IrishRN

Nice article.. Thanks! Here is another from Dr Marc Siegel in NY.

http://foxforum.blogs.foxnews.com/2009/04/...s-fear-not-flu/

Nice sensible post. I can't believe how the media creates such panic over a few cases. And none in the US have died and all of the New York cases are from one school anyway. It is highly unlikely you will catch it on your trip.

Too bad I didn't know you were coming, I could have met up with you to say hi! I am only about 90 minutes from the city.

I agree, nice sensible post. No need to be alarmed.. just cautious and aware and go about your daily business taking a little extra precautions. I believe as well the media creates a stir and promotes panic. Washing hands is a huge step in preventing the spread of infection. I keep hand sanitizer in my car. Just this am i put a little squirt on before I used the atm machine. I'm still going to TJ and I'm still moving forward with life

I've been out of surgery for about an hour. I've been walking around and I had a popsicle and sucked on some ice. I feel like I have gas/indigestion, but otherwise I feel fine. I also found out that I lost about 30 lbs on my pre-op diet

Wow.. 30lbs...Woo-Hoo!! Thank you so so much for keeping us updated on your progress.

Hello, Everyone!

The day has finally come... I'm getting banded today! I arrived yesterday (Sunday) and I was taken to the Marriott hotel. There are two other people here who are getting banded today... We had dinner together last night and we enjoyed getting to know one another. The hotel staff is very accommodating and hospitable. I went to bed early and got a good night's sleep.

On the way to the hotel, I didn't observe anything that concerned me... Tijuana seems to be a typical city. The flu outbreak (primarily in central Mexico) seems to be having a minimal affect on the people here. I haven't seen anyone with face masks on, but I'm using hand sanitizer frequently. Please don't let the news reports sway your decision to get banded in Mexico... simply use caution and common sense ANYTIME you travel.

I'll let you know how it goes!

Dan

Thanks for the update Dan. Congratulations on getting banded today. Mine is scheduled for May 7th and I too will use caution and common sense. Let us know the outcomes of your surgery

Aargh. I've been planning for a fill on Thursday. I'm thinking I should reschedule.

Call down there. As far as I've read, the cases are in Mexico City, not Tijuana. Also wear a mask, it doesnt cost anything to be cautious and wash your hands.

I didnt see where the state department is saying not to travel. I saw the European Union is advising people to not travel to the US and Mexico. I agree a mild case is still something they wouldnt want to have. I know there is no border restrictions right now in California. It doesnt cost anything to be cautious. I cant stress it enough.. washing hands is a big part of preventing any infection.

But why are they dropping like flies in Mexico? do they Not have meds for it?

They said there are 80 or so deaths but only 22 so far confirmed from the swine flu. Of the 20 cases in the US, they are mild and have recovered. I'm not trying to down play this by any means but i do feel the media and our use of the internet blows things up before they happen. Keep in mind this is not considered a pandemic right now.

Remember...wash your hands.... it is key in helping to prevent the spread of any flu.

I thought I would share a good article from Dr Marc Siegel.

DR. MARC SIEGEL: The Most Powerful Virus Is Fear Not Flu

With a new swine flu strain spreading among close to 1,000 people in Mexico and at least eight in the U.S., and with 61 reported deaths in Mexico, the most powerful virus pushing out its tentacles is not flu but fear. We are afraid of what we don’t know and what we don’t understand.

We hear about an unseen killer and we worry that we will be next. The best antidote for this kind of fear is the facts.

So let me take on the fear-laden terms. The first is pandemic. A pandemic means a new flu virus infecting people in several areas of the world at the same time. It can be mild, moderate, or severe. Everyone knows about the 1918 Blue Death that killed over 50 million people worldwide, but how many people realize that the last pandemic, in 1968, ameliorated by vaccines, antibiotics, and public health measures, killed only 32,000 in the U.S. and 700,000 worldwide, less than many yearly outbreaks.

The current swine flu outbreak is not a pandemic, as the outbreak is confined mainly to Mexico, but if it does become one, it is far more likely to be the 1968 variety because of modern public health measures and because we have been exposed to several parts of this virus before and have an immune memory to it.

