4 ms·

The last great swine flu epidemic

28 points by peter123 18y ago

kyro 18y ago
You know, the dark entrepreneur in me can't help but feel like all this swine flu craze could be a great opportunity for someone to make some cash.
- rms 18y ago
  You can stock up on Indian generic Tamiflu in case of martial law. I'm not sure how you could sell it without getting arrested (or just having it seized). Craigslist probably wouldn't work. http://www.nicepricepharmacy.com/Products2.asp?ID=3543&T=a http://www.nicepricepharmacy.com/Products2.asp?ID=3543&T... (this was listed for $79 48 hours ago)
  - falsestprophet 18y ago
    I bet one of the overseas pharmacies has an affiliate program.
- ajkirwin 18y ago
  Well, some people are trying to cash in it on it. For instance, if you look at http://flushirts.spreadshirt.com http://flushirts.spreadshirt.com that's some great dark humor.
  - natrius 18y ago
    "I survived swine flu and all I got were these antibodies against H1N1 surface proteins."
- joseakle 18y ago
  It´s a great marketing opportunity for antivirus companies. They could give away mouthpieces ... Everybody is wearing them over here (mexico city).
- ashot 18y ago
  I was wondering, why are there no google ads on the swine flu search term: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=swine+flu&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&oq= http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=swine+flu&btnG=... is this not a reliable way to tell if there are ads or not? or is it that not enough ads have been bought?
  - rms 18y ago
    Google bans ads on a lot of controversial keywords
- HeyLaughingBoy 18y ago
  Tamiflu et al. manufacturers are probably ramping up production as we speak.
- banned_man_2_0 18y ago
  There was a way to squeeze expectancy out of the craze, but with high risk. When the NZD and AUD tanked because of swine flu scares, there was no reason for that to happen over a single-digit number of cases of what appears to be a run-of-the-mill illness, except for an unexplained cluster of cases in Mexico (and it's likely that the reason for this is that there are hundreds of thousands of MX cases and we're only discovering the worst ones). Although Australia and New Zealand could get hammered by this, there's no reason to suspect that they'll be affected disproportionately to the rest of the world. A person trading against those irrational market swings could have made money. Of course, the caveat is that speculation is inherently risky, human foolishness can outlive your wallet (e.g. you can get margin-called before a bubble or wrong market swing reverses itself), and there could have been other reasons for the currencies to react as they did.
Tichy 18y ago
It's easy to be all cool about it, as long as you are not coughing. I have a hard time believing that there might be a huge crisis, but that doesn't guarantee it won't happen. I bet the inhabitants of New Orleans never expected to be drowned (just mentioning another example of cases where modern life CAN be turned upside down). Medicine doesn't seem to be very successful in stopping the normal (average) flu, so I am not sure how effective countermeasures against a really bad flu would even be. As for politicians, I guess it is a difficult decision if a lot of lives are at stake. What is worse - being called out for wasting a couple of billions on catastrophe prevention for a catastrophe that never manifested, or being called out for letting a catastrophe with millions of victims happen? (Not sure how directly you could translate those billions spent on flu prevention to other deaths that could have been prevented, but you get the idea).
- yters 18y ago
  Well, uh, where's the avian flu (late years' scare)?
  - Tichy 18y ago
    What do you mean? I have never heard of "avian flu". The last bigger scare I remember was SARS. Maybe the current "scare" is all backed by the makers of Tamiflu, who earn lots of money by now. Possible - just saying that another pandemic could be possible, too. There are lots of diseases that medicine can't handle yet (HIV?).
    - yters 18y ago
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avian_influenza#H5N1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avian_influenza#H5N1

28 points by peter123 18y ago

kyro 18y ago

You know, the dark entrepreneur in me can't help but feel like all this swine flu craze could be a great opportunity for someone to make some cash.

rms 18y ago
You can stock up on Indian generic Tamiflu in case of martial law. I'm not sure how you could sell it without getting arrested (or just having it seized). Craigslist probably wouldn't work. http://www.nicepricepharmacy.com/Products2.asp?ID=3543&T=a http://www.nicepricepharmacy.com/Products2.asp?ID=3543&T... (this was listed for $79 48 hours ago)
- falsestprophet 18y ago
  I bet one of the overseas pharmacies has an affiliate program.
ajkirwin 18y ago
Well, some people are trying to cash in it on it. For instance, if you look at http://flushirts.spreadshirt.com http://flushirts.spreadshirt.com that's some great dark humor.
- natrius 18y ago
  "I survived swine flu and all I got were these antibodies against H1N1 surface proteins."
joseakle 18y ago
It´s a great marketing opportunity for antivirus companies. They could give away mouthpieces ... Everybody is wearing them over here (mexico city).
ashot 18y ago
I was wondering, why are there no google ads on the swine flu search term: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=swine+flu&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&oq= http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=swine+flu&btnG=... is this not a reliable way to tell if there are ads or not? or is it that not enough ads have been bought?
- rms 18y ago
  Google bans ads on a lot of controversial keywords
HeyLaughingBoy 18y ago
Tamiflu et al. manufacturers are probably ramping up production as we speak.
banned_man_2_0 18y ago
There was a way to squeeze expectancy out of the craze, but with high risk. When the NZD and AUD tanked because of swine flu scares, there was no reason for that to happen over a single-digit number of cases of what appears to be a run-of-the-mill illness, except for an unexplained cluster of cases in Mexico (and it's likely that the reason for this is that there are hundreds of thousands of MX cases and we're only discovering the worst ones). Although Australia and New Zealand could get hammered by this, there's no reason to suspect that they'll be affected disproportionately to the rest of the world. A person trading against those irrational market swings could have made money. Of course, the caveat is that speculation is inherently risky, human foolishness can outlive your wallet (e.g. you can get margin-called before a bubble or wrong market swing reverses itself), and there could have been other reasons for the currencies to react as they did.

Tichy 18y ago

It's easy to be all cool about it, as long as you are not coughing. I have a hard time believing that there might be a huge crisis, but that doesn't guarantee it won't happen. I bet the inhabitants of New Orleans never expected to be drowned (just mentioning another example of cases where modern life CAN be turned upside down). Medicine doesn't seem to be very successful in stopping the normal (average) flu, so I am not sure how effective countermeasures against a really bad flu would even be. As for politicians, I guess it is a difficult decision if a lot of lives are at stake. What is worse - being called out for wasting a couple of billions on catastrophe prevention for a catastrophe that never manifested, or being called out for letting a catastrophe with millions of victims happen? (Not sure how directly you could translate those billions spent on flu prevention to other deaths that could have been prevented, but you get the idea).

yters 18y ago
Well, uh, where's the avian flu (late years' scare)?
- Tichy 18y ago
  What do you mean? I have never heard of "avian flu". The last bigger scare I remember was SARS. Maybe the current "scare" is all backed by the makers of Tamiflu, who earn lots of money by now. Possible - just saying that another pandemic could be possible, too. There are lots of diseases that medicine can't handle yet (HIV?).
  - yters 18y ago
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avian_influenza#H5N1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avian_influenza#H5N1