I have been following this story for a few days now, reading articles in the media, reports from various countries, and government agencies, official CDC & WHO reports, etc… And, I will fully admit that I’m STILL trying to get a clear handle on exactly how much of a threat this NEW VIRUS really is as I know many others are as well.
WHY ARE THEY CALLING THIS “SWINE FLU” WHEN IT ISN’T???
You may notice that in the title of this post I have called this new virus a “Chimera Flu” – credit to my daughter for the name. The papers today are reporting that many are rejecting the “Swine Flu” name for a variety of reasons. This is a GOOD thing, because “swine flu” doesn’t accurately describe this new disease and how it is spread, and it is causing undue panic regarding the sale of pork food products.
Another unintended consequence of labeling this as “Swine Flu” is that it is creating a false sense of security among pig farmers, and others in rural areas because “old fashioned pig flu” has been around for AGES, can’t be transferred to humans except by direct contact with the infected animal, and the prognosis really doesn’t differ from being infected with a “regular” Human flu virus. [I have heard people on the internet making comments such as, “Why are people so worried, I had Swine Flu as a kid growing up on the farm and its no big deal” — not what you want people thinking in regards to this NEW VIRUS].
The whole “name thing” has personally been bugging me for some reason ever since I found out this was a combination of several genetic components of usually geographically isolated swine flu strains, the North American Avian Flu, and a Strain of Type “A” Human Influenza. Clearly we are NOT dealing with a normal mutation of “Old Fashioned Swine Flu”.
To my great relief, the governments of various countries are calling for a “name change”. The US is starting to use the scientific identifier of H1N1. Honestly, there are so many different influenza strains out there, and they all have “HN” numbers I don’t think this is a good idea either — too easy for the average person to confuse it with other “regular” flus, or non-human infecting flus. Using the H1N1 identifier is fine for scientists and researchers, but I think a “common name” would serve the public well at this point in time. [Israel has called this the “Mexican Flu” which is in keeping with traditional naming schemes — where a virus is first identified is usually how it’s named – like the 1918 Spanish Flu was. However, due to the political correctness portion of our world, I don’t think that will be considered “PC” enough. Again why I am suggesting a name like “Chimera Flu” (which does give the proper impression that this is a genetically mutated virus containing several different “unrelated” virus markers).
MORE INFORMATION COMING!!!
Right now I am working on a “Focus Page” for the “Chimera Flu” which will contain a vast amount of resources, links, quotes, statistics, and information on a wide variety of different topics that pertain to viruses themselves, the scientific makeup of this new virus, resources for official information (like the CDC and WHO), “alternative” resources for “chatter” in the medical community, links to media articles, and government releases, and agencies, and more…
I will even be discussing some pretty plausible theories on the Who’s, Why’s and How’s that accompany this event — many of these theories at this point are honestly very plausible, and the people discussing these things are using reasoned arguments and solid facts to support them — it’s honestly fascinating stuff… Of course, there are some theories that I personally don’t think have much weight, but I’ll include some of those too, so readers can make up their own minds…
HOW YOU CAN HELP IN THIS EFFORT:
At this point there is not much anyone who is not a research scientist, medical professional, or working for some goverment agency, or the media can really do about this besides help each educate each other, and to stay informed. If you have links to information on anything regarding viruses, mutations, pandemics, and media articles you think are worth sharing, please consider dropping me a note via the comment section below this post. All comments are moderated, so even if you don’t see your comment show up on this page, it doesn’t mean I won’t include your information with credit on the “Focus Page(s)” about this topic.
If you do decide to share information, I respectfully request that you supply a citation as to the source of the information — especially if you are supplying a quote, please include the name, occupation/position/title of the person commenting, and employer, date and a link to the article, or resource it appeared in. This will save me a LOT of time because then I can easily double-check the info. before I include it.
AVOIDING PANIC THROUGH PREPARATION:
It’s never a good idea to panic – it always leads to mistakes, which can lead to undue suffering in any situation. Please remember when researching this subject on your own that we truly don’t know what we’re dealing with yet — it’s too soon to tell. It’s just one of those things (like a smoking volcano) that is a good idea to keep tabs on. While this new virus certainly has our attention, again, panicking will do absolutely no good. Remember those lists of “emergency preparation” that FEMA released shortly after Katrina, so people were better prepared for natural disasters and other emergencies? Well, it’s a good idea to check on your survival supplies, or start gathering some if you haven’t already.
Remember even if this “Chimera Flu” turns out to be way less serious than it looks, that doesn’t mean having these preparatory items is a bad idea, or a bad investment. My mother and grandmother both made sure to keep a well-stocked pantry, because as they always said, “You just never know” (Raising a family during the depression and WWII taught my Grandmother a lot of things about keeping a family safe during hard times. My mother grew up during WWII, and living on a farm preparedness was just a way of life…
I will include much more on this subject on my Focus Page.
WHEN WILL THE “CHIMERA FLU” FOCUS PAGE BE READY?
I am aiming for at least a partial publication within the next 24-36 hours depending on how much time I need to spend on some other projects I have going at the moment (we homeschool, and with keeping the house in order it maay take me a bit to get everything organized.
