I just found out that 4-5 of my friends probably have swine flu...

[armyowalgreens]

At least one friend is a confirmed case. The others are really sick but have not been tested yet.

Should I lock myself in my house until they get better?

[azmouse]

1. Don't forget the plastic sheeting and duct tape!!

And stay out of Glendale!!!! :P

[armyowalgreens]

6. *drives to glendale*

*licks azmouses door knobs*

[azmouse]

14. I'd pay to see that!

[Junkdrawer]

8. I saw the most bizarre PSA ever last week on the local Cable Access channel

How to wrap up your dead and store them in the basement in case of a Pandemic...

And, no, it was not a parody.....

[azmouse]

13. Someone should remind them that we don't have basements in AZ!!

[Junkdrawer]

16. "Any cool, dry area will do in a pinch..."

"And, by law, you need to try to contact authorities once a day. Hang a white rag by your door to alert authorities."

Most macabre thing I've ever seen.

[lysosome]

22. Read up on the last n1 h1 shift. There's a reason for the concern.

Though, admittedly, there's no way to tell. There was no way to tell subtypes back in 1918. We only know the subtype now because we checked on bodies frozen in the ground. For all we know N1H1 could have been the normal flu variant for years before the swine flu.

[PSzymeczek]

60. The only cool, dry area in AZ this time of year

is Mount Lemmon.

[dflprincess]

55. I'm so glad when I saw "Spamalot" last year

I had the foresight to buy t-shirt that says "I'm not dead yet!". So far I've only worn it on my birthday, but I think I'll have to have it ready to put on at a moment's notice.

[WillieW]

2. Eliminate all contact. Stock up on stuff and stay put.

[tekisui]

3. I better put you on ignore.

Just to be safe.

[WillieW]

7. Me? I don't have the flu!

I have a compromised immune system. So, I wear masks and hand sanitize/wash my hands all of the time. I am determined not to get the flu. When the shots become available, I be first one in line.

[lysosome]

4. wash hands. A lot!

And as far as them getting better, that's really not going to keep you safe.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/SwineFluNews/people-shed-swine-flu-virus-longer-thought/story?id=8584596

Soap and water are your friends.

[gateley]

5. They should lock themselves in THEIR houses until they get better --

that's what good friends do. :)

[nadinbrzezinski]

25. Actualy that is the recommended path

by health authorities

:-)

[Habibi]

33. Hopefully they don't have jobs that require them to be there.

Otherwise, we're all fucked.

[AllentownJake]

9. Looks like the predicted epidemic is started

I hope to God the 3% mortality rate is a bad estimate.

[Hippo_Tron]

10. Tell them to get Tamiflu, you might get it yourself as prevention

Seriously the stuff is a miracle drug. I had a friend who got the swine flu and she was fully functional again 3 days after taking it.

[Walk away]

11. Get Tamiflu right away. Call yr Dr. get a script and if you feel ill at all...

of run a temp. start taking it.

Ok...I am not a doctor but when my friend's school in Queens had 100 cases a few months ago that's what her husband ( a viroligist) gave her. I always keep some in the house. It has a seven yr shelf life if you buy it in it's original foil pks. It is great for flu but you have to take it as soon as you get symptoms and it is supposed to be working for h1n1.

[graywarrior]

12. Take vitamin D

It's supposed to help your immune system. Half the teachers at my school are sick with some kind of flu, and a lot of the students are out. So far, I haven't gotten anything.

[comrade snarky]

63. Be careful with Vitamin D

It's not like C, you can overdose.

I'm not saying it wont help, just read up on dosages before eating it by the handful.

[Swamp Rat]

15. Hold your breath.

That should help. :D

[Warpy]

17. No, but they'll be shedding the virus for a week after they get better

so when you visit them, be sure to wash your hands thoroughly before you touch your face.

Do you lock yourself in the house whenever anybody around you gets the ordinary old flu? No? That's how you need to behave now.

[kestrel91316]

18. It's all over for you. Take the easy way out.

[ShortnFiery]

21. ...

