I'll buck the trend, based on a set of personal circs that won't apply to most of your f-list:
I'm going to be heading on a plane to an area not too far away (Trinidad, Guyana, etc). The flu bit, here, wouldn't be an issue. On a plane, coming back from somewhere close on a 10-12hr flight, that's different. Changes the odds somewhat.
It seems to be pretty virulent: A normal flu epidemic wouldn't have killed a couple of hundred people in a matter of weeks.
It seems to be pretty contagious - 7 of 22 people in close contact with the 2 Scots (incl co-workers, for example) are showing symptoms within days
( ... )
That said, the hype around H5N1 (avian flu from China) was unfounded - not contagious, not really that virulent, etc etc. I'd have voted 1 for that episode.
Do I trust the news? No. The figures? I'll make my own mind up, but initial guess is this one's different...
Yeah.. I wasn't too concerned initially, bearing in mind all the hype over bird flu, but this does seem to be a different kettle of sausages. I've gone for level 5, concerned but not anxious.
Aaah, nowt much. Doing a comp in Trini, couple of days grockling, then few days in Tobago, ditto Barbados. Hence the camera housing questions - Barbados digs are off a beach that turtles frequent, IIRC... (Assuming I can find vaccancies - call me organised!)
From the figures I've seen, I'd suggest that being young, old, or infirm might be a good thing - nearly all of the cases in Mexico have been aged between 20 and 50, which suggests that, like Spanish Flu, most of the risk of dying is comes from the reaction of the body's own immune system (a 'cytokine storm'), not from the virus itself.
I'm still not that bothered though, as it's far less deadly than Spanish Flu, at least at the moment.
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Do I trust the news? No. The figures? I'll make my own mind up, but initial guess is this one's different...
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TBH, I'd probably have gone for similar (4-ish) if I weren't flying in the near future, to a developing nation in that region.
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(Assuming I can find vaccancies - call me organised!)
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I'm still not that bothered though, as it's far less deadly than Spanish Flu, at least at the moment.
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Still, it's something that access to good healthcare should help with though.
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