Move over, Dengue Epidemic - We Have A "Pandemic" ...

KUALA LUMPUR (June 22, 2009) : A second school was ordered closed for a week yesterday after an 11-year-old pupil was tested positive for influenza A(H1N1, while three other schools were told to stop a class each, rousing fears whether enough was being done to contain the disease.
He (Mr. Liow Tiong Lai) also said individuals placed under home-quarantine need to be responsible. Those found not obeying the home-quarantine order may be fined up to RM10,000, jailed for two years, or both, under the Disease Control Act 1998.

=========================

Aaah .... Now I understand - That must have been the agenda when they sent in a battalion of FRU & disrupted the Father's Day dinner by last minute withdrawal of their permit, after initially approving it.
What concern for national security! What compassion!
That's what I call People First, Performance Now ...... for a 1-Malaysia!

Incidently, this flu "pandemic" that's "threatening to annihilate" the human race has an incubation period of about 4-7 days, wherein the patients could a-ok while they could be walking around sneezing like they have an allergy in the later days.
Maybe the private doctors should be blamed for not refering these sneezers for some canggih investigation like RT-PCR (reverse-trancriptase-polymerase-chain-reaction - yeah .... quite a mouthful!!) at our canggih paperless hospitals.

The media has given plenty of coverage for the "swine flu" influenza A H1N1. Don't worry about the change in the name .... the Pig Pork industry lobby has forced the Govt to be decided politically correct. I wonder why the didn't do anything for those in the Chicken industry during the Avian Influenza ... everyone spoke of "Bird Flu"/ "Selsema Burung" back then. I wonder why the Chicken-Lobby didn't object before the SARS word became the norm.
Other than the economic interests of the pork industry, maybe the word Babi/Swine is so offensive to those who suffer from "kosherophilia" or "haramophobia", that it had to be done. Maybe it was "halal/kosher" animal - so that's fairgame, I suppose.

Anyways, this swine flu thingie is no different from the common flu - as far as I know- and there are more fatalities arising from the inefficiency of the pseudo-intellectual flunkies, who handle prevention of the perpetual dengue epidemic that plagues our country. Meanwhile we hear of "mosquito farms" being permitted to multiply by those who need some hard cash for some expensive "Kopi-O", to overcome the global economic downturn.
But hey - those responsible for prevention are cool! Of course- in keeping with our noble traditions.... in our true to Bolehsian style of looking for "orang minyak"/ bogeyman, the private practitioners have to be whacked to kingdom come, while these flunkies sit pretty.

So, some big shot says you can still party or and move around fearlessly for shopping where there may be travelers .... just don't go to school. Dang - how I wish he was there as a minister when I was in school .....
Just for the sake of general knowledge, you could go to the CDC website for more info ... or if you're just too lazy, and could do with some pointers, read the excerpts below.

P.S.
One funny thing though - back then when there was this SARS, we had some big guns going around on a chicken eating photoshoot. How come we don't have a "Babi eating" campaign photoshoot these days - it's truly a valid case for initiating an Anti-Discrimination Law instead of the suggested "Race Relations Act". The Chickens and Pigs don't "relate", right?
(who cares about homo sapiens are discriminated anyways- as long as those at the top of the Bolehsian food chain "relate" to pendatangs and kafirs lower down, it's cool - the animals' supremacy and the "Ketuanan Binatang" ideology needs to be upheld for national security).

=========================

What is novel H1N1 (swine flu)?
Novel H1N1 (referred to as “swine flu” early on) is a new influenza virus causing illness in people. This new virus was first detected in people in the United States in April 2009. Other countries, including Mexico and Canada, have reported people sick with this new virus. This virus is spreading from person-to-person, probably in much the same way that regular seasonal influenza viruses spread.

How does novel H1N1 flu compare to seasonal flu in terms of its severity and infection rates?
CDC is still learning about the severity of novel H1N1 flu virus. At this time, there is not enough information to predict how severe novel H1N1 flu outbreak will be in terms of illness and death or how it will compare with seasonal influenza.

What are the signs and symptoms of this virus in people?
The symptoms of novel H1N1 flu virus in people are similar to the symptoms of seasonal flu and include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. A significant number of people who have been infected with this virus also have reported diarrhea and vomiting. Also, like seasonal flu, severe illnesses and death has occurred as a result of illness associated with this virus.

Case definitions —

Definitions are changing as we learn more about this virus and the syndromes it causes. Cases in the United States are confirmed by diagnostic testing at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [1,26,46]. (See "Diagnosis" above).

Influenza-like illness (ILI) is defined as fever (temperature of 100ºF [37.8ºC] or greater) with cough or sore throat in the absence of a known cause other than influenza [46].

The following case definitions have been provided by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [46]:

• A confirmed case of H1N1 influenza A is defined as an individual with an ILI with laboratory-confirmed H1N1 influenza A virus detection by real-time reverse transcriptase (RT)-PCR or culture.

• A probable case of H1N1 influenza A is defined as an individual with an ILI who is positive for influenza A, but negative for H1 and H3 by RT-PCR

H1N1 influenza A may be suspected in an individual who does not meet the definitions of confirmed or probable H1N1 influenza A, but has an ILI and an epidemiologic link (eg, likely exposure to a confirmed or probable case within the past seven days). Full case definitions can be found at the CDC's website (http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/).

Antiviral Drugs

Antiviral drugs are prescription medicines (pills, liquid or an inhaler) with activity against influenza viruses, including swine influenza viruses.
Antiviral drugs can be used to treat swine flu or to prevent infection with swine flu viruses. These medications must be prescribed by a health care professional.
Influenza antiviral drugs only work against influenza viruses -- they will not help treat or prevent symptoms caused by infection from other viruses that can cause symptoms similar to the flu.
There are four influenza antiviral drugs approved for use in the United States (oseltamivir, zanamivir, amantadine and rimantadine). The swine influenza A (H1N1) viruses that have been detected in humans in the United States and Mexico are resistant to amantadine and rimantadine so these drugs will not work against these swine influenza viruses.
Laboratory testing on these swine influenza A (H1N1) viruses so far indicate that they are susceptible (sensitive) to oseltamivir and zanamivir.

What You Can Do to Stay Healthy

• Stay informed. Influenza is thought to spread mainly person-to-person through coughing or sneezing of infected people.

• Take everyday actions to stay healthy.
• Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
• Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hands cleaners are also effective.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way.
• Stay home if you get sick.
• CDC recommends that you stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them. Follow public health advice regarding school closures, avoiding crowds and other social distancing measures.

•