:spray:

[PreacherCasey]

35. Probably the funniest thing I've ever read on this board. Kudos to you! hahahaha!

[Cali_Democrat]

19. Youz screwn

:D

[jwirr]

20. Are you otherwise healthy? If yes, you are probably not in much

danger. If no, then you should be more careful. When my daughter was in Cancun during the first outbreak they told them to wash their hands often and stay out of crowds.

[Skittles]

23. you're a young pup, right army?

take the regular precautions

[armyowalgreens]

24. Yes I am fairly young.

I'm invincible.

[Skittles]

27. aren't you, like, 19 or something?

I WILL KICK YOUR INVINCIBLE ASS

[armyowalgreens]

31. I will kick your ass, first.

[Habibi]

34. Oooh!

Skittles, it's on!

[Skittles]

37. teenage ass is my favorite

a little college bastid is icing on the cake :D

[armyowalgreens]

39. creepy

[Skittles]

43. you know I'm kidding, right?

I'll leave you alone if you're that dainty

[armyowalgreens]

44. I'm waiting for you to let down your guard...

So I can kick your ass.

[Skittles]

45. LOL

I'LL GET YOU FOR THAT :hi:

[Cid_B]

56. Watch out...

I think he threatened to row to Afghanistan to find me the other day.

[armyowalgreens]

59. Yeah I'm kind of lost.

[nadinbrzezinski]

26. Wash your hands, repeat after me, wash your hands

wash your hands, wash them some more.

That is the MOST effective thing you can do. And if you catch it, stay home...

Now if you feel like panicking, go for it.

[Habibi]

36. Let's sing an anti-H1N1 ditty!

"If you're happy and you know it, wash your hands!
*scrub* *scrub*
"If you're happy and you know it wash your hands!"
*rinse* *rinse*

Somebody else finish this verse . . .

[malaise]

28. Our neighbor and her son had it about three weks ago

It was a major non-event. I've seen regular flu that was more serious.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

29. Where are they still testing people?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

30. I think I had it last week, or at least a fairly mild case of it.

It could have been just a really terrible cold, but I had all the symptoms -- sore throat, cough, aches, fever, and extreme fatigue. I got over it in a few days except for the cough, which still lingers a bit; it wasn't any worse than any other upper respiratory flu I've had before (and not nearly as bad as the 1968 Hong Kong flu, which was an ass-kicker). Do your best to avoid people with symptoms, and generally stay away from groups of people if you can. But unless you already have other health problems, if you do get it you probably will just have a few unpleasant days lying in bed, coughing and/or sleeping.

[Maru Kitteh]

32. Alternatively, you could just eliminate your remaining friends. Clearly

having friends is the heart of your problem. :P

[lunatica]

38. Take vitamin D3 and elderberry and lanolin

Start taking it now if you're young and healthy. You don't want to take anything that boosts your immune system. What you want to do is take things that make it difficult for the virus to thrive so if you start taking these thing now it turns you kind of into a hostile environment for the virus. These are all cheap and easy to get in health food stores or online.

[Maru Kitteh]

52. Excessive suplimentation with D is toxic, dangerous, and can lead to death

AOWG is a young, healthy male and highly unlikely to suffer any D deficiency and therefore the risk of supplementation far outweighs the current, faddish, supposed benefits based on hype and people who just happen to sell vitamin D supplements.

[lunatica]

58. Thanks for the information

It's appreciated.

:D

[Maru Kitteh]

62. Your welcome! D is a steroid - a fat soluble substance that accumulates in fatty tissues

when consumed in amounts beyond what the body is able to utilize.

Overdose can cause severe harm to the heart and kidneys, or produce other fun symptoms like vomiting, constipation, hypertension and fatigue to name a few.

Most people get plenty of D from the sun, milk, cereal, eggs, mushrooms, fish and beef. If you eat any of those things you're probably set. If you take a multi-vitamin too, you're WAY covered.

People are getting crazy with the D. Steroids are not toys.

Unfortunately, a few people playing internet doctor have killed their children by trying to heal them or protect them with mega doses of D.

