Swine flu raises travel concerns in Europe - Page 2 - TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards!



Go Back   TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards! > Members Lounge > General Travel Tips, Education, Advice > General Travel Tips and Advice

General Travel Tips and Advice Have you traveled before?- Please share your tips and advice with fellow Tpunks!

Raileurope.com: See Europe by train
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 04-30-2009, 07:20 AM   #21
pinknic38
TPunk Moderator
 
pinknic38's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Sierra Vista, AZ
Posts: 2,829
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Send a message via AIM to pinknic38 Send a message via Yahoo to pinknic38 Send a message via Skype™ to pinknic38
Default

And this flu is also attacking the healthiest age range (18-40ish), people with completely developed and strong immune systems.

My university sent out an email late last night about a case they're treating at the medical center, they're waiting on CDC confirmation if it's the same virus. Also 7 others. All of these people JUST got back from Mexico. Insanity!

I'm headed to the OSUMC @ 145 for a dr appt, so hopefully it's not utter chaos. good thing the ER is on another floor LOL.
__________________
SO FAR: USA, Canada, Mexico, Ireland, Spain, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Kuwait, Qatar, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan
UP NEXT: Mexico, Belize, Honduras, Grand Cayman Islands - Feb 2012


tpunk gallery * twitter
pinknic38 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-30-2009, 12:56 PM   #22
mish99
TPunk Moderator
 
mish99's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Cape Town, South Africa
Posts: 634
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Send a message via Skype™ to mish99
Default

ive been sick for a little while now and my mom is freaking out. She thinks im going to die. Its so funny!! I did get sick in NYC though. Ha
__________________
Ive been to: England, France, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, UAE, USA - 14 states inc Hawaii, Vatican City

Currently Working in England

After:Jan 5 - South Africa. Sometime 2012 - Canada!
mish99 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-01-2009, 04:46 PM   #23
polarbear
 
polarbear's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 108
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Send a message via AIM to polarbear Send a message via MSN to polarbear
Default

I am not too worried about the flu, but it sure makes one happy that ya picked up travel insurance!
polarbear is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-01-2009, 11:03 PM   #24
Canadian Bacon
Artist of Life
 
Canadian Bacon's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Ottawa, Canada aka O-town
Posts: 1,530
Thanks: 0
Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts
Default

Q & A with Health Expert on Pig Flu

__________________
Vincent: "So what you gonna do?"
Jules: "Well, basically, I'm just gonna walk the earth."
Vincent: "What you mean 'walk the earth'?"
Jules: "You know, like Kane in 'Kung Fu'...go places...meet people...get in adventures."

Trips (only counting recreational travel):
FIRST TRIP (2005): FIRST EUROTRIP EVER! UK, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Holland
SECOND TRIP (2007): First Solo Trip! Greece, Turkey, Syria, Spain
2008: China (Beijing, Shanghai, Yangshuo) ...right before the Olympics!
2009: Japan & HK, Southern Spain
[size=1]2010: All over Lebanon, Ibiza (Spain), Oktoberfest (Germany), Thailand.
2011: India (Goa), Jordan, Jerusalem, San Sebastian (Spain), Amsterdam (again), London, Driving from Vancouver to L.A. (stopping in Portland, Seattle, San Fran and all the little stops), Montpellier (France), Geneva and Lausanne (Switzerland)

"Bite off more than you can chew, then chew it."
Canadian Bacon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-02-2009, 09:07 PM   #25
xanthuos
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: New York, NY & The Road
Posts: 1,447
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Send a message via AIM to xanthuos Send a message via MSN to xanthuos Send a message via Yahoo to xanthuos
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Canadian Bacon View Post
Regular flus also do not kill you. Travel in confined spaces like buses and airplanes are especially dangerous... I'm going to buy a mask for such travel in the near future.
Really? And here I thought 250,000+ people die every year from the "regular" flu...
__________________
Regards,
Matthew
xanthuos is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-02-2009, 10:08 PM   #26
Canadian Bacon
Artist of Life
 
Canadian Bacon's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Ottawa, Canada aka O-town
Posts: 1,530
Thanks: 0
Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts
Default

^ right, but the WHO doesn't say: "pandemic is imminent" during the regular flu season.

