Infection Connection: Ebola Freakout Edition

I really didn’t want to have to write this entry, guys. I am sick nigh unto death of hearing the ridiculous and inaccurate reports about Ebola. The worst is the conspiracy theories...that President Obama has purposefully brought Ebola to this country, that terrorists are bringing Ebola and other diseases across our porous borders, something about reparations for slavery...wait, what?

ENOUGH.

It has been a constant barrage of misinformation, hysteria, and outright lies. I’m not going to post an entry about misconceptions about Ebola, because there are plenty of those out there. I highly recommend the coverage on Vox and Nerdist, both of which have posted fair and fact-based articles. (Just search the sites for ‘Ebola’ to find the articles.) Of course, the gold standard is the CDC website, which provides updates and detailed information for both health care professionals and laypeople.

My frustration is twofold.

The media I have never seen a bunch of talking heads absolutely lose their shit the way I’ve seen the American media lose their shit over Ebola. The reporting is often incorrect, it is speculative, and it is on the verge of criminal in the way they sensationalize and fearmonger. This time, I’m not singling out a specific “news” source, one often known to stretch the truth in mind-boggling ways. (Not to mention any names, but it rhymes with cocks.) They have all been guilty of some really bad journalism lately, and especially with this Ebola story.

Oh, and isn’t it odd how the Ebola outbreak in Africa—the worst Ebola outbreak ever—wasn’t covered much by the U.S. media until we brought infected American health care workers back here to be treated? Thousands die of Ebola in Africa...a couple of paragraphs in the local paper, and maybe a mention on the news. Ebola patients brought back to the U.S. for treatment? Oh mah gah it’s the end of the world and we’re all gonna die! Get a grip. I’ve been following this outbreak from the beginning, and I am not one bit surprised that there have been cases outside of Africa. In case you haven’t noticed, people travel around the world and do so frequently. We are not a remote island.

Some online people This has been limited to friends of friends and people from my community and around the country that I see commenting on articles. I’m happy to say that my friends either know enough about it to not be freaking out or they are willing to ask questions or do their own research to learn more about it. Those who are freaking out are people that don’t know the first thing about viruses, their effects on the body, their transmission, or infection control practices that have been a part of hospital protocol for decades. They get their information from news sources, and said news sources have ramped up the fear factor to a ridiculous level.

I’ve seen comments ranging from people knowing that Ebola is airborne and horribly contagious to people thinking that it is a verrrry strange coincidence that this is happening around election time. It’s all nonsense, but these people are genuinely frightened (if horribly mistaken), and the only ones to blame for that are the media. To be fair, I will also place part of the blame on the individuals for thinking that they know everything about it because they watched a news show about it. An hour with Brian Williams doesn’t make you an expert on anything other than how cool Brian Williams is. Watching a news show does not make you a doctor or a virologist or an epidemiologist.

The politicization

Dammit! Threefold! My frustration is threefold!

Somehow, this has become a political football. Instead of focusing on the threat to public health and on the people who are dying in Africa, certain politicians are using this to score points against the opposing party. This disgusts me. The sleaze factor is through the roof. Many are calling for “closing the borders,” whatever the hell that means, despite the numerous health care professionals who deal with outbreaks as a part of their job saying that such tactics are counterproductive and do nothing to solve the problem. If we really want to stop such infectious diseases from coming to our country and causing an outbreak here, we will ramp up our efforts overseas and spend a lot more money on public health, both here AND there.

The cognitive dissonance

I give up. My frustrations about this are endless, and I’m not going to try to keep count anymore.

As some people lose their collective minds about Ebola, they are somehow ignoring the more present and real threat of viruses like influenza. In 2010, 50,000 people died from influenza in the United States. There is a vaccine for that, but there is still a significant portion of the population that refuses to get the shot. There are many viral and bacterial infections that can be prevented with vaccination, and we can even prevent a certain type of cancer with the HPV vaccine...but there are still people who refuse vaccinations for whatever stupid reason they have. I can’t begin to tell you how irritating it is for me to see people lose their minds over Ebola and at the same time they think that influenza is no big deal and they don’t need to get the shot. You have a much higher chance of dying from influenza than you do of dying from Ebola. Why don’t people understand that? Go get your damn flu shot, people!

