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The Swine Flu is story number one on most people's minds. Here are some titdbits.
- The terms 'swine flu' and 'bird flu' and 'avian flu' have always puzzled me. All influenza viruses circulate through both pigs and birds- some making there way to humans.\
- Read a story that some are calling for this outbreak to be renamed, 'Mexican Flu' out of respect for Muslim and Jewish sensibilities around pork. I am tempted to rant about this, but will leave it at: good luck with that.
- One of the scary aspects of this story is that young, healthy people are dying from the flu. The flu kills many people, every year- but they are most often very young (under 3 years old) or very old, often the elderly who are confined to bed. The large pandemic flu outbreaks- 1918, 1957 and 1968- all killed a high proportion of young and otherwise healthy people.
The theory here is that these influenza strains trigger a 'cytokine storm'- an overly aggressive immune system response- which overwhelms tissues, particularly in the lungs. This was also hypothesized as part of the SARS outbreak.
While it is typically thought that people with HIV are at higher risk of catching the flu, and of experiencing sever symptoms, could it be that in these cases the opposite could turn out to be true?
During the SARS outbreak, I read somewhere that in China, SARS ran rampant throughout this one hospital- but left the AIDS ward virtually untouched. Could it have been that the people in that AIDS ward had immune systems that were too weak to cook up a cytokine storm? Thing that make you go, hmmm?
Now, I am not suggesting that the key to surviving this flu scare is to go off your meds and make sure your immune system is weak enough to avoid the cytokine storm. Not at all. I am just thinking outloud.
- Heard through the grapevine that a doctor who I admire and respect talked about this flu outbreak with a group of infectious disease experts and they are confident that this will blow over. Cheers to that.
i was thinking the same thing is it the "stand" with only HIVers left.
the media loves this kind of stuff,they will try and get a real good panic going
Wow! I've been HIV+ since 1986 and AIDS since 1993. I was recently thinking, other than long term surviving... has HIV actually protected me from getting so called run of the mill illness. I had a reocurence of non-hodkins lymphoma in 2006 but otherwise I'm healthy. I don't get colds, or flu or skin rashes as my comtemporaries who are HIV-. Could there be a connection? Is there anything positive (no pun intended) out of an HIV positve diagnosis? Thank you, Luis
Nice blog, I have done a bit more research and share a bit more in depth on my swine flu blog on my website: www.aerobroken.com, the link is just below the banner. Stop in and leave a comment or see what I have shared. I sure hope this will blow over and not touch all of us that are HIV positive, have AIDS or weakened immune systems but I highly doubt it. I explain why and I have written about this subject for years as well as researched it for years.
With being a 25 years long term survivor of AIDS being diagnosed with Full blown AIDS on May 11th, 1984, I try and protect myself and educate myself on stronger terms of just depending on the Mass Media and doctors. I explain this and why in my Swine Flu blog and a blog I wrote about this almost 2 years ago called Food Fight that there is a link also in the swine flu blog. Peace, and Be Safe, Aero
I had the same thoughts, but don’t have a real answer. At this point, I think the largest worry is that this round will be less virulent, with a more deadly mutation coming back around in the late fall like the influenza of 1918.
I’m almost wondering if a person wouldn’t be better off getting an earlier less virulent case of the flu now, and having more immunity in the fall, should it return with a vengeance.
I really believe that the media are overdoing the panic, and people aren’t considering the annual deaths from “regular” flu.
I am HIV/AIDS specialist in Middle TN, and manage more than 500 POZ patient clients..and have several observed insurors (CIGNA, AETNA, CAREMARK, HUMANA) as part of their "management" responsibilites have changed for 2009, the co-payments for many HIV drugs from tier-2, or tier 3 to a new category of "Specialty" drugs which were not heretofore so designated. This has reseulted in increases of $20-$50 co-payments to several hundreds of dollars for each drug..up to $1000 + a month for many patients...an unconscionable increase....Re-designating HIV/AIDS HAART treatments which save thousands of AIDS treatment dollars in the long term as specialty drugs..and forcing non-affordability is counter productive and must be FOUGHT by organized medicine..particulary the HIVMA and IDSA.....and the insurance industry in general must be brought to task for discriminating against HIV/AIDS infected individuals once again.