I think this comparison with the regular flu is misleading. People die everyday from all sorts of things, and will continue to. But a pandemic can potentially kill off many young, healthy people who otherwise would only miss a few days of work due to a regular flu.
__________________
Vincent: "So what you gonna do?"
Jules: "Well, basically, I'm just gonna walk the earth."
Vincent: "What you mean 'walk the earth'?"
Jules: "You know, like Kane in 'Kung Fu'...go places...meet people...get in adventures."

Trips (only counting recreational travel):
FIRST TRIP (2005): FIRST EUROTRIP EVER! UK, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Holland
SECOND TRIP (2007): First Solo Trip! Greece, Turkey, Syria, Spain
2008: China (Beijing, Shanghai, Yangshuo) ...right before the Olympics!
2009: Japan & HK, Southern Spain
[size=1]2010: All over Lebanon, Ibiza (Spain), Oktoberfest (Germany), Thailand.
2011: India (Goa), Jordan, Jerusalem, San Sebastian (Spain), Amsterdam (again), London, Driving from Vancouver to L.A. (stopping in Portland, Seattle, San Fran and all the little stops), Montpellier (France), Geneva and Lausanne (Switzerland)

"Bite off more than you can chew, then chew it."
Canadian Bacon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-03-2009, 12:35 AM   #27
double.exposed
 
double.exposed's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Washington (the state)
Posts: 53
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default

Well, I know not everyone on this board lives in the U.S. obviously, so this is going to sound pretty ethnocentric I guess, but I realllly have a hard time believing that the swine flu will cause any significant death here (or in other similar nations) - the only death they're reporting on in the U.S. was of an infant who came here from Mexico, so I think this is hardly as scary as if it were some hearty young adult that was living in the U.S. all along or whatever.

Also, I'm thinking that nearly any sickness has the potential to kill someone if left untreated for long enough - one of the biggest killers of worldwide is diarrhea after all, and we know that it can be treated easily here in the land of Pepto Bismal, but not so much in other areas. Same goes for flu of any sort, whether it be porcine or not.

So I think this is one of the main reasons swine flu is killing anyone to begin with - not the fact that it is inherently super-deadly, but that it was not being recognized and treated in time. I have a friend from Mexico that has told me that he thinks a big part of it has to do with this sort of "machismo" point of view, that going to the doctor too soon is a weakling thing to do. :P Who knows if this is true, but overall, I am just not as worried as the news wants me to be.

Just my little possibly-naive thoughts on the subject!
__________________
I got my eye on: Israel, Portugal, India, Nepal, Argentina, Germany, Denmark, Svalbard, and of course a million other places! Nearly anywhere you'll give me a ticket to..
double.exposed is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-04-2009, 12:56 PM   #28
BedtimeontheMoon
TPunk Recognized
 
BedtimeontheMoon's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Miami, FL
Posts: 222
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default

Where I live, in Doral, Fl they are closing down two schools because they found a student that had access to both schools who may be infected with the virus. There are three possible cases being tested now in Doral... it's a small town within Miami. I've had a cold for about a week 1/2 now and it's starting to freak me out because I got the cold a day after going to the gym for 2 days...and we all know how easy it is to catch something at the gym with those icky machines. Plus, being a largely hispanic community, the rate of people having gone to infected areas like Mexico is pretty substantial.

Needless to say, my mother is freaking me out about my cold and everyone at work is also.
BedtimeontheMoon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-04-2009, 02:44 PM   #29
pinknic38
TPunk Moderator
 
pinknic38's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Sierra Vista, AZ
Posts: 2,829
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Send a message via AIM to pinknic38 Send a message via Yahoo to pinknic38 Send a message via Skype™ to pinknic38
Default

thought this was pretty funny LOL
__________________
SO FAR: USA, Canada, Mexico, Ireland, Spain, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Kuwait, Qatar, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan
UP NEXT: Mexico, Belize, Honduras, Grand Cayman Islands - Feb 2012


tpunk gallery * twitter
pinknic38 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-09-2009, 04:48 AM   #30
rockababes
 