I could go on and on about everything that I find so maddening about what I am hearing and reading about this outbreak, but you get the idea. If anything good can come of this sheer clusterfuck of public health failure, it’s that people will wake up to the fact that we are NOT prepared as a country for something of this magnitude. Remember several years ago when we had an H1N1 pandemic, and a lot of people scoffed at the concept of pandemic preparedness? I wrote about it here and here. We had a plan at the lab where I worked, and the place where Ken worked had a plan—Ken was even on the committee that formulated the plan. I suspect that the people who thought that was a waste of time and money are the same people who are screaming the loudest about being unprepared. You know what? If you want to be ready for something like this, you have to prepare for it. That involves time, money, communication, education efforts, and practice. Lots and lots of practice.

From what I’m reading, one of the biggest failures of this whole mess was expecting health care professionals with no additional training in dealing with such infections and stringent isolation practices to be able to follow some sort of checklist and do things correctly. There is a protocol for not only putting on personal protective equipment (PPE), but also for removing it. It has to be done in a certain order and in a certain way, otherwise you risk contaminating yourself and others. It is obvious that the hospital in Dallas had not properly trained its workers to deal with something like this, and as a result, two of them have contracted the virus...and I would not be surprised if more do in the coming days.

We can do better, and we must. I suppose that as wake-up calls go, this is one of the better ones to get, because Ebola is not easily transmitted. If this had been an agent that passed easily between people, we’d be in deep shit right now.

I know the dangers of this virus, and I know that this is a serious public health threat, at least in Africa. However, I also know that we have the knowledge and technology to stop it from spreading here. That is why I have no qualms about boarding a plane on Sunday and spending some time in Phoenix and Las Vegas. Of all the things there are to worry about in this world, Ebola is really far down on my list.

I choose not to live my life in fear, and I can’t imagine waking up every morning and fearing what disaster will strike today. Terrorist bombing? Power grid interruption? Ebola? Rise of the apes? Shame on the media for trying to scare people in the interest of ratings, shame on those who are trying to score political points from a tragedy in which thousands have died, shame on those who don’t respect the microorganisms enough to realize that we have NOT mastered them, and most of all, shame on everyone who didn’t give a rat’s ass about Ebola as long as it was killing poor people in another hemisphere.

Start walkin’, boots!

A surprisingly busy afternoon! First I stopped by my doctor's office to get the H1N1 shot. But Beth, you ask (that puzzled look on your face is so adorable), why now? It's not a big deal, so why bother?

I had planned to get it all along, but since I'm not in a high risk group any longer, I decided to wait until the vaccine was readily available to everyone. (If I were still working in the lab, I'm sure I would have had it some time ago.) Although the risk seems to have passed, I've written before about how viruses are pesky little mutants, and there is no telling what this thing might do. It could come back in a second wave; it could come back in a more virulent form. While this vaccine might not protect against a mutated virus, it could offer some protection. I've also read that this could be a part of next year's seasonal flu vaccine, so that might give my immune system a jump on that.

So I called yesterday, popped in this afternoon, and bada bing, bada boom, I was out of there in no time. My arm is a little sore, but nothing different from the regular seasonal vaccine, and I have to say that I feel fine. But if I behave erratically in the next few days, or act all emotional and junk, or get all sarcastic...I'm blaming it on the H1N1 vaccine. I hear those are rare side effects.

After that, I went shopping. You all know that I'm not a fan of shopping, but I wanted to get some new bras that fit better. (TMI? Too bad. More in a moment.) I did not go to the mall. I hate the mall. Instead I went to Kohl's. As much as I hate the mall, that's how much I love Kohl's. That's why I do my best to stay away.

I found some excellent bargains. A cool pair of leggings with skull and crossbones on them; a nice black suit jacket for like 80% off (would look nice with slacks or jeans); the kind of Colts shirt I wanted to get, a fitted T-shirt with 3/4 sleeves; and my absolute favorite bargain today...these BOOTS!

