SeVeR Posted May 9, 2006 Report Posted May 9, 2006 What do people think about the media frenzy telling us we're all going to die horrible deaths? My only source is Fox News because it comes on at 10pm and i can't be arsed to change channels, but are all the news channels doing the same thing? A few weeks ago there was a story saying that there won't be enough vaccinations for the children and the elderly. Why only those two groups? Is it because those are the groups we care most about? A couple of days ago there was a story saying that it's only a matter of time before bird flu hits America! Last night another story saying that an estimated 4,000 - 38,000 people will DIE in Tennessee! What the !@#$%^&*?!?!? Firstly i find this proposterous because there are plenty of diseases out there that could become transmittable between humans that aren't currently. Secondly they're acting like there is a massive casualty rate in the developed world when only a few people who kiss their chickens good-night in Turkey have died. Thirdly it's not even prolific in birds. It's complete fear mongering... i hear they're even making a movie about Bird Flu now... probably funded by Fox? -EDIT Oh looks like ABC is the one with the movie, i guess they're just as bad. http://www.tvsquad.com/2006/04/18/abc-bird...s-even-further/
X`terrania Posted May 9, 2006 Report Posted May 9, 2006 Sorry for not reading your post, but I'm in a hurry. How exactly is a bird flu contagious to a human being? I don't plan on going around and kissing dead/alive unknown birds.
Halo Hero Posted May 9, 2006 Report Posted May 9, 2006 "A few weeks ago there was a story saying that there won't be enough vaccinations for the children and the elderly. Why only those two groups? Is it because those are the groups we care most about?"This makes sense right? The children should be the ones getting it at most they are the future. "Last night another story saying that an estimated 4,000 - 38,000 people will DIE in Tennessee! What the !@#$%^&*?!?!?" I never heard anything about that. Plus why just in Tennessee what about New York or somewhere else? "only a few people who kiss their chickens good-night in Turkey have died. Thirdly it's not even prolific in birds."wtf?! They actually do that kinda stuff? Sick who would actually kiss a chicken.. when all the rumors of it. It's complete fear mongering... i hear they're even making a movie about Bird Flu now... probably funded by Fox? LOL I saw a preview for that. It's just to scare people I bet, but that stuff freaks me out big time... What does bird flu actually do to you?
Dr.Worthless Posted May 9, 2006 Report Posted May 9, 2006 The made for TV movie is akin to KILLER BATS or OMG ATTACK OF THE KILLER BEES, or last years ATTACK OF THE FLESH EATING grassHOPPERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11 Anywho, its a joke.
Synister Posted May 9, 2006 Report Posted May 9, 2006 Bird flu, you get it if you touch unknown birds carrying it.. eventually it will kill you.
AstroProdigy Posted May 9, 2006 Report Posted May 9, 2006 Right now Bird Flu is not that big a threat because it can't spread from human to human, but if it mutates it can kill a lot of people. The problem is no one knows the size of the gene that can change to become transmitable from human to human and, therefore, we have no idea how likely it is to become a big problem.
LearJett+ Posted May 9, 2006 Report Posted May 9, 2006 A few weeks ago there was a story saying that there won't be enough vaccinations for the children and the elderly. Why only those two groups? Is it because those are the groups we care most about?It is because they are the most susceptible, thus if there is a limited supply of vaccinations, it would go to them. Firstly i find this proposterous because there are plenty of diseases out there that could become transmittable between humans that aren't currently. Secondly they're acting like there is a massive casualty rate in the developed world when only a few people who kiss their chickens good-night in Turkey have died. Thirdly it's not even prolific in birds.Many people come in to contact with birds in the world -- not just the chicken-kissers. People are dying all over the globe. Not worried though. Just a bunch of hype.
Yoink Posted May 9, 2006 Report Posted May 9, 2006 The media sensationalises things - they're not showing you a prediction, they're showing you the worst possible outcome; Which, if you didn't figure it out, isn't very likely.
