Stomach Flu Hits New York City

PandemicsHappen wrote: Have you ever read a newspaper article that had all the facts right?

I have told this story before when my girlfriend was a journalist working for the San Francisco Chronicle. From Nob Hill a radio broadcast from well - anyone who knows Frisco and Nob Hill can kinda piece together the station that it was anyway -

There is a riot at the intersection of X and Y. A guy called in from a phone booth (no cell phones at that time)

There is no riot. In fact, everything is normal, no violence, no smashing windshield, no screaming bleeding people.

The girl on the phone taking calls hung up on him.

It is a known practice when there is no news for certain journalists to make up stories from scratch. This is not NEsq or Star material - this is main stream big name news. One journalist complained to my girlfriend,
It is getting real tough. What do you do when you have space to fill and no news. You are right. You should confirm news with 3 stories or main line. Sometimes on the net this is not enough. Someone will pick up that first post, and bing, dominoe effect - its all over the net and it never even happened. Tail wags the dog.



MC

reality check wrote: Loribearme wrote: An epidemic is an epidemic no matter who is right or wrong here....point we should all take is that the climate is making conditions right for virus to go crazy whether its stomach flu or flu type a or b, or swine flu, or anything else, point is so many are flocking to the hospital for something they should just stay home for 24 hours.    Bottom line... people who refer to noro virus as stomach flu ...well they will never gain the "cred" they want, need , or whatever...

The news media, as opposed to the scientific community is targeted towards the laymen. I find it incredible with a massive amount of scientific information, sequencing, and hard core science, that no one has commented on this at all.

The second point is that credibility or not, in the lab, we are seeing a jump from respiratory to intestinal symptoms. in fact, in frequent cases of Avian there are no respiratory symptoms.

This is significant. And as we researched concerning the link to a possible Avian hook or pack infection with the neurological system and a total system involved, as the Avian strains mutate we may very well be faced, or may currently be face with a stomach flu.

Another reason this is significant, is not only the treatment and method the medicine is administered is directly related. Since large pharmeceutical companies are devoping new medicines to be given IV we are faced with one real pressing question. How does the virus get past the acid stomach barrier? How do we wind up with rectal swab which is not respiratory at  all that tests positive for H5N1 in a human in Vietnam last year.

Most of the idea is to catch and filter cases of Avian, we must alter our thinking at airports and check points for a virus which may not be signaled by copious amounts of coughing and blood.

All said in the interest of positive and friendly discussion.

Media will never be noted for credibility. We are force to quote articles sometimes that include many overt mistakes, but what are the alternatives.

I must admit, we are researching things which touch on this area, and so to us, it matters.

Medclincian

An epidemic is an epidemic no matter who is right or wrong here....point we should all take is that the climate is making conditions right for virus to go crazy whether its stomach flu or flu type a or b, or swine flu, or anything else, point is so many are flocking to the hospital for something they should just stay home for 24 hours.   

The eternal argument between the use of the term "stomach flu" goes back some time.  We have have the purists who continually continue to state that "flu" is respiratory.

The problem is the word "flu" has two real problems. One is that in birds it is also in the intestinal tract and basically spread there. We have rectal swab "flu" from humans meaning it has bypassed the stomach and acid barrier and also that Avian has gone systemic.

Most of us who are health professionals are aware of the basic fact the "usage" eventually will bypass the insistence of medical community on this eternal battle concerning "stomach flu."

And as some of us doing research are aware of, the "flu" is getting complicated. It is bypassing the blood brain barrier moving into the enceph world, and if you autopsy a dead chicken with Avian you will often see total organ involvement with a scene of carnage and damage, which is intense.

Move this to a human? Well, unfortunately "flu" and many major drug companies are adjusting their routes of administration to include systemic and IV, because pure lung mists will not effectively hit it when it goes systemic. And it has in some cases.

Disease, nomenclature, and terminology and even language are constantly evolving. And a dead bird or person from Avian flu by any other name is just as dead.

It is not that anyone wants to report or give out false information. It is simply that the main medical establishment has no treatment for the waves of new bugs and viruses which are hitting us. ZRSA -

I used to work with doctors who went to medical school before there were antibiotics, at least in common use.

The problem is, when the Pandemics hit, the hospitals will shut down. All these debates on stomach flu, will be a moot point.

A doctor against a virus with no known vaccine or treatment is impotent. A hospital against a virus which is highly infective is a death trap.

The only intelligent approach is to minimize social contact, stay home (SIP), prep and fight it off, because there will be no one with white coats and a little truck with supplies to help you.

You cannot even hope to address huge population centers. The people who know the real facts, know that at 5% CFR we are in a serious problem. We won't be discussing this on the Internet, because you won't have lights or power.

Plans are already in place for relocation of government to safe areas, and the states will turn over the brunt of dealing with the Pandemic to local government.

I don't know about this particular story. I do know that what is being said it not the spin that is desired, then you attack the person putting up the information.  It is information control 1a. Destroy credibility.

How can one not follow the evolution here of a series of Pandemics and disease spread which is being openly acknowledge by the U.S. government at the highest levels.

Laymen speak in laymen terms. And when they used to come to the clinic I supervised, (under proper authority) they would say 30 years ago - God I have the stomach flu - again.. had it for days.

Well then, gastro-intestinal inflammation and norovirus are spreading rampantly...

For that matter, our whole family has "something" and it is not in the lungs, and my son has a fever and almost had to go into ER last night.

It is like low path Avian where 50% of the chickens bodies lay in the barnyard. They didn't know it was lo path. And to every sense of human logic.. whether the viral code whatever matches a high path known sequence.. for God's sake.. they are dead and it was hi path.

This is not directed to any individual, but most of us, I especially am especially diligent in trying to sort out the truth and at the same time we must deal with public announcements at times by people with lots of letters after their names, experts, authorities, who are not being accurate.
Please give a link on this one... and I will.. try to confirm it.

Medclinician

coleyounger1 wrote: http://www.efluxmedia.com/news_Stomach_Flu_Hits_New_York_City_12101.html<span name="intelliTxt" id="intelliTXT">A significant jump to 500 emergency room visits for vomiting and diarrhea a day has occurred since November, when there were about 300 such visits daily.</span>

If yu read the artical in this link take a look what Dr is quoted as saying. Iformation refering to NORO virus and how to control spread by staying home with symptoms and not infecting work force. No mention of STOMACH FLU and also no mention of the "hundreds" of people at the hospital throwing up. When key medical terms are bastersised (sp) I certainly question the repoters story even when the NYC health dept is clearky being used as an appeal to authoity strategy to make some story deadline. btw the Dr title is head of gastrointestinal diseases in the communicable disease divison at the health department. Read these artical carefully to understand credibility in reporting..before comenting in a neg fashion to my post..this statement is not directed at you Cole...just the member who decided to take me to task who will remain nameless      

NYC health dept would not refer to noro virus as stomach flu. What other liberties did this reporter take when clearly he/she has no medical background.

coleyounger1 wrote: linora wrote: Coleyounger:   Any thoughts about this part of the article you  posted:       <span name="intelliTxt" id="intelliTXT">500 emergency room visits for a simple stomach flu? i caught the same flu last week in utah, and i just stayed home and got over it .can you imagine the over whelming of the hospitals if the bird flu hits with this stomach flu together.</span>

Don't mean to be a pain but.....influenza is the correct name for flu and it is an exclusive respiratory illness. No such thing as a "stomach flu" ...stomach refers to gastro illneses which has zero to do with respiratory illness. I question your source's knowledge.. no medical backgrown, once again.. don't mean to be rude...but ..wrong is wrong.    
    
    

linora wrote: Coleyounger:   Any thoughts about this part of the article you  posted:

500 emergency room visits for a simple stomach flu? i caught the same flu last week in utah, and i just stayed home and got over it .
can you imagine the over whelming of the hospitals if the bird flu hits with this stomach flu together.

Happens everytime the wind comes from the south-southwest.