I'd been wanting a pair of boots for a while. Low-heeled black ones that would look good with jeans tucked in or left out over them. These were 60% off, and they were really comfortable, and just perfect! I love the chain on the heel. I'm very pleased. As for the bras (guys, you can stop reading here, if you like)...did you know that 70% of women are wearing the wrong size? I read up on how to measure, and got some general guidelines. No substitute for actually trying them on, and I think I must have tried on two dozen of the bastards. Not a fun way to spend an afternoon, believe me. I also discovered that the guidelines are just that; there were several different sizes I tried on with various success. Some just didn't feel good and some just didn't look good. Some caused spillover and some felt like I had my tits in a vice. I finally found something comfortable and cute, a Candie's "balconette" bra. No, I won't be providing pictures, but you can Google "balconette bra" to get an idea. :) It made me wonder if it has anything to do with the balconies in the French Quarter in New Orleans, because walking down Bourbon Street on a weekend night, you see plenty of balconette bras and plenty of the contents of said bras! (Equal time on the guys, too. The full moon was out, and sometimes the full monty.)

On the upside, I found out that...well, I ended up with a bigger size than I thought I'd need. Yeah, baby! That made my day!

[Disclaimer: Yes, I realize that this was a frivolous entry considering what is going on in the world. I also realize that my search for a bra doesn't matter one single iota in the face of such misery. I also realize that to focus entirely and ceaselessly on that misery is more than I can bear at times. We all need to break away at times, and this was my time.]

Fasten your seatbelts

It's going to be a bumpy ride entry. And a long one.

Last evening, my buddy Milwaukee Dan #1 sent me the link to the Facebook page of one of our state government representatives, Jackie Walorski, asking me to check out her most recent update and the comments she's received.

I have to ask...do you folks enjoy getting me riled up? Do you like it when I Hulk out? Dan seemed to get a kick out of my initial reaction to what he sent, saying that he knew it would get me riled up. I could be wrong, but I think there might have been a tone of sadistic glee in there somewhere! Hmph. (Seriously, thank you for sending that to me, Dan. You knew very well that I would run with it!)

I have written about Jackie Walorski in the past, and just so you know, I am going to tag the hell out of her in this post, because I would love it if people found this entry when searching for her. Word on the street (ha) is that she'll be running—excuse, me, attempting to run—against my Congressman, Joe Donnelly. Yeah, good luck with that! Even my Mom and Dad, staunch Republicans, voted for Congressman Donnelly (a Democrat), so you're going down in flames, Walorski. I wrote about Walorski's efforts to close Indiana's Planned Parenthood clinics. I wrote about my letter to Walorski concerning those efforts, and her subsequent non-response. I also wrote about my letter to my representative concerning Walorski's misguided and evil efforts, and finding out that Walorski had lied about forwarding my email to my representative. You don't have to follow all the links, but to get a sense of what she was trying to do, how I felt about it, and how I felt about her lying ways, you might want to.

The most recent status update on her Facebook page said this:

Jackie Walorski: Is it not interesting that the "government" is "running out" of H1N1 vaccine..there is already a "shortage" and yet the President has declared a National Emergency and there's not enough vaccine....THAT is government health care..good luck holding them accountable.

Well, those of you who know me can probably imagine how I reacted to that. Those of you who are friends on Facebook know, and I can assure you that I was holding back.

First of all, her fatuous use of "is it not interesting" makes me want to hurl. I can almost see her arching an eyebrow under that god-awful female mullet she sports as she purses her lips like Dana Carvey as the Church Lady yelling, "Could it be...SATAN?!"

Secondly, I love how she puts the word government in quotes. Is she implying that this is not a true government? Is she trying to say that this is bogus leadership? Hey. News for you, Walorski. This is MY government you're talking about, and although you might not like it, it is also your government. This is the government that was elected by the people, and if you don't like it, if you somehow think it is a sham or a farce, and if you think it's amusing to put quotations around it, I say that you are disrespecting the people of your district and your state and your country. The people have spoken, Walorski, and I find your condescension incredibly offensive. If you are trying to get others to feel the same way, it is nothing less than seditious.