Manus Celer Dei Posted May 10, 2006 Report Posted May 10, 2006 Unless something has changed in the past couple of weeks, I'm pretty sure the "vaccine" in question is for regular flu, not bird flu.
AstroProdigy Posted May 10, 2006 Report Posted May 10, 2006 Actually they have no idea how likely it is
Yoink Posted May 10, 2006 Report Posted May 10, 2006 Actually they have no idea how likely it is Hence the reason that what they're doing is sensationalism. They're doing it just to get attention. I'm sure I've said this in the past and I'm sure you know it - CNN/FOX/MSNBC etc don't give two ASSS about accurate, relevant news, they care about socially attractive news that will get them the ratings they need to pay their bills and line their pockets. It's really quite pathetic that CSPAN has more interesting sessions than 'HEADLINE PRIME' (which, btw, is a joke).
AstroProdigy Posted May 10, 2006 Report Posted May 10, 2006 They should focus on AIDS coverage. It's a disease that's already killing millions!!
Halo Hero Posted May 10, 2006 Report Posted May 10, 2006 They should focus on AIDS coverage. It's a disease that's already killing millions!! The sickness race 500, Which sickness will kill more! If bird flu was mutated so it would spread from touch how many do you think would get it , saying someone gets it goes into new york or a subway train. Also, do you think the goverment would try to quarantine a city if it has a big outbreak? Many of the disease movies seem to do this. What would the goverment do to cover this up or blame it on something else?
Greased_Lightning Posted May 19, 2006 Report Posted May 19, 2006 The strain of flu they're worried about now is H5N1, which has been killing birds in Asia since like 2003. People who have died from it so far are those that are in extremely close proximity with infected poultry, namely in Asia where they have chickens in their backyards. Chicken feces has a high viral load, so people handle infected birds, get !@#$%^&* with virus in it, and then wipe their eyes or noses or handle foods. Ingestion of virus isn't a very effective means of transmission... lower respiratory tract cells are the ones the virus needs to bind with to build new viruses. Right now human to human contact doesn't happen but they're worried the virus will mutate enough to get to that. Typically, avian influenza strains go from birds to swine to humans, mutating in that order to the respective species (since humans and swine are actually quite similiar, go figure). As of now there is no vaccine for H5N1 for humans, just for the flu strain from the last few years. This one is more virulent to poultry and in humans. Different sources disagree... some say a vaccine will take a few months to create, others a year or more. M!@#$%^&*-production will take even longer. Children and the elderly are the priorities since they are more susceptible. After that, emergency workers who will actually handle to cases, then the rest of us. This whole thing is being overblown because we don't even know if it will mutate to a pandemic-capable strain. Even if it does, they are basing casualty estimates off the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic, despite the fact that in 1918, you were lucky if the doctor washed his hands after taking a !@#$%^&*. Now we have ways to treat the symptoms of the virus which will help the body fight it off, and despite what so called experts say, antibiotics ARE useful in a flu situation...not because they do anything to kill off the flu virus (they don't) but they prevent secondary infections like pneumonia or staph, which were really the major killers back in 1918. As usual, the media doesn't talk about those things because fear sells. The USDA has a lot of articles on this subject. As to whether the poultry industry in the US is affected is still up for grabs. Poultry production in the US is pretty much in the hands of like 2 companies (Tyson) so all the birds are raised in confinement (like most swine). All the confinement facilities have to do is have strict biosecurity to prevent outside contaminants from getting in, which they try to do anyway. I don't care, chicken sucks anyway. All the poultry industry has done is to create a consistently naturally tastless product thru genetic selection. 100% of turkeys in the US are bred artificially because the males can't mount the females because they've been selected for extremely muscular breasts. Don't eat chicken. Eat beef. Your stomach will thank you. Beef. It's What's For Dinner.
