4 ms·

And I had the flu.. it nearly killed me. Can we please stop this nonsense

by jbverschoor 7y ago

goatherders 7y ago
what nonsense?
- ptx 7y ago
  Downplaying the seriousness of the pandemic. First there was nothing to worry about because it was localized to Wuhan, then there was nothing to worry about because it was only spreading in China and surely would not spread to $YOUR_COUNTRY, then there was nothing to worry about because it was only a few isolated cases that were easily dealt with, and now we seem to be moving into how there's nothing to worry about because, even though the containment has completely failed and it's conceivable that most people in most countries will be infected, you still have a pretty good chance of surviving the infection.
  - sjg007 7y ago
    I think it is already here and we just don't have a real view into it because of limited testing. The community transmissions that keep popping up are indications of that. I expect we will see an exponential increase in those in the next few weeks.
  - bart_spoon 7y ago
    No one is downplaying anything. If anything, people are overemphasizing the danger. Even in Wuhan, the center of the outbreak, less than half a percent of the population has contracted this thing, and of that half percent, 4 out of 5 have mild symptoms. And the outbreak there seems to be stabilizing. That isn’t to say it isn’t serious, or that we shouldn’t be taking measures to guard against it. But a large contingent of people are acting as if it’s the Walking Dead outside, and the apocalypse is just around the corner. But irrationally overblown fear and misinformation is just as likely to result in suffering and loss of life as the disease right now. An increase of unemployment of 1% is estimated to result in anywhere from 1500-40000 deaths in the US, and vague fears over this disease have been driving some of the biggest free falls in the market in decades. Part of an appropriate response to something like this means not overreacting just as much as it means not undereacting.
    - goatherders 7y ago
      Excellent comment. The rush on supplies and goods means that people in need may not have access to care. THAT worries me quite a bit more than the disease itself.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
tyfon 7y ago
I think after the success of the media in respect to this virus (massive amounts of clicks and TV view time), I firmly believe that every new flu will have it's own name and similar coverage from now on. They just made too much money off this, fear is a big seller.
- nkozyra 7y ago
  Even if one was this cynical, do you not think a novel (not influenza) virus with an unusually high mortality rate spreading internationally is worthy of news coverage? The media didn't name this thing, nor SARS, nor avian bird flu.
  - tyfon 7y ago
    SARS (the syndrome) is actually caused by the corona virus so it's not really new. But I see my karma won't be healthy in this discussion so I guess I'll shut up :p
    - mercer 7y ago
      Please do.
    - nkozyra 7y ago
      It's caused by different strain, so I'm not sure what point you're trying to make here.
  - 40four 7y ago
    It is worthy of coverage, but it’s only interesting because it’s new. It really not the super virus they make it out to be. The news coverage does not paint a realistic picture. The height mortality rate is mostly due to the novelty and the fact we haven’t developed drugs for it yet. Also, it is killing almost exclusively elderly people. People who don’t have fully functioning immune systems. I’m willing to be the common flu killed a similar percentage of elderly before we developed a vaccine for it. https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/coronavirus-age-sex-demographics/ https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/coronavirus-age-se... This is not the message the news tells us though. They would have us believe it is some unstoppable virus, killing anyone who comes in contact with it. But there really isn’t any evidence to back it up. Fear mongering certainly does drive traffic.
zenmaster10665 7y ago
The flu is a pretty well known illness at this point. This is a serious issue as it has a higher mortality rate than the flu, is spreading quickly and has the potential to evolve into a strain with a much higher mortality rate. I agree people shouldn't panic, but I don't agree this is just something to be dismissed... The pandemic of 1918 has some lessons to be learned here. https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/reconstruction-1918-virus.html https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/reconstruction-19...

And I had the flu.. it nearly killed me. Can we please stop this nonsense

goatherders 7y ago

what nonsense?

ptx 7y ago
Downplaying the seriousness of the pandemic. First there was nothing to worry about because it was localized to Wuhan, then there was nothing to worry about because it was only spreading in China and surely would not spread to $YOUR_COUNTRY, then there was nothing to worry about because it was only a few isolated cases that were easily dealt with, and now we seem to be moving into how there's nothing to worry about because, even though the containment has completely failed and it's conceivable that most people in most countries will be infected, you still have a pretty good chance of surviving the infection.
- sjg007 7y ago
  I think it is already here and we just don't have a real view into it because of limited testing. The community transmissions that keep popping up are indications of that. I expect we will see an exponential increase in those in the next few weeks.
- bart_spoon 7y ago
  No one is downplaying anything. If anything, people are overemphasizing the danger. Even in Wuhan, the center of the outbreak, less than half a percent of the population has contracted this thing, and of that half percent, 4 out of 5 have mild symptoms. And the outbreak there seems to be stabilizing. That isn’t to say it isn’t serious, or that we shouldn’t be taking measures to guard against it. But a large contingent of people are acting as if it’s the Walking Dead outside, and the apocalypse is just around the corner. But irrationally overblown fear and misinformation is just as likely to result in suffering and loss of life as the disease right now. An increase of unemployment of 1% is estimated to result in anywhere from 1500-40000 deaths in the US, and vague fears over this disease have been driving some of the biggest free falls in the market in decades. Part of an appropriate response to something like this means not overreacting just as much as it means not undereacting.
  - goatherders 7y ago
    Excellent comment. The rush on supplies and goods means that people in need may not have access to care. THAT worries me quite a bit more than the disease itself.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

tyfon 7y ago

I think after the success of the media in respect to this virus (massive amounts of clicks and TV view time), I firmly believe that every new flu will have it's own name and similar coverage from now on. They just made too much money off this, fear is a big seller.

nkozyra 7y ago
Even if one was this cynical, do you not think a novel (not influenza) virus with an unusually high mortality rate spreading internationally is worthy of news coverage? The media didn't name this thing, nor SARS, nor avian bird flu.
- tyfon 7y ago
  SARS (the syndrome) is actually caused by the corona virus so it's not really new. But I see my karma won't be healthy in this discussion so I guess I'll shut up :p
  - mercer 7y ago
    Please do.
  - nkozyra 7y ago
    It's caused by different strain, so I'm not sure what point you're trying to make here.
- 40four 7y ago
  It is worthy of coverage, but it’s only interesting because it’s new. It really not the super virus they make it out to be. The news coverage does not paint a realistic picture. The height mortality rate is mostly due to the novelty and the fact we haven’t developed drugs for it yet. Also, it is killing almost exclusively elderly people. People who don’t have fully functioning immune systems. I’m willing to be the common flu killed a similar percentage of elderly before we developed a vaccine for it. https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/coronavirus-age-sex-demographics/ https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/coronavirus-age-se... This is not the message the news tells us though. They would have us believe it is some unstoppable virus, killing anyone who comes in contact with it. But there really isn’t any evidence to back it up. Fear mongering certainly does drive traffic.

zenmaster10665 7y ago

The flu is a pretty well known illness at this point. This is a serious issue as it has a higher mortality rate than the flu, is spreading quickly and has the potential to evolve into a strain with a much higher mortality rate. I agree people shouldn't panic, but I don't agree this is just something to be dismissed... The pandemic of 1918 has some lessons to be learned here. https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/reconstruction-1918-virus.html https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/reconstruction-19...