Thirdly, she overuses quotation marks...period. (Haha) I can picture Chris Farley in my mind placing finger quotes around "running out" and "shortage." These also seem to be sarcastic jibes against the Obama administration. There is nothing funny about it, Walorski. There is a shortage at the moment, and the initial doses have run out, and people are getting very ill. What you seem to be utterly incapable of comprehending is why and how this has happened...or perhaps you're capable of understanding it but just don't give enough of a fuck to try to do a little research before you irresponsibly accuse our government of not responding properly to this outbreak.

If you had bothered to do a little research, you would have found out the difficulties and tedious processes involved in producing influenza vaccines. These vaccines are produced in chicken eggs, and it is not a quick or easy process. Fertilized eggs arrive at the vaccine plant, and the virus is injected into them and incubated for several days. Then the eggshells are cracked, the fluid containing the virus is extracted, the virus is inactivated and the material is purified. In the best case scenario, this takes six months, but when there is an epidemic, this crude egg technology is incapable of churning out mass quantities of vaccine in a short time. There are companies that are developing vaccines that can be produced by recombinant technology, which will significantly shorten the time of production, but they are not up and running yet. For now, this tedious egg technology is what we've got.

As with any manufacturing venture, there are often delays. One of the delays in this case has been the H1N1 virus itself. The strain has been found to be a slow grower in the chicken eggs, slower than the seasonal flu strain. We used to joke in the lab about people calling up and wanting culture results STAT! Microorganisms will only grow so fast, and there is no magic bullet that will make them grow faster.

Additional problems have been bottlenecks at the plants where the virus is loaded into syringes or vials, as well as development of the tests and reagents used for quality control on the vaccines before they are released for use. Then, of course, there is the problem of plants also manufacturing vaccine for the seasonal flu, essentially doubling their workload.

Here's a brief timeline of how an influenza vaccine is produced.

1. Identification of the new strain. World surveillance data is collected, analyzed, and submitted to the WHO. If a new strain is found, this is considered to be a possible cause of pandemic.
2. Preparation of the vaccine strain. The virus is adapted for use in manufacturing vaccine by combining it with a standard lab strain, allowing the two to grow together. This hybrid contains the "innards" of the lab strain and the exterior parts of the pandemic virus, which will trigger the immune response desired. This makes the virus less dangerous to work with and easier to grow in eggs.
3. Verification of the vaccine strain. The hybrid virus is then tested to see if it makes the correct outer proteins, is safe, and will grow in eggs. It then moves on to vaccine manufacturers.
4. Preparation of reagents to test the vaccine. WHO produces standardized reagents that are given to all vaccine manufacturers. In tests using these reagents, they will be able to measure how much virus they are producing, and that they are packaging the correct dose of vaccine.
5. Optimization of virus growth conditions. The vaccine manufacturer tests different growth conditions in eggs using the hybrid virus from the WHO laboratories in order to find the conditions that will produce the best yield.
6. Vaccine bulk manufacture. This is the step that I mentioned above, the actual growing of the virus in millions of eggs, its harvest, processing, and purification. The resulting antigen is the active ingredient in the vaccine. Limiting factors here are the facilities themselves (you can only start and process so many batches at once), how many eggs can be obtained, and the number of virus particles per egg.
7. Quality control. Each batch of antigen is tested using the reagents supplied by the WHO.
8. Vaccine filling and release. The batch of vaccine is diluted to the desired concentration of antigen, packaged into vials or syringes, and labeled. Some of these are then tested for sterility, the appropriate protein concentration, and safety in animals.
9. Clinical studies. In certain countries, each new influenza vaccine has to be tested in a few people to show that it works the way it is supposed to.
10. Regulatory approval. Each country's regulatory agency has its own rules for testing before the vaccine is released for use. If the agency requires clinical trials, this can add to the time of regulatory approval.

As you can see, it is neither a simple nor a short process. You don't just throw a bunch of shit together in an Erlenmeyer flask and make vaccine. It is a lengthy process with many oversights and checks along the way, and it is subject to delays based on everything from how many eggs the vaccine manufacturer can get from Farmer John to whether or not the virus is cooperative and grows well in chicken eggs. Even just identifying the new strain can be a process, recognizing that it could be a new pandemic virus. The seasonal vaccine is always formed from three strains, usually two Influenza A's and one Influenza B. Deciding which strains are going to be more prevalent or more lethal is usually a very educated guess; they can do their best to check epidemiological patterns and the way the virus behaves in patients, but sometimes a strain isn't included and ends up being tougher than originally thought. In that case, you can't go back and remake the vaccine, because of the long process I just described. By the time you did so, it would probably have mutated, anyway. Viruses mutate rapidly, which is the very reason why a new shot is needed each year. The viruses change so rapidly from year to year that the body's immune system does not recognize the new invader as the same virus, and an immune response isn't generated.