[uppityperson]

66. Some elderberries are poisonous and licking sheep is probably not a great idea either.

lanolin intoxication by licking sheep? ewwww

Thank you, sincerely, for your advice on vit D overdosing and Big Supplement issues. I get tired of the hype too.

[Selatius]

40. Tell these people to stay in their homes. ..... Then light their homes on fire

Intense heat will surely destroy the virus. :evilgrin:

[csziggy]

41. I had the flu over a month ago and still have some lung congestion

Last week my husband came home and told me that the child of a co-worker has been definitively diagnosed with swine flu. Since he brought this crap home from work and we had the same symptoms, I suspect we've both had it now.

The good news is that although we are both high risk - me w/asthma and him with asthma and diabetes - neither of us got sick enough to go to the doctor. My lungs have been a little clogged, but no fever since the first flu bout, and the lungs have now started clearing up.

We just had sore throats, nasal congestion, slight fever, achy and crappy feeling. Then the congestion moved into the lungs, but for us not bad enough that we had problems breathing. We treated it with over the counter medications and lots of fluids.

If it was swine flu as I suspect, then so far it is not too bad but I have heard of a number of people locally who have been put in the hospital with complications from the lung complications.

Edited to add: Hubby stayed home the first day, but his boss called and told him if he did not report the next day, he'd have to get a doctor's note, so hubby went back to work. Since he deals with the public all day, he probably spread our flu to several dozen people. The worst part was if he had stayed home the second day, that would have gotten him to the weekend and by the time he had to report back to work he would have been over the contagious period.

[BlooInBloo]

42. Just kill yourself now. We're all doomed.

[Ezlivin]

46. Pigs on the Wing

If you didn't care what happened to me,
And I didn't care for you,
We would zig zag our way through the boredom and pain
Occasionally glancing up through the rain.
Wondering which of the buggars to blame
And watching for pigs on the wing.

There's a Pink Floyd lyric for nearly every occasion.

[applegrove]

47. What part of the country are you in? I want swine flu now rather than later.

[armyowalgreens]

49. Tempe, Arizona.

Feel free to stop by. I'm sure I can get a victim to cough on your face.

[applegrove]

50. I just want to get sick early on while they still have a ventilator for me. LOL!

[Mari333]

48. my g friend has it

she also has fibromyalgia. with the swine flu. she called me today, sick as hell. its confirmed. her daughter is at U of M and they have part of the campus quarantined, its going around there.
I am staying home and not going near her.

[callous taoboy]

51. Duck and cover... Duck and cover...

[TwilightGardener]

53. I'm convinced I had it--went straight to my lungs, I hacked for

a solid 7-8 days, short of breath, had a bad fever too. Never had a flu like that before--total respiratory attack, but I was able to eat and keep food down in between bouts of coughing.

[rainbow4321]

54. My nephew's school is filled with kids who have it....

up in Oklahoma.

Plus in the last two weeks here in the Dallas area two young children have died from it..one of them was 11 yrs old, had NO underlying health conditions. She went home from school not feeling well and died within days. :-(

[sohndrsmith]

57. yikes. I hope they're thoughtful enough to eliminate contact with others as much as possible...

Hope they get better soon, get the care they need, and hope you stay well. I'm in Phoenix - not to far from you. I think we're going to get hit pretty hard with this one - not that others won't...

I was in the pharmacy the other day and it was full of seniors getting their flu shots (the regular one). I've never gotten one and haven't had the flu since I was a kid. I think I'm going to get the H1N1 shot when it's available, though...

[orleans]

61. hand wash hand wash hand wash

don't rub your eyes or nose until YOU WASHED YOUR HANDS!

and also--stay away from sick, contagious people

[Ex Lurker]

64. I and several family members have had it....

for me it was a mild headache and lethargic feeling for a couple of days. For the others it was a little worse, but nobody missed more than a day or two of work/school. Don't worry about it unless you have an underlying medical condition.

[Codeine]

65. Meh.

I had it and it was just a nasty bout of flu. You'll live. :)