Precautions like isolating sick people and use of the anti-virals Tamiflu and Relenza in order to decrease severity are wise precautions.

Wise too is closing schools in Mexico to prevent spread (schoolchildren are notorious flu spreaders), provided that this measure doesn’t send the world the wrong message that a massive pandemic is in the offing.

The second scare term is the pig itself. Pigs scare us. They are filthy noisy creatures. They are also loaded with flu viruses. This strain occurred because a bird virus mixed with at least one human virus and two pig viruses. Flus are changing all the time so a new strain

isn’t really a surprise.

We also need to be cautioned by the lessons of history. Back in 1976 an emerging swine flu virus appeared to be responsible for the death of a military recruit at Fort Dix (this later turned out to be erroneous), sparking a massive public hysteria fueled by Center for Disease Control press conferences.

I was reminded of this Friday when the CDC again spread fear about an emerging swine flu. We need to remember that fear causes people to take less precautions, but fighting contagions requires more precautions.

In 1976 Gerald Ford, trying for election, ordered 40 million vaccinations over a three to four month period of time, probably leading to almost 1,000 cases of ascending paralysis from the hastily made vaccine (Guillain Barre Syndrome) and driving most of the vaccine makers out of business. We certainly don’t need a repeat of this performance, in advance of any real worldwide threat.

Thirdly, we are also afraid because this disease is emerging in Mexico, a foreign land to the south over which we have no control. But fear of an unknown land doesn’t automatically translate to an American health risk. We are wise to have our scientists and public health officials tracking the outbreak, but we are not wise to anticipate the worst.

Like all flus, this one causes great fatigue, muscle aches, fevers, sore throat, nasal congestion, stomach upset, but is generally curable. The greatest risk is from secondary infections like pneumonia or ear infections, especially in the chronically ill. But in the U.S., if it spreads here, these problems are much more easily treated than in rural

Mexico.

We should be comforted by the time of the year. This is the end of the flu season, not the beginning. Flu viruses thrive in the low humidity of winter, not summer. It is very likely that this outbreak will die out automatically as the summer comes. It will remain necessary to track it because it could reappear in the fall, but it is very unlikely that it will erupt into a pandemic this summer.

I am glad that this outbreak is a swine rather than a bird flu, not because pig viruses are intrinsically safer than bird viruses, but because the greater lesson to guide us here comes from the 1976 pig hysteria, rather than from the 1918 bird flu plague.

Marc Siegel MD, an associate professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center, is a FOX News Medical Contributor. He is the author of “Bird Flu; Everything You Need to Know About the Next Pandemic”, and “False Alarm; the Truth About the Epidemic of Fear.”

Hi all. I am glad someone is talking about this because I was just about to schedule surgery for sometime in the next 6 weeks and now I am wondering if I should hold off until this outbreak is over. Is the outbreak near Tijuana, and if so, do you think there is any way to avoid contact with anyone outside of the clinic personnel and patients?

I'm in Southern California. From what I've read, there has been outbreaks in San Diego and Texas... the border cities. The most at this point have been in Mexico City.

At this point, the CDC said "Americans need not avoid traveling to Mexico, as long as they take the usual precautions, such as frequent handwashing."

Exactly.. The virus is already here in the states. Frequent handwashing and extra precautions.

I'm looking at May 7th for surgery. Excited and have my eye on this current flu outbreak. Unsure if things will be happening as scheduled but keeping fingers crossed.

I'm actually a bit paranoid now because I just got back from there last week, and I now have come down with something. I don't know if it's a cold or flu yet, it's too early to tell. In any case, I'm staying at home until it's over, which I hope will be soon.

On a related note, I notice that since getting sick today, I'm ravenous! I've been doing really well with the new fill, with barely any hunger at times, and today I'm back to using willpower again. What's up with that?! I would have thought it would be the opposite when getting sick.

You said you went last week, the 15th and are just now feeling you may have come down with something..... I would think you picked up something stateside given the time frame. Keep us posted and hope you feel better