finally a serious post (really)

[pudgy]

Tweeti have a friend who works at the cdc in atlanta. she said that thier are some major league intellectuals who are scared shitless of sars. that flu like illness from asia. she said they think its gonna big a big ass problem, and very soon.

[bigjim33]

Tweeti didn't hear about it.....how is it getting over here?

[njjuicer]

Tweeti was readin sumtin on aol home page abotu sumtin liek that i dont knwo if its the same but its bad shit

[Got Gear?]

TweetIt's basically a flu and comes from overseas via travellers. Mostly from Hong Kong.

I'm not worried at all!

Apparetnly only between 3-5% of all people who catch it, die from it. And these are mostly elderly victums.

[goliath.jr]

TweetMaybe...

BTW - their = posession. Will you be taking 'their' advice?
there usage = "she said that 'there' are some major league intellectuals who are scared shitless of sars."

... just fyi.

[Morgan]

TweetClipped off of MSNBC


U.S. DEPUTY Secretary of State Richard Armitage told lawmakers he intended to put the embassy in Beijing on “authorized departure” status, meaning nonessential diplomats and all embassy dependents would be offered free flights out of China on a voluntary basis because of the disease.
“The embassy has just come in for authorized departure. We’re going to agree to it,” Armitage said.
The step falls short of ordering U.S. diplomats out of the country.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, has killed at least 79 people around the world, including 46 in China’s Guangdong province. More than 2,200 have been sickened in more than a dozen countries. No cure has been found, and scientists have not confirmed which virus causes the fast-spreading disease.


The latest on SARS


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• Should you travel?
• WP: China stonewalled
• SARS business impact
• Averting a U.S. outbreak
• WP: Toronto copes
• A reporter's SARS tale
• SARS forces flight cuts


U.S. Undersecretary of State Grant Green told lawmakers the decision to offer free flights to nonessential diplomats and family members would apply to all U.S. consulates in China. On Monday, the State Department made the same offer to its missions in Hong Kong and in Guangzhou, China.
“We’ve already got a couple of consulates in China that are already on authorized departure — Hong Kong and Guangzhou — but this will incorporate everyone in the country,” he said.
A U.S. official who asked not to be identified said the State Department was expected to formally announce the move, which could be accompanied by a warning to U.S. citizens to reconsider nonemergency travel to China, later Thursday.

TRAVEL WARNING


The WHO on Wednesday advised travelers to avoid going to Hong Kong and Guangdong because of the disease. WHO officials said they were issuing the rare travel warning because at least nine foreign businessmen have caught SARS in Hong Kong and returned with it to their home countries.
“People who are planning to travel to Hong Kong or Guangdong should consider postponing their travel until another time,” said WHO infectious diseases chief Dr. David Heymann.
On Thursday, China’s Health Minister Zhang Wenkang took issue with the health warning and insisted it was “safe to live in China.”
He implored people who canceled travel to China to reconsider.
“I say to you here, as minister of public health, that the epidemic of atypical pneumonia has been put under effective control,” Zhang said.

TEAM ARRIVES IN GUANGDONG


Meanwhile, after weeks of waiting, four WHO experts arrived in China’s Guangdong province to investigate how SARS was born — and how it began its worldwide spread.
The WHO team in China, wearing no protective masks, landed in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong. They were to meet with health officials and planned to stay until Tuesday. The WHO team also hoped to take samples from suspected patients to help identify a culprit virus and assess how infectious and virulent it is.
“They are going to be putting physical experience to the data they’ve seen in the last week,” said Chris Powell, spokesman for the WHO team.
Calling it a “hands-on visit,” he said the WHO is hoping to visit patients and investigate what factors place people at higher risks of infection.
The investigators were closeted all afternoon with provincial health officials, who provided a battery of data, including “very detailed information” about people in Guangdong who got SARS, how they got sick and what kind of treatment they received, Powell said.



- World health experts are trying to identify the cause of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, a new form of deadly pneumonia that is spreading rapidly through Southeast Asia and other parts of the world.

