careful about blowing these "scares" off. Many of them -- SARS being an excellent example -- had the potential to be much more devastating than they were, but people made sufficient noise that resources were brought to bear, and the worst-case was averted. It's difficult to say with certainty which ones might have been much worse if there hadn't been all that caterwauling on the evening news every night. I put avian flu in that category. I don't think it will ever develop into the world-wide pandemic some predict, because even if it otherwise would have, I think the attention that's been brought to the problem will cause it to remain under control. It's the one we DON'T see coming that worries me.
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Joe Baker, thinking there's a reason widespread epidemics happen less often today than in the past, even though people travel around more.

windshieldbug · Post by **windshieldbug** » Fri Dec 02, 2005 4:04 pm

Ok...

M I R Avian Flu O N E

What do the rest of the letters stand for

and how long will it take to decode Hirsbrunner?

Dan Schultz · Post by **Dan Schultz** » Fri Dec 02, 2005 4:18 pm

GIMME AN "F".... GIMME A "U".... etc etc ....oops

There for a minute, Joe... I thought you were going to give us a link to the Country Joe & the Fish "Feel like I'm fixin' to die rag". Guess I'm showin' my age, huh

windshieldbug · Post by **windshieldbug** » Fri Dec 02, 2005 4:24 pm

Don't worry, Dan. You know what they say: "If you can remember it, you wasn't there!"

Kevin Hendrick · Post by **Kevin Hendrick** » Fri Dec 02, 2005 5:04 pm

windshieldbug wrote:... "If you can remember it, you wasn't there!"

Remember what, man? ("Dave? ... Dave's not here!")

ThomasDodd · Post by **ThomasDodd** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 10:28 am

Joe Baker wrote:Joe Baker, thinking there's a reason widespread epidemics happen less often today than in the past, even though people travel around more.

Antibiotics and antivirals are a big contributor. One reason the flu killed so many after WWI was the ancillary infections people got one the flu weakened thier immune system. Today most of those other infections can be treated.

Then of couse the average health of a person is higher today than back then. Better food processing conditions, better storage methods, better environmental conditions all factor into it as well.

"F"

Ahh, shoe?