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First Case of New Coronavirus Detected in U.S.

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Re: First Case of New Coronavirus Detected in U.S.

#111

Post by ebiester »

glofish wrote: post #17

I feel like it has been so long since the swine flu, bird flu, H1N1 flu, and other flu scares that we are due for one. Like the recessions the flu scares are cyclical.

First, this isn't a flu. This is a coronavirus, related (but not identical) to both the common cold and (more closely due to subtypes) SARS. That said, while I am not an epidemiologist, this doesn't seem nearly as fatal - about a 2% compared to a 9.5% of SARS and 10-15% of the Spanish Flu. Remember that known cases will usually have more serious reactions than less serious cases - milder cases won't go to doctors.

I am hoping that this ends up being an overreaction. That said, SARS most definitely wasn't, and I wonder if we could make life a lot better if we generally treated the common cold and flu the same way, preventing the outbreaks in the first place.

Re: First Case of New Coronavirus Detected in U.S.

#112

Post by Koshkin »

duncanawoods wrote: post #96
munificent wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Spanish Flu was almost exactly 100 years ago. Recent enough that we think of it as being in modern times with relatively modern medicine and hospitals. My grandmother lived through it, so this isn't the distant past. Current estimates are that it killed up to 100,000,000 million people, as many as the black plague. We have much better medicine now, thankfully. But we also live in a much more deeply connected worl…

It's curious how little cultural impact it has compared to the world wars or Black Plague despite the death-toll. I've never seen a TV series or film about it or any art, songs or phrases. There is no iconic photograph that comes to mind. It's just a minor footnote to WW1. I don't know if it's wartime censorship or just overshadowed but it's really quite odd.

> little cultural impact

How many people are dying today from preventable causes? Have you heard songs about them?

Re: First Case of New Coronavirus Detected in U.S.

#113

Post by triceratops »

Koshkin wrote: post #112
duncanawoods wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's curious how little cultural impact it has compared to the world wars or Black Plague despite the death-toll. I've never seen a TV series or film about it or any art, songs or phrases. There is no iconic photograph that comes to mind. It's just a minor footnote to WW1. I don't know if it's wartime censorship or just overshadowed but it's really quite odd.

> little cultural impact How many people are dying today from preventable causes? Have you heard songs about them?

The Spanish Flu was, by definition, not curable since so many people died of it.

There have been many films, books, and other media about other epidemics. HIV/AIDS, bubonic plague, smallpox, and polio come to mind.

I think GP was pointing out how much WW1 overshadowed everything else that was going on at the time. In any other moment in history, the Spanish Flu would have been a significant occurrence.

Re: First Case of New Coronavirus Detected in U.S.

#114

Post by m3kw9 »

satokema_work wrote: post #22
ryanmercer wrote: post #16

They suspected a man in Australia of having it and were awaiting test results yesterdayish too https://www.smh.com.au/national/first-australian-monitored-f... There is also /r/China_Flu/ for those that wanta centralized location for news. I think this is certainly not a great thing but I urge people not to panic. Any time some sort of new disease starts to spread a portion of the population immediately overreacts and…

I wish wearing hospital masks was more accepted. Out of the listed reactions, it's probably the least overreaction possible, especially if it's a fashionable one and not actually hospital color...

What reaction? Someone eye balling your mask isn’t that bad.

Re: First Case of New Coronavirus Detected in U.S.

#115

Post by m3kw9 »

semi-extrinsic wrote: post #91
ping_pong wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hospital masks by itself would not help prevent things like SARS. In Toronto, health care workers were getting infected even after following the strictest protocols.

If there was definite evidence that wearing masks helped prevent catching flu, at the very least you would see them used in occupations where the cost of an employee being out with the flu for a week is very high. Since we don't see this, they are probably ineffective.

You need to wear it properly, some if not all regular people adjust their mask looser so they can breathe easier

Re: First Case of New Coronavirus Detected in U.S.

#116

Post by bsder »

duncanawoods wrote: post #96
munificent wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Spanish Flu was almost exactly 100 years ago. Recent enough that we think of it as being in modern times with relatively modern medicine and hospitals. My grandmother lived through it, so this isn't the distant past. Current estimates are that it killed up to 100,000,000 million people, as many as the black plague. We have much better medicine now, thankfully. But we also live in a much more deeply connected worl…

It's curious how little cultural impact it has compared to the world wars or Black Plague despite the death-toll. I've never seen a TV series or film about it or any art, songs or phrases. There is no iconic photograph that comes to mind. It's just a minor footnote to WW1. I don't know if it's wartime censorship or just overshadowed but it's really quite odd.

> It's curious how little cultural impact it has compared to the world wars

Erm, it could be argued that the Spanish Flu is what stopped World War I.

That's pretty significant.

Re: First Case of New Coronavirus Detected in U.S.

#117

Post by dpcan »

catalogia wrote: post #97

The marketing department of the beer company must be livid.

Not if they're smart enough to capitalize on this.

With just the right touch, they could potentially crush it with the Super Bowl coming.

I don't know. Maybe a bunch of people sitting around holding Corona Light beers with hospital masks on. They are just looking at each other. Then at their beers. They can't take their masks off. One guy tries to drink it through the mask, just kind-of chokes. Another tries to pour it through the little cracks at the top of the mask... no good. Finally, one guy says screw-it, takes his mask of and drinks the beer. Everyone else follows.

Then, to be a little tongue in cheek, a guy at the very end of the commercial coughs.

Re: First Case of New Coronavirus Detected in U.S.

#118

Post by m3kw9 »

taiwanboy wrote: post #18

The Chinese government has had difficulties handling the situation. I think we might need WHO to jump in soon. (Chinese New Years is in 3 days and few hundred million people will travel in congested trains and flights. Also people in China usually don’t cover their mouths when they cough) Coronavirus: Chinese hospitals not testing patients, say relatives https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/21/coronavirus-ch...…

Maybe a million fevers a day in China

Re: First Case of New Coronavirus Detected in U.S.

#119

Post by bradly »

exposay wrote: post #108

China has been covering it up for 2 months. Minimal action was taken to prevent the disease from spreading and they kept denying until a couple days ago when it was no longer possible to cover it up because it is spreading to neighboring countries who have been complaining for the whole time. Regional/local governments have been trying to downplay it because it makes them "look bad". It is essentially a replay of SAR…

Well, didn't they hide the true extent of the Great Famine as well for multiple decades?

Re: First Case of New Coronavirus Detected in U.S.

#120

Post by _cerv »

matthewfcarlson wrote: post #69

As someone who lives quite close to the hospital in the article, it was interesting seeing reactions this morning at the office. Some people immediately wondered about their immuno compromised friends and family, while others (myself included) just sort of said "huh" and went about our day. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

I live in a building with a quite a few nurses that work at that hospital. It kind of scares me that one of them open mouth coughed in the elevator with me the other night. Probably nothing more than a tired nurse and a dry throat, but still kind of weird to read about a thing that is a block away from where you live.
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