Most patients start out with a fever greater than 100.4 ° F (38° C) and often have accompanying chills, headache, malaise, body aches and mild respiratory symptoms. In the early stage, many patients have a decreased white blood cell count and may also have diarrhea. After 3 to 7 days, the patient may develop a dry, non-productive cough that increases in severity. As the disease progresses, chest x-rays may show significant congestion in the lungs. Eventually not enough oxygen can get to the blood and, in 10 to 20 percent of cases, patients will require mechanical ventilation. The severity of illness among patients is highly variable, ranging from mild symptoms to death. Only patients who have traveled within 10 days of the onset of symptoms to an area with suspected SARS cases, or have had contact with a person suspected of having SARS, are considered possible carriers of the disease.
SARS appears to spread through close contact, such as between family members or between patient and doctor. Experts believe it is transmitted through coughing, sneezing and other contact with nasal fluids. Researchers are also looking into the possibility that it is spread through the air, but this has not yet been confirmed. Once someone has been exposed to the illness, it takes three to seven days for symptoms to develop.
Researchers are not yet certain what pathogen is behind the illness. CDC scientists recently said the disease may be caused by a new form of the coronavirus, one of a few viruses that can cause the common cold. Other researchers have found signs of another germ family, the paramyxovirus, which causes measles, mumps and other diseases. SARS may be caused by one of those two viruses or it’s possible they are working together.
Patients suspected of having the illness are being quarantined in hospitals. Until health officials learn its cause, there is no definite course of treatment. Some doctors have reported that patients respond well to treatment with antiviral medications and steroids.
The fatality rate among persons with SARS is approximately 3 percent, according to the World Health Organization.
The CDC says travelers should consider postponing trips to countries at risk, including Hong Kong and China. In addition, the U.S. State Department has warned citizens not to travel to Vietnam because the country lacks medical facilities to deal with the outbreak there. The CDC has begun handing out notices to travelers returning from Hong Kong, China and Vietnam warning them to be on the lookout for symptoms of SARS. Americans living abroad are urged to avoid activities, such as visits to hospitals, that might bring them into contact with people who have SARS. Airline crew members are asked to be on the lookout for sick passengers and quickly isolate them from other passengers if possible.

Suspected cases of SARS have been reported in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Canada, United States, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Britain and Ireland. So far China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Singapore and Canada are the only countries with reported deaths from the illness.
In the United States, people who think they may have SARS and have recently traveled to Asia, or have been in contact with someone who has, should contact their doctor for a full evaluation. Health workers who suspect cases of SARS are asked to report them to their state health departments. The CDC requests that reports of suspected cases from state health departments, international airlines, cruise ships, or cargo carriers be directed to the SARS Investigative Team at the CDC Emergency Operations Center (770-488-7100). Outside the United States, health workers who suspect cases of SARS are requested to report them to their local public health authorities.




Doesn't look too good. Have any of you ever read Stephen Kings' "The Stand"?

[trip]

TweetWhat's that book by Stephen King, where it starts out with a massive disease plague, "the Stand" , can't remember exactly.
It was a good book. Not be pretty is SARS is true.

[njjuicer]

Tweetdamn

[Morgan]

Tweet

Originally posted by trip
What's that book by Stephen King, where it starts out with a massive disease plague, "the Stand" , can't remember exactly.
It was a good book. Not be pretty is SARS is true.

Same one. Also a TV movie with Ray Walson (My Favorite Martian)
and Gary Sinese (sp?) 3 night run. Wasn't as good as the book.

[Kristylynn]

TweetDon't you think by the time it could spread around we would have a cure for it with our medical tech.?

[njjuicer]

Tweetoutbreak i think it is where the monkey got everyone sick?

[njjuicer]

Tweetkristylynn what about cancer and aids no cures for them yet

[Morgan]

Tweet

Originally posted by njjuicer
outbreak i think it is where the monkey got everyone sick?

Yes - Robin Cook wrote the book - Dustin Hoffman and Renee Russo had the main characters. I loved the air-fuel bomb in the movie.

[Kristylynn]

Tweet

Originally posted by njjuicer
kristylynn what about cancer and aids no cures for them yet

Guess your right, well shit thanks for making me feel better about it

[njjuicer]

Tweetyea it was a good movie and im guessing u have a school girl crush on renee ruso lol