SARS..are YOU scared?

[wellard]

Originally posted by Yorick: What I'm afraid of is this: Let's hope it doesn't get spread by rats though, or then like the plague, New York (with more rats than people) will be in biiig trouble. Long live Dick Wittington.

And his brother the pied piper of Hamlyn [img]graemlins/heee.gif[/img] Dont you all hate smart arses.

Didn't read all the replies, but from the numbers I am seeing, SARS doesnt appear to be any more deadly than Influenza of various strains (flu morbidity somewhere around 8-10% and SARS supposedly at 5-15%). Western countries where the average nutrition and health care is better than in much of rural asia (where this seems to come from) should mitigate it's effects outside asia to some degree. Keep healthy, eat right and don't do anything stupid should still be the modus operandi (note the latin )

[Dundee Slaytern]

I am not scared of SARS, but I do take it seriously. I know with proper precautions, I can go about my daily life with little hassle. There has been changes, like an instinct to subdue coughs and sneezes to avoid attention, but other than that, life goes on.

The funny thing about SARS is that it can go both extremes. A person can either laugh it away as a minor thing, or a person can paralyse him/herself with paranoia. Neither is desirable.

I have no idea what the exact situation is in China, but reading/hearing how their government is dealing with SARS is quite disheartening. Countries like Vietnam, Malaysia, mine, etc... took it much more seriously and as a result, I am glad to say that the disease seems to be contained.

With luck, and I sincerely hope so, no more new cases will appear in my country( 5 days and counting).

It is true that Influenza has killed more people, but one must bear in mind the vastly different scenerios. SARS was identified very early( due to the sacrifice of an Italian doctor who later died from the very disease he helped identify), and news about it spread quickly. Barring a few, most countries took it seriously and implemented measures to contain the disease, measures that I must add, done within days of the arrival of confirmed carriers.

It is thanks to these governments and their measures that the number of SARS related deaths have been kept so low. It was only because some governments fudged about the problem that they now face a far worse problem than those that did not.

People should be glad that there are so little SARS related deaths, not use it as a reason to ridicule the situation. After all, do we really want a disease to blow up in our face before we take action? Now that we have the means and communication to spread the word, why not use it to our advantage?

To paraphrase a speech from my government regarding SARS, "Be cautious, but do not be paranoid. Be responsible, and do not be reckless".

EDIT] Grammar and spelling edits.

[ 05-04-2003, 12:22 PM: Message edited by: Dundee Slaytern ]

[WillowIX]

Originally posted by MagiK: Western countries where the average nutrition and health care is better than in much of rural asia (where this seems to come from) should mitigate it's effects outside asia to some degree. Keep healthy, eat right and don't do anything stupid should still be the modus operandi (note the latin )

Not seems MagiK, where this comes from. The same goes for the yearly flu. It always appears in rural Asia first due to the living conditions.

[Yorick]

Originally posted by LordKathen: No, I'm worried about whats next. And then after that, and after that, and so on. These bacteria and virus's are getting to be smarter than us. They are mutating at a rate that we are having a very hard time keeping up with them them. Evolution at its worst, or best, depending on how you look at it. If we don't kill our selfs off, via the destruction of our environment, microbiology will, then it will start all over. [img]graemlins/hidesbehindsofa.gif[/img] If you disagree with my view on this philosophy, please leave it out of here. I don't want to derail the thread. Thank you.

This is so true. The irresponsible misuse of antibiotics is a farce. Overprescription and noncompletion of the course of antibiotics is totally to blame.

IF YOU DON'T FINISH A PRESCRIPTION OF ANTIBIOTICS, YOU ARE DIRECTLY CONTRIBUTING THE DEATH OF FUTURE HUMANS, THROUGH ENABLING THE VIRUS TO GAIN IMMUNITY TO THE SAID ANTIBIOTIC.

Doctors handing out antibiotics like lollies or sweets is extremely foolish.

[WillowIX]

Originally posted by Yorick: This is so true. The irresponsible misuse of antibiotics is a farce. Overprescription and noncompletion of the course of antibiotics is totally to blame. IF YOU DON'T FINISH A PRESCRIPTION OF ANTIBIOTICS, YOU ARE DIRECTLY CONTRIBUTING THE DEATH OF FUTURE HUMANS, THROUGH ENABLING THE VIRUS TO GAIN IMMUNITY TO THE SAID ANTIBIOTIC. Doctors handing out antibiotics like lollies or sweets is extremely foolish.

Luckily we are now past this problem. You no longer get antibiotics when down with the flu. Most, if not all, viral infection is nowadays only treated for its symptoms, unless it is necessary. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Just a point, finishing your prescription is not a guarantee for not creating resistance to antibiotics. And another point. If you always are prescribed antibiotics for every little infection you may want to see another doctor. Contrary to popular belief, antibiotics is not good for you.

[ 05-04-2003, 06:27 PM: Message edited by: WillowIX ]

I think Yoricks post is still valid Willow, you should finish the prescription as indicated, it may not gaurentee success at reducing the production of superstrains, but it will help and every little bit does help.

On the other hand I think the press also over hyped the viral mutation thing a bit too. There are some things even viruses cannot mutate to survive. This is another issue that I first started hearing about back in the 70's when I was such a voracious reader...and as all the overly hyped doom scenarios of that decade turned out....they all fizzled....we are still here, we are healthier and happier than ever and we are becomming more and more eco-friendly and efficient and less wasteful as time goes on.

[Yorick]

Originally posted by Horatio: Yorick, be careful. With chronic pharyngitis, would you be able to notice if you had SARS? [img]graemlins/uhoh1.gif[/img] I really hope it doesn't become widespread here in Britain. Poor Blair's lost enough hair over Iraq

I've been wondering that too. The other day I got a bit freaked out because I felt really short of breathe. For over an hour I had trouble getting enough oxygen. The girl I was with at the time suggested it might have been an allergic reaction to her cat... which I guess was correct.

Kind of wierded me out though.

[Hayashi]

Originally posted by Yorick: quote: Originally posted by Horatio: Yorick, be careful. With chronic pharyngitis, would you be able to notice if you had SARS? [img]graemlins/uhoh1.gif[/img] I really hope it doesn't become widespread here in Britain. Poor Blair's lost enough hair over Iraq

I've been wondering that too. The other day I got a bit freaked out because I felt really short of breathe. For over an hour I had trouble getting enough oxygen. The girl I was with at the time suggested it might have been an allergic reaction to her cat... which I guess was correct.

Kind of wierded me out though. [/QUOTE]Not to worry, as long as you don't have a sudden fever >38 deg C, which is one of the primary symptoms of SARS.

[WillowIX]

Originally posted by MagiK: I think Yoricks post is still valid Willow, you should finish the prescription as indicated, it may not gaurentee success at reducing the production of superstrains, but it will help and every little bit does help. On the other hand I think the press also over hyped the viral mutation thing a bit too. There are some things even viruses cannot mutate to survive. This is another issue that I first started hearing about back in the 70's when I was such a voracious reader...and as all the overly hyped doom scenarios of that decade turned out....they all fizzled....we are still here, we are healthier and happier than ever and we are becomming more and more eco-friendly and efficient and less wasteful as time goes on.

Read my post again MagiK. I agree with Yorick that if you have a prescription, then you finish it. All I pointed out is that this is no guarantee that you will finish off a bacterial infection.