Study: U.S. Could Do Little To Stop Pandemic Flu Spread

[OhioChick]

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. government can't do much to stop the spread of flu if a pandemic reaches the country, a new computer model suggests.

The computer-simulated conclusions, published in the journal Nature, suggest a widespread flu outbreak could hit one in three Americans if nothing is done.

If the government acted fast and had enough antiviral doses to go around -- which it doesn't -- the cases could fall to about one in four.

Neil Ferguson, the lead author at London's Imperial College, said both cases are "very pessimistic."

http://www.newsnet5.com/health/9019736/detail.html

[The Backlash Cometh]

1. Like hell they can't.

We could start by working on some system of internet classrooms for kids so they can stay at home if there's an outbreak at school. They can stop the practice on athletic fields when athletes share waterbottles and spigots. They can educate teachers to recognize symptoms so that kids can be sent home if they make it to school with flu symptoms.

[AndyA]

2. When all else fails, return to the basics of good hygiene.

Shouldn't be that difficult to figure out, but then again, look who's in charge... :eyes:

[The Backlash Cometh]

10. You would be shocked, SHOCKED at what these kids are doing.

Hygiene? fuggetaboutit.

[louis-t]

3. Bush to country: "You're on your own."

[OhioChick]

5. No surprise there........

We're always on our own.......

[Coastie for Truth]

4. Don't worry

Bush will try martial law, suspending Posse Comitatus, and armed enforcement of quarantines. That's his personality and mind set.

[hedgehog]

7. Quarantines will do nothing but bring on an economic depression.

Oh, and cause extreme panic.

I can't think of a better way to bring about civil disorder than to impose a quarantine.

[Coastie for Truth]

9. Which may be what Bush wants.

Justifies suspending Posse Comitatus.

[hedgehog]

6. I'd put more faith in hand washing than anti-virals.

Even the worst flu isn't Ebola. My grandmother survived the 1919 flu and my husband's grandfather did, too. THe other grands were either exposed and didn't catch it or caught it and weren't sick enough to bother mentioning it years later.

The problem that I see is that some people will be exposed and some people will die who wouldn't if the Bush administration would take the most basic steps to prepare hospitals, clinics, schools etc now. For example, someone should decide now whether university dorms should be closed or if it's better to hand out masks and hand sanitizers. We won't have the choice because basics such as gowns, gloves, masks and hand sanitizers aren't being stocked now.

[Snow]

8. Mistaken premise....

You don't stop an epidemic with treatment for the sick people. There's all the subclinical but still contagious cases, for starters. There's diagnostic lag, treatment lag, people who don't have enough or any insurance. Treatment of the already sick doesn't work for any epidemic I can think of. Okay, maybe for something slow like tuberculosis, where you treat the contagious ill with an eye to getting them non-contagious. But for most diseases, this technique doesn't work. Plainly Ferguson isn't an epidemiologist.

[leesa]

11. Waddayamean? Rumsfeld's already made millions...I'm sure there's

lot's more booty to be made. The SPREAD is desired by these guys...not a downside at all, more money for all.