about the bird flu......

danigirl58 · May 8, 2006

how many of you would work if we had the bird flu pandemic? i asked this question to several nurses and most said no way. they are staying home with their families. i get that, but i asked if they would seek medical care and would they expect equipment,supplies and medical staff to care for them? i honestly do not know what i would do. i hope i never have to decide.
also, i have heard that pregnant women have a 50% mortality if they contract the bird flu.

i think if the bird flu hit in the manner that is expected, a whole lot of prayers would be said. i'm not sure what i would do but i know what my job is and where i would belong. i have children, and i can say if something was to happen to them i would pray and hope that there was someone at a hospital to look after them. just the same as if it were my parents or husband. i know it is easy to say that now because there is no epidemic happening but honestly if it is as bad as they say then staying at home isn't going to help, not much will.

HARRN2b · May 8, 2006

My grandmother had this supposed flu (according to my mother) in 1918. She was very young and she did survive but was very ill. I do not know what the differences are. I was told that she had the influenza that took so many lives in 1918. I wonder if the bird flu is stronger than that particular case of influenza. I have read it is alot like the 1918 flu. I need to do some more research.

danigirl58 · May 8, 2006

if i remember correct about the 1918 influenza outbreak it was a shock to many as it hit young adults.... those with great immune systems..... and kind of left children and the elderly alone.

llg, PhD, RN · May 8, 2006

I've always been fascinated by the 1918 pandemic and have read a lot about it and watched some documentaries on it. I have often wondered what people would do when something like that happens again ... and it probably will happen again someday. It's just a matter of when. In the meantime, there are other community emergencies for which many nurses fail to rise to the ocassion.

People assume that health care providers will react the same way that generations in the past have acted. In other words, that they will make personal sacrifices to serve the public. However, I have seen a deterioration of that "serve the public" ethic within the nursing profession during my 29-year career and I have my doubts. In 1978, when the 3-Mile Nuclear Reactor malfunctioned, not a single nurse in my unit missed a shift. We all showed up for work (less than 10 miles from the reactor) for the entire crisis.

It used to be that nurses would volunteer to work during snow storms, hurricanes, etc. out of a sense of duty. They planned ahead to have their families taken care of and planned to spend those time taking care of the sick and injured. There was only a little grumbling. They were considered heroes. The same was true of fire fighters, policement, rescue workers, etc.

Now ... I don't see that same sense of duty or sense of responsibililty to the community. I fear it will be every person for him/herself. People who could be saved will die at home because there will not be the staff at the hospital to care for them. Just read the threads on this board about coverage in bad weather -- People have no plans to have others take care of their children and have no intentions of working during a community emergency.

The implications of that fact are staggaring.

llg

jrring1019 · May 8, 2006

According to an expert from the CDC , if most people stay home and are not at work then many systems we all depend on will be disrupted. Examples he used included no clean drinking water, no electricity, and limited medical staff to care for the ill. Also, he suggested that the vaccine (which does not exist) should be for medical workers first, so they will show up to care for the sick.

mitchsmom · May 8, 2006

Here's the official government site for the bird flu:

http://www.pandemicflu.gov/

and the CDC site:

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/

here's the planning page for health care providers:

http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/tab6.html

here are some assumptions they are working on, based on the 1918 pandemic:

http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/pandplan.html

indigo girl · May 8, 2006

My grandmother had this supposed flu (according to my mother) in 1918. She was very young and she did survive but was very ill. I do not know what the differences are. I was told that she had the influenza that took so many lives in 1918. I wonder if the bird flu is stronger than that particular case of influenza. I have read it is alot like the 1918 flu. I need to do some more research.

"The Great Influenza" By John M. Barry describes it well. Those with the stronger immune systems died,... interesting. This book also describes the beginnings of modern medicine financed if anyone is interested, by the Rockefellers (who, themselves used Homeopathy as did and to this day, does, the British Royal Family, House of Windsor).

The bottom line is, how strong is your immune system? Are you willing to

do research to find out how to strengthen it, or will you just rely on what public agencies tell you to do, after the fact? Who is really responsible for taking care of you?

marilynmom, LPN, NP · May 8, 2006

I read a book about the 1918 flu and it is really fascinating for sure. It really makes no sense...people dying within hours of it, the young, etc. Of course this was 1918 and not 2006 so maybe we can't compare?....I really don't know.

I think part of the theory that they have figured out is there was a mild (normal) flu that went around earlier that year and they think the people who caught the mild/normal flu basically were immune to the "1918" flu. Which makes you wonder if avoiding the flu each year with a flu shot is really a good idea in the long run?

Would I go to work? I guess I can't be sure.

But if you haven't read about the 1918 flu you really should because it's shocking what happened and no one really knows or talks about it!! People laying in their houses dead, people shutting themselves in because of fear, finding children in the house with parents who have been dead for a week, people dying within HOURS of contracting this flu, whole villages being wiped out, etc. It's really quite horrifying.

marilynmom, LPN, NP · May 8, 2006

"The Great Influenza" By John M. Barry describes it well.
or will you just rely on what public agencies tell you to do, after the fact? Who is really responsible for taking care of you?

I'll have to read that one!

I agree with your post. After the fact (if this is not just a bunch of hype that is) will be too late.

HARRN2b · May 8, 2006

I also agree. We sure cannot depend on our government to protect and inform us. They have already proven that. They cannot even manage fema. I would not be concerned except that I have children and their lives are far more important than my own (except I would like to be there to be their mother!). However, we must all moniter this situation and not depend on our government, because by then it will be too late. I think I am going to do some reading on this.

Judee Smudee, ADN, RN · May 8, 2006

Does any one remember the recent the anthrax attack that occured shortly after 911? Do you remember how the CDC rushed in to protect the rich and the powerful and left the postal workers and John Q. public to die? I remember and that is why I don't trust the CDC. However, I will listen closely to what my local health dept. has to say because it has always been more concerned about the public than politics. Do you realize that in the past powerful economic and political forces have influenced what the CDC has told the public. It is not unusual for it to alter it's stance on issues based what the current party in power feels is good for us to hear.