[Closed] Swine Flu - why are the UK cases so high when compared..........

I thought Australia had it pretty bad

They have 4000+ cases, even New Zealand has 700+?

Thats more than most of all the other European countries have detected?

what's the population of Oz? 20m?

Because no-one in the UK gives a **** about catching it? Its only the flu!

population density in UK is pretty high

You don't have to stump up cash to see a doctor, so people do.

Cynical but probabably true.

I suspect midlifecrashes has a point. Folk in countries without free-at-point-of-care health services are less likely to go to the doc for "flu".

Also to do with travel I suspect. Mexico is pretty popular holiday destination here. How many people in Yemen or Cape Verde have flown to Mexico recently?

Bear in mind that this was a pub conversation, but apparently there are Swine Flu parties organised over t'internet..

Got Swine Flu? There are guys and girls that would love to catch it in *your* area...

It all depends how many people can be bothered to tell a doctor, (If indeed they have one!)

I'm fairly sure my family will stay off any registers. Roll on swine flu eh? Where are the parties?

next year ittl be wife flu

I know a few people who've been ill with something flu-like in the last month or so (I was & Mrs P got the same thing less than 24hrs later) - none of them have even thought of phoning the doc. So I may or may not have had swine flu, nobody can tell me either way and i won't know until i get it again - but even then it could just be another flu-like bug. Praps the media will calm down a bit now there aren't any scary stats to announce on the news.

The media will start to froth at the mouth when we all start getting vaccinated...

[i]nobody can tell me either way and i won't know until i get it again [/i]

Well if you did you won't get it again.

good point well made Drac!

Many countries dont record stats well or at all. Or in some cases they hide them. Remember Bird Flu and China, they started to say they didnt have any till journalists found some cases so they then began to admit it.

Cheers. Although a pedantic will come along in a minute explaining how it would be possible so I'm maybe should have given it it's official name.

Wouldn't say it's so bad in Oz. Western Oz has had 242 cases. Here in the West Mids we've had over 2,500.

100,000 cases a day in August according to news on Radio...**** me!! 😯

Don't forget that we're some of the richest people in the world, so we travel a lot more than than your average joe from Russia or China

they reckon we will have a big boom of it in Canada around October time so they are frantically making vaccine{or whatever it is they are making} at the moment so egg prices are set to rise

Russia and china,well there's two countries, long renowned for their openness.

I'm intrigued that on a forum with quite a few MD's on board, none have chosen to comment on this thread.
I'm sure that says something ( but I'm not sure what )

!! WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE !!

Sorry no I'm not a Doctor

We've got to make sure our personnel person has up to date phone numbers for us before the summer, in case we have to close the college for a week or two next term.

We didn't close when there was a mumps outbreak (despite our students being in the age group that weren't properly vaccinated as kids) and some meningitis cases when I was at uni didn't close the uni.

Do we normally under-react, are we overreacting to 'Swine' Flu, is it more dangerous than I think?

I am also perplexed by the lack of gp comment (or in fact any other threads on this subject, would have thought there would have been more?) on this topic.

I have been following this really closely as the missus is in the high risk group.

I do not really understand the figures out there at the moment though.

40 deaths per day once the infection rate reaches 100K per day?

surely the US (which was thought to have had 1 million cases, a week ago) would have had a higher death rate than we have seen so far, by now?

So what is the feeling out there in doctorland, on the projected death rates?

Also I am after some informed advice.

I am a full time carer of my wife who has CVID and a particular weakness to Pneumonia, she also has chronic asthma.

So we can basically take ourselves (as far as possible) out of contact with people (neither of us work), is this worth it or pointless now?

Also have a mates wedding party coming up, with 200+ people from all over the country/world attending. I am really twitching about going and bringing back an infection to the missus.....

your thoughts stw?

I'm just of the phone to an industrial doctor as an employee returned from a mexican holiday showing possible symptoms. She didn't seem overly concerned and mentioned the "media hype".

Apparently i would need to sit in someone's company for three hours to potentially catch it from breath alone. Hygiene is the key apparently.

OK STWers, time to reelaxx.

Am a Dr but now work in IT and not registered, insured or sueable. Also sat at home recovering from the worst cold that I've had for years. I hope it was H1N1! Been working in the West Midlands and East of England recently.

The response to H1N1 seems to have been correct. Initially under reporting of the trivial cases in Mexico made it appear more lethal than it is. The UK is good at reporting therefore appears to have a higher incidence.

It may mutate slightly and you can therefore get it more than once, though you could argue that it is a different flu.

If you are in an at risk group try and get your antivirals as soon as any contact is known, only other option is to stay at home until the vaccine is available (untenable).

Being summer try to be outdoors and not in confined spaces with others, a main reason for peaks of illness in winter.

Otherwise contact NHS Direct or your GP by phone for advise.
Paul

combination of NHS and the media IMO.

I had something resembling flu, still went into work, just didnt actualy do any for about 7 days. Whats the point in th egovernment stockpile of vaccine, they recon they'l have 60m doses by some time in the future, by my reconing it would have either passed or everyone would have caught it once already bu then.

By all accounts its not much better/worse than normal flu? If i were in charge of Russia/China/a questionable democacy i'd 'vaccinate' the entire poulation with saline, would shut the media up at least.

I had something resembling flu, still went into work, just didnt actualy do any for about 7 days.

If you went to work, you didn't have flu, you had a cold.

Id like to see the people who think it's "media hype" do a shift at a certain hospital in the Midlands where I know for a fact, it's not hype, and that they cannot cope.

still went into work

why? couldn't you stay at home and keep your germs to yourself? really pisses me off having to sit in an office with people coughing and spluttering around me!

i am with nick if your ill keep away from those who are not!!!!!!

still went into work

Want a medal? 🙄

why? couldn't you stay at home and keep your germs to yourself? really pisses me off having to sit in an office with people coughing and spluttering around me!

Agreed Nick. It's like they expect to be praised for there "effort" coming in when sick. The few days they struggle around the office at 50% efficiency they end up spreading germs to half a dozen others. This ends up meaning they have to take time off as well.

For one person being a hero, weeks of man hours are lost 👿

Now chill, its the weekend tomorrow 😀