Now, having said all that, yes, I have a background in this area, but I didn't rattle all this off the top of my head. I did a few minutes of research using the WHO site and the CDC site, and then put this together for you all. I would love to ask Walorski why she couldn't do a little research and educate herself about how vaccines are produced, and why it takes so long, before she spewed some idiotic conspiracy theory about how the "government" is "running out" of vaccine, as if it were a planned thing. This is fear-mongering based on ignorance, and for her to try to blame the vaccine delay on the Obama administration is simply complete and utter idiocy and irresponsibility.

It is exactly this sort of willful ignorance and intellectual incuriosity that makes me want to blow my stack when I see comments like Walorski's on her Facebook page. She, Palin (She Who Hates Fruit Flies, and no, Dan, I will never let that go), and Bachmann are cut from the same cloth. It's not just that they don't know this stuff before they speak on it...they don't know and they don't want to learn. For me, such types are the truly dangerous ones out there. Decisions are made and policies are formulated using their limited intellectual capacity for understanding and their personal feelings about a subject rather than any sort of rational, well-thought-out or well-researched process. This attitude of "I'm a dumbass and I like it that way!" continues to boggle my mind. Well, I suppose that as long as there are enough people out there who believe the nonsense these types spout, they'll keep hanging around, so I'd better get used to it. That doesn't mean I have to like it.

Like I keep saying: Smart is the new sexy.

One final thing, from the Timing Is Everything File. Just as I was finishing this up, the phone rang. It was an unknown name and number, but I went ahead and answered it. They asked for Ken, and when I said he wasn't here and asked if I could take a message, they asked if I was Ms. R., and I said yes. She went on to say that she was calling from the...guess who? The Republican National Committee. I think I actually laughed out loud. I said, "Sorry, but we don't support the Republican Party anymore." After a brief pause, she asked, "Can I ask why?" I laughed again. "There are too many reasons to go into. Please take us off of your list. Thank you." [click]

The moral of this story? Don't mess with Beth when she's in the middle of a rant. You might have to deal with Feisty Beth.

Revisiting an Infection Connection

It seems timely to mention an old entry about Influenza. In that entry from almost a year ago, I wrote mainly about the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic, but Influenza is a growing concern at the moment. The CDC reports that 37 states have widespread flu activity; data show that we are not into seasonal flu yet, and that these are swine flu (H1N1) cases.

The first wave of H1N1 was relatively mild, but we're already seeing it get nastier on this go-round. Sadly, an 11-year-old girl died in our city last week of this strain of influenza. Some schools in our area are showing a 20% absentee rate. I don't see any reason to panic, but continue to be careful. You've all heard the precautions (And we should all be practicing them! My personal favorite is the Dracula Sneeze.), and there is plenty of information about symptoms, vaccinations, and generally all things flu at a great website called Flu.gov. I'll get my flu shot through Ken's workplace this year, although I have to admit I'm getting a little antsy about not having gotten it yet. There will be plenty available eventually, but initial demand was incredibly high. When the H1N1 shot becomes widely available, I will get that one, too. Now that I'm not working at the lab, I'm not in a high risk category anymore, so others should get it before me. I could probably stretch it since I have the beginnings of emphysema, but plenty are at higher risk than I am, so I'll wait my turn.