SeVeR Posted May 20, 2006 Author Report Posted May 20, 2006 Actually beef and other red meats have been linked to intestinal cancers because they facilitate the mutation of cells during the digestion process. Chicken and especially Fish are the best things to be eating... just get good quality chicken. By the way i know full well children and the elderly are most susceptible its just Fox did not phrase it like that. All they said was their wouldn't be enough vaccinations for them.... when if that were the case then there woudln't be enough vaccinations for everyone. They only mentioned those groups to get the fear factor. Nicepost though Greased, i agree with every word of it... except the Beef bit!
Aileron Posted May 21, 2006 Report Posted May 21, 2006 Beef > Chicken...though venison pwns all farmed meat. I'm not so sure the media's motivation to sensationalise doesn't go beyond simple greed. I am beginning to think that the industry has in addition gotten so high on that "pen is mightier than the sword" crap that they believe that they need to push an agenda instead of observe and broadcast information...or maybe pushing an agenda is just more profitable for them. Well, since everyone agrees on this topic...I'd like to point out that sometimes pandemics are a real possibility and measures need to be taken...not in this particular case, but... As for bringing the focus away from more serious conditions like HIV and cancer, I'd think we wouldn't have to do so. We could just take the resources that are devoted to the development of drugs that make old men horny and devote those resources to developing a cure for avian flu.
Yoink Posted May 21, 2006 Report Posted May 21, 2006 Beef > Chicken...though venison pwns all farmed meat. I'm not so sure the media's motivation to sensationalise doesn't go beyond simple greed. I am beginning to think that the industry has in addition gotten so high on that "pen is mightier than the sword" crap that they believe that they need to push an agenda instead of observe and broadcast information...or maybe pushing an agenda is just more profitable for them.*screams* I think that the media has no intention of ever conveying decent news - look at CNN's Headline Prime. It's garbage. It covers dramatic cases that have little significance on the future. I think it's rediculous that stuff like rape would be on a national news network.
Dav Posted May 21, 2006 Report Posted May 21, 2006 i think there is alot of hype going on. It is possible for the virus to mutate to recognide human cells and iverride their replication machenary to their own ends but i doubt its a gaurantee it will happen and unlikly tomorrow. the reason there is no vaccine is because the human form doesnt exist yet so theres no garuntee a vacciene will work. If there is an outbreak im sure mesures will be there to control it, theb SARS pandemic never got to its full potential dispite the media hype because qurantene was effective. there is also alot of research into it atm to keep at least a step further then we would be if we were caught by surprise.
Greased_Lightning Posted May 22, 2006 Report Posted May 22, 2006 The fact that people are actually aware of it will help immensely if a human to human strain does mutate. Funny thing though...I read a couple months ago that somewhere in Africa (Nigeria I think) some penned ostriches (or emu, one of the two) had fevers and displayed flu-like symptoms. Their government sent out people to collect samples and to destroy the birds. They took out AK-47s and hosed them. Then the officials told the farmers that they would have to be tested. All the farmers ran away thinking they were about to be shot. Not so much funny as it is hilarious.
Dav Posted May 22, 2006 Report Posted May 22, 2006 the sad thing is incidents like that could undermine the entire system of control that will prevent a worldwide pandemic occuring.
Paine Posted May 22, 2006 Report Posted May 22, 2006 pen is mightier than the sword My pen fifteen is mightier than the sword.
Yoink Posted May 22, 2006 Report Posted May 22, 2006 the sad thing is incidents like that could undermine the entire system of control that will prevent a worldwide pandemic occuring.I wasn't aware that we were even that far along. I mean, theoretically, there's always the military - people become quarantined, but I guess calling that a method of prevention would be a lie. That's only a retaliation to an initial spread of the disease.
Aileron Posted May 23, 2006 Report Posted May 23, 2006 What? Shooting infected birds with AK-47s? What's wrong with that methods of quarentine? Sure its more firepower than needed, but infected birds need to be destroyed and the methods really doesn't matter as long as its practical.
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