rockababes's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Manila, Philippines
Posts: 45
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Send a message via AIM to rockababes Send a message via Yahoo to rockababes
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by pinknic38 View Post
I and while the cases are mild in the US/Canada and the people dying from them are in third world countries without the adequate medical facilities that we have the privilege of having access to, but it's medically a fact that virus strands can mutate and can get stronger (or weaker)...
I'm hearing this news that this swine flu is spreading and infecting people in Mexico, US, Canada, Austria etc.. So I guess this time around, it did not really come from the third world countries, (Yes I am from a third world country and yet we don't have swine flu cases here yet, actually people here are becoming paranoid of stepping outside the land. Scared that they might catch some kind of a disease and infect other people here) regardless if you have all the advanced medical facilities and all that, even if you are from a rich country, if people are really gonna die, then we'll all gonna die.
__________________
Check out my travel blog -http://www.lonesomewanderers.com
rockababes is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-09-2009, 07:22 AM   #31
mish99
TPunk Moderator
 
mish99's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Cape Town, South Africa
Posts: 634
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Send a message via Skype™ to mish99
Default

Im not worried at all. Im still travelling around the states, tot he places that have had people infected. Travelling on buses, planes and trains. For me, seriously, its not the end of the world if I get the swine flu. I dont have travel insurance, but its not like they arent going to treat me.

I really think its just common sense, if you sick, get treated.
__________________
Ive been to: England, France, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, UAE, USA - 14 states inc Hawaii, Vatican City

Currently Working in England

After:Jan 5 - South Africa. Sometime 2012 - Canada!
mish99 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-09-2009, 09:18 AM   #32
pinknic38
TPunk Moderator
 
pinknic38's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Sierra Vista, AZ
Posts: 2,829
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Send a message via AIM to pinknic38 Send a message via Yahoo to pinknic38 Send a message via Skype™ to pinknic38
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by rockababes View Post
I'm hearing this news that this swine flu is spreading and infecting people in Mexico, US, Canada, Austria etc.. So I guess this time around, it did not really come from the third world countries, (Yes I am from a third world country and yet we don't have swine flu cases here yet, actually people here are becoming paranoid of stepping outside the land. Scared that they might catch some kind of a disease and infect other people here) regardless if you have all the advanced medical facilities and all that, even if you are from a rich country, if people are really gonna die, then we'll all gonna die.
You misunderstood what I was saying - I'm not saying everyone in a 3rd world country is dying of swine flu and you're right there are MANY countries without any outbreaks, I just didn't want to single out Mexico, and I understand that countries have hospitals, yada yada yada, what I'm saying is that directly comparing US facilities to that of, say, Mexico's, they are at a completely different caliber. It isn't ethnocentric, it just is what it is. That's why when you can't get above a 26 o 27 on your MCATs you don't even bother applying to medical school in the US - you go to the Caribbean or Mexico. It is what it is. I wish everyone could have leading research hospitals and places like the Cleveland Clinic and Mayo Clinic in their countries, maybe it would be helpful, maybe it wouldn't. Whatever. Just not trying to be an "asshole imperialist" or whatever and knock on all the third world countries, I'm just saying the conditions in rural and urban Mexico, unfortunately contribute to how this was spread in some ways and it's very unfortunate, and hopefully the WHO can help contain this. The other side of this is that if a virus is strong enough, it will spread in a sterile room, so really what can you do? Not trying to say it's anyone's fault, it just IS WHAT IT IS. That's all.

We've got 2 cases now at my university, they're unrelated to each other, so who knows how/where it came from. Not freaking out. I survived Hollywood and it's dirt, piss, and grime, so I can handle OSU. I need a new bottle of Purell though.
__________________
SO FAR: USA, Canada, Mexico, Ireland, Spain, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Kuwait, Qatar, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan
UP NEXT: Mexico, Belize, Honduras, Grand Cayman Islands - Feb 2012


tpunk gallery * twitter
pinknic38 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply






Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off



All times are GMT -7. The time now is 11:17 PM.



 

Search Engine Friendly URLs by vBSEO 3.2.0 (Unregistered)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121