I don't see this becoming as lethal as the 1918 outbreak, because our preparedness is much higher than it was then. But that's the thing about viruses, and what I wrote about in my entry from a year ago...they can change so profoundly that they can take everyone by surprise. Stay cautious, and keep washing those hands! And if you were smart enough to buy stock in any company that makes hand sanitizer, you're probably feeling quite smug and pleased with yourself right about now, aren't you, Mr. and Ms. Smartypants?

~~~~~

Speaking of health, the Senate Committee Finance bill was voted on today, and passed 14-9, with Olympia Snowe of Maine being the lone Republican to vote for it. Hail, Olympia! (Joe Lieberman continues to show that he's not exactly sure what he thinks about things, or who he wants to be when he grows up, and voted no.) There is still plenty of work to be done, and I still want to see that public option as part of the mix, but I am encouraged. I'm also reading that there is a certain "air of inevitability" in Washington right now concerning this, with many feeling that there will be something passed this year. I feel it, too.

Oh, and did you hear about that Colorado baby who was initially denied coverage because he was over the top of the weight chart? In other words, they told his parents that he was "too fat." The father was pretty funny, saying something like hey, he's a baby...it's not like we can put him on the Atkins diet or on a treadmill. The insurance company quickly moved to rectify the situation, and the kid can get insurance now.

And people have the gall to talk about rationing under a health care reform bill, or a government bureaucrat coming between a doctor and their patient? Crackuh, please. Just what in the holy hell do you think insurance companies have been doing all these years? What a stupid argument.

~~~~~

I don't like to write much about this gasbag, because I think it's a waste of space, but I found Rush Limbaugh's word association exercise in an interview broadcast on "The Today Show" an interesting one.

President Obama: "Disaster"
Michelle Obama: "Garden. Plants a garden out there."
Former President Jimmy Carter: "An utter disgrace and embarrassment."
Sarah Palin: "Misunderstood and underestimated."
Former President Bush: "Most decent, down-to-earth real man you'd ever hope to meet."
Glenn Beck: "Look what I have spawned. Glenn Beck to me is 'Right on, Daddy-O.' "
Hillary Clinton: "Nurse Ratchet."

I think a good psychologist (maybe I need to enlist my pal Dr. Will) would be able to read much into his responses. One of the most telling is his response to Michelle...the woman is a lawyer, a Princeton graduate, and all he can say is that she planted a garden? Could he be any more condescending and dismissive of such a strong woman? Hmm...Oedipal complex? Then there's Beck: "Look what I have spawned." Delusions of godhood and grandeur. Sarah Palin is “misunderstood and underestimated?” Well, that's just stupid, and quite possibly indicative of full-blown psychosis, but apparently he prefers empty-headed fluff who will see him as a conduit to a position of power and look up to him as some sort of father figure. The exact opposite of a strong, intelligent woman like Michelle Obama, or Hillary Clinton, which brings us to what is probably his most offensive remark here, comparing Secretary of State Clinton to Nurse Ratchet. The guy obviously has issues.

This kind of makes me feel good, though, because based on his opinion of the women mentioned in this, I'm reasonably certain that he would seriously dislike me. I'm cool with that.

~~~~~

To cleanse my palate after writing about that bloated bag o' foul wind, I'll mention Rahm Emanuel. I don't know all the details, but it seems that GQ magazine has picked him at the top of their list of influential people. I'm not sure if there is more to it (perhaps a sartorial element), but Rahm is #1! And still a hottie. We really aren't hearing much about Rahm these days, but I'm betting that he's working hard behind the scenes, kicking ass and taking names, not later, but right then so he knows that people know they're on his List. Keep being the Enforcer, Rahm, and do some of that on health care reform, how about it?

Pandemonium!

Before I get to that, congrats to Jim of Skelligrants, who was the first to comment that it was Rob and Laura Petrie (and Richie) who lived in New Rochelle, New York. Good job, Jim, and the Silver Squirrel is yours. "The Dick Van Dyke Show" remains in my top five TV shows of all time, and I still think it's funny. Didn't you just love it how they were always doing some type of benefit show, or how the gang would come over to Rob and Laura's and do skits, sing songs, etc.? Yeah, it's cheesy...but also kind of cool, in my opinion. People just don't do those sorts of cocktail parties anymore, where the entertainment was the guests. No, I don't want to bring them back, and we won't be having a shindig like that at Nutwood anytime soon. But it's fun to imagine, and as long as there are reruns, I can live vicariously through the Petries!

Well, it's official. The WHO has declared H1N1 a pandemic, the first in 41 years. Seems to me it was a pandemic