[Publib] H1N1

Wed Jul 15 13:01:56 EDT 2009

When I was in basic training in Orlando - (side note: Orlando  July -
September for
basic training creates a lasting impression that it is *not* 'the happiest
place on
earth') - almost everyone got what we called the 'fifty state flu'.   It
usually started
right after the battery of pneumatic
shots<http://oceanstatelibrarian.com/images/orlando.jpg> (that's
me in front of the line with my
arm ripped from the pneumatic injector) to protect against nasty things such
as yellow fever and sharing close quarters with hundreds of other people.

We had already gone through a battery of tests to determine if we were
healthy
enough to make it through training - which would explain the lack of serious
illness
with the cadets in the Air Force.  The lack of 'underlying medical
conditions' seems
to determine how well people do.  However, the flu in that form can be
really,
really bad for most people.

It is very easy to become complacent and slack off on hand washing and other
very basic things that can protect us.  Libraries can help protect the
public with good
information AND good hygenic practices.  It certainly looks like the coming
fall will
begin to test us.

R. Balliot
http://oceanstatelibrarian.com

On Wed, Jul 15, 2009 at 12:21 PM, Victoria Kemp <
victoria.kemp at flower-mound.com> wrote:

> A good friend of my best friend, who is a researcher in disease at NLM in
> Bethesda MD, is way more concerned an about aerosolized attack using
> smallpox as a weapon. Picture a sanitation worker spraying a "room
> deodorizer" at Chicago O'Hare airport and London Heathrow and Beijing's main
> airport.... Recent reports indicate how easy it is to access federal
> buildings with little to no challenge and almost ten years after 9/11,
> emergency responders still cannot talk to each other on the small emergency
> bands.
> These are the things that keep me awake at night....
> Viccy Kemp
> The opinions are my own; the library wouldn't want 'em!
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: publib-bounces at webjunction.org [mailto:
> publib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of George Hazelton
> Sent: Wednesday, July 15, 2009 10:36 AM
> To: turnermalibmba at yahoo.com; 'Publib'
> Subject: RE: [Publib] H1N1
>
> John M Barry's The Great Influenza is a very readable, disturbing account
> of
> the 1918 epidemic.  While the exact source of the epidemic is uncertain,
> Barry suggests the Midwest army camps.  As I recall from reading the book
> several years ago, some 50 to 60 million died worldwide, with the greatest
> death rate among young, healthy adults.
>
> The efforts to combat the flu in the US make chilling reading.  Those
> cities
> and towns which initiated quarantines had lower mortality rates, by far,
> than did the all-to-common attitude of business as usual.  The various
> doomsday scenarios developed during the Cold War for caring for victims of
> a
> nuclear exchange could well be applied to a H1N1 epidemic.  Hospitals would
> be rapidly overwhelmed; triage would be essential.
>
> The process of developing a vaccine is often a matter of educated guessing,
> given the lead time needed and the mutability of the virus; production of
> needed quantities and distribution to target populations is a major task.
> Look back to the anthrax scare of a few years ago.  Our armamentarium is
> perhaps not significantly better than in 1918; all the 'mycins are of no
> use
> against a virus, only a collateral infection.  With rapid air travel,
> compared to trains and ships of 1918, the spread of H1N1 and its mutations
> compound the risk of a global disaster.  The Black Plague of bubonic fever
> that killed 30 to 50 per cent of Europe's population the the 14th century
> might be a model.
>
>
> George Hazelton
> Assistant Director
> Henry County Public Library System
> 1001 Florence McGarity Pkwy
> McDonough, GA 30252
> Phone: 678-432-5353
> FAX: 678-432-6153
> email: grhazelton at mail.henry.public.lib.ga.us
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: publib-bounces at webjunction.org [mailto:
> publib-bounces at webjunction.org]
> On Behalf Of turnermalibmba at yahoo.com
> Sent: Wednesday, July 15, 2009 10:33 AM
> To: Publib
> Subject: Re: [Publib] H1N1
>
>
> Hi, Robert -
>
> This story is an eerie reminder of how some researchers think the 1918 flu
> established its foothold in the United States.  Young men called up for
> Army
> basic training were crowded into various military bases, then transported
> by
> train to eastern port cities and shipped across the North Atlantic to
> France.
>
> The flu casulties Stateside were significant and at the French end proved
> to
> be nearly disastrous as Army commanders struggled to establish hospitals to
> care for those who'd become ill on board the troop transports.  My
> grandfather was a Navy cook on one of these transports and I marvel that he
> survived 17 crossings in what one historian has  called "coffin ships in
> reverse".
>
> Yesterday, Milwaukee health officials announced a new H1N1 death - a girl,
> just a few days shy of her 14th birthday, who'd gotten ill in late May.
> How
> terrible for her family and friends. The Health Commissioner noted that she
> had asthma so there was a complicating factor.  He went on to reassure
> viewers that the city continues to prepare for a possible major outbreak
> this fall and winter and expect to have an effective vaccine available in
> fall.
>
> The number of confirmed cases statewide and the number of deaths is still
> pretty shocking given our relatively small population and
> off-the-beaten-pathness.  As I've always said, when Horace Greeley directed
> "Go West, young man", he didn't qualify it by adding "and hang a right just
> past Lake Michigan."
>
> Judy Turner
> Whitefish Bay, WI
>
> Blogging at: http://alms-jact.blogspot.com/
> and
> http://judyct.wordpress.com/
>
> "Donna Noble has left the library. Donna Noble has been saved." ----
> "Silence in the Library"  (Doctor Who, Season 4, Ep. 8)
>
>
>
>
>
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