A PERSONAL NOTE & PRAYER REQUEST:
Right now our famly is (somewhat) enjoying a ‘bitterweet’ time off work my husband has right now due to what they are calling a “temporary” layoff. If you are the praying kind, we would definitely appreciate prayers and good wishes for my husband’s job situation — he’s applied to seemingly every shop in our area, and NO-ONE is hiring right now.
He is also looking at a possible weekly commute to Chicago where we have relatives, and he has more job contacts (he is a Journeyman Precision & Prototype Machinist/Tool & Die Maker with 18 years experience, and a wide variety of skills). While a commute would be hard on our family, it may become a necessity, and I really would prefer not to have a “long-distance” marriage even if just for a while… So please pray my husband can find a job locally, or that somehow his old shop gets some new contracts in (half of his shop is “at home” right now, so prayers for his co-workers and their families, and anyone experiencing layoffs right now would be a good thing to pray about as well…).
One more prayer request; Praise God, my family just got over a NASTY flu they caught at the beginning of this month, and all of them (my 4 kids and husband) are all feeling almost 100% again. I however, caught a severe Bronchial Infection about 5-7 days after they got sick. Thanks be to God that I was able to “nurse” my family before I fell ill… I was put on some strong antibiotics, a steriod, and given an inhaler, and the excruciating pain I felt went away after a few days.
The doctors tell me I have some “lingering irritation” but the infection is gone – Again THANK GOD! [I have a real compassion for asthma sufferers and those with chornic respiratory illness… I have given birth without drugs, and the pain I felt when my bronchial tubes spasmed when I TRIED to cough felt like someone was trying to rip my lungs right out of my chest, and I really don’t know anything scarier than feeling as if you cannot breathe!]
Just this last Monday, our 9 mo. old “kitten” who had been suffering from an upper respiratory infection (that he coincidently(?) came down with at the the same day as the rest of my family), we had to rush back to the vet. He wasn’t eating, although he was still drinking and he was literally “wasting away”. We tried every kind of food imaginable and resorted t feeding hi with a syringe like a baby, but there was really nothing we could have done to help him. They ran a bunch of blood tests and it ws discovered he had feline leukemia, and he had already entered a “multiple organ failure” stage with white blood cell counts lierally “off the chart”, so we hd to mke the heartbreaking decision to have him put to sleep. I truly believe God has a special place for our beloved pets, so another prayer I would request is that he has found his way across that “rainbow bridge”, and also that God would comfort my children as they moun the loss of our “kitten”, Hobbes.
Our beloved cat, Hobbes. May he RIP. We don't have many good pictures of him, but this shows his "sweet" face...
One more prayer request… On Monday night, even though I thought I was dealing pretty well with the death of our cat, I ended up in the ER with an “uncontrollable heartrate” that was hovering around 150 (those who exercise will realize this is at the very top of the “recommended heart rate” for exercise, and I wasn’t exercising!). I was also having trouble communicating to my family as to how I was feeling — it was quite scary. At the ER they checked me for all possible complications from my bronchial infection (chest X-Ray, CT scan with & without dye), and they checked my heart and monitored it (I think they did several ECGs, and some EEGs, too — talk about being hooked up with wires to all sorts of machines – it felt like I was “strapped in”!). Anyway, after they ruled out blood clots, stroke, heart attack, etc… I was also very dehydrated when I arrived at the ER with a very low potassium count, so they did some other blood tests and I got rehydrated through and IV. After that they gave me some pretty strong sedatives so I could sleep till morning, and they could ‘keep an eye on my heart’, even though eventually we all came to the conclusion that it was a most likely a “prolonged panic attack”, that I didn’t “catch” before it started… They were going to also keep me till morning so we could do a “just in case” stress test on my heart, and again they had given me some sort of seative and i did become quite drowsy.
Unfortunately, just as I was finally dozing off an infant came in screaming and crying. You could tell the baby was in some sort of pain and distress, and despite my sedated self, the Mom i me wanted to jump up out of that bed and go help “save the baby”…. LOL It ws at that point they decided that going home and getting rest might be a better idea as my heart rate started to climb again when I heard that baby… [Prayers that that child is OK now — it sounded bad whatever was making he/she cry like that…]
Anyway, I’m following up with two separate doctors – my regular MD, and a highly recommended psychiatrist (just in case). We are still running blood tests (fasting tests) and a few other tests checking for a whole bunch of other physical ailments just to rule everything out that could physically be causing my high anxiety level – and especially the problems I had with communicating. Please pray those come back “clean”. One thing I’m a little worried about is that I could’ve had a “mini-stroke”. I have a history of migraines and such and some of the latest medical info. I’ve seen was a study that showed a possible link between the two. I’m also working with my (Pain Specialist) Orthopedic Surgeon for my back problems so prayers there will help too! PRAISE GOD that I do have some wonderful medical professionals for a “support team”. I feel very blessed in that…
Sorry, I really didn’t intend for this personal section/prayer request to be so long. I guess it could be considered “therapeutic” for me to write all this out, so thanks for your patience and listening…
Time to get to work on that “Focus Page” (and get the girls started on their daily lessons). Thanks in advance to any readers who want to submit information, as I stated above it would be greatly appreciated. I’ve got a pretty long list of notes, and links, and such, but the more information the better, IMHO.
TAKE CARE EVERYONE! And, remember — NO PANICKING! 🙂
Liberty Rocks 