Anyone worried about the Swine Flu epidemic reaching Indiana? (Indianapolis: spring break, 2009)

[Future Trooper]

This Swine Flu epidemic appears to be growing and spreading North from Mexico. Is anyone in Indiana worried about Swine Flu reaching Indiana?

[sweetana3]

There is nothing special about IN. Any disease that is transmissable can be here or come here.

Wise to always be aware of what is going on and take "reasonable" precautions.

The CDC and the WHO web info is probably better info than the media on a low news day.

[domergurl]

It's a matter of time. The folks who contracted it in kansas got it as a result of the husband travelling to Mexico and brought it back with him ... if Indianapolis has direct flights to Mexico .. again, it's only a matter of time.

[Future Trooper]

Originally Posted by domergurl

It's a matter of time. The folks who contracted it in kansas got it as a result of the husband travelling to Mexico and brought it back with him ... if Indianapolis has direct flights to Mexico .. again, it's only a matter of time.

If I am not mistaken Indianapolis has direct flights to Cancun.

[domergurl]

Bingo ... I have friends who recently returned from there. Her husband is from Mexico and the town where they used to live has cancelled all schools until May 6th and everyone is wearing facemasks.

[Future Trooper]

They are also telling people to keep a 2 meter distance away from people and to refrain from kissing. I didnt know schools were closing down and people were wearing facemasks.

[EEEPNJ]

Where are schools closed?

[BanyanTree]

I did a quick google to see if this 'swine-flu' is related to MRSA. I did not see any news jumping out to make the connection.
But still - I can't eat bacon now the same way without being queasy.

From http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/12/op...12kristof.html

The late Tom Anderson, the family doctor in this little farm town in northwestern Indiana, at first was puzzled, then frightened.
He began seeing strange rashes on his patients, starting more than a year ago. They began as innocuous bumps — “pimples from hell,” he called them — and quickly became lesions as big as saucers, fiery red and agonizing to touch.
They could be anywhere, but were most common on the face, armpits, knees and buttocks. Dr. Anderson took cultures and sent them off to a lab, which reported that they were MRSA, or staph infections that are resistant to antibiotics.
MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) sometimes arouses terrifying headlines as a “superbug” or “flesh-eating bacteria.” The best-known strain is found in hospitals, where it has been seen regularly since the 1990s, but more recently different strains also have been passed among high school and college athletes. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that by 2005, MRSA was killing more than 18,000 Americans a year, more than AIDS.
Dr. Anderson at first couldn’t figure out why he was seeing patient after patient with MRSA in a small Indiana town. And then he began to wonder about all the hog farms outside of town. Could the pigs be incubating and spreading the disease?
“Tom was very concerned with what he was seeing,” recalls his widow, Cindi Anderson. “Tom said he felt the MRSA was at phenomenal levels.”
By last fall, Dr. Anderson was ready to be a whistle-blower, and he agreed to welcome me on a reporting visit and go on the record with his suspicions. That was a bold move, for any insinuation that the hog industry harms public health was sure to outrage many neighbors.
So I made plans to come here and visit Dr. Anderson in his practice. And then, very abruptly, Dr. Anderson died at the age of 54.
There was no autopsy, but a blood test suggested a heart attack or aneurysm. Dr. Anderson had himself suffered at least three bouts of MRSA, and a Dutch journal has linked swine-carried MRSA to dangerous human heart inflammation.
The larger question is whether we as a nation have moved to a model of agriculture that produces cheap bacon but risks the health of all of us. And the evidence, while far from conclusive, is growing that the answer is yes.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/op...15kristof.html

[domergurl]

schools are closed in Mexico ... looks like the kids in the school in Queens were all on spring break in Mexico too ...

[cfarris]

I am not worried about the swine flu epidemic coming to Indiana.I would think it would be under control before it get's this far.Not that it could not happen but the fear of the what if is something that no one can control.I can just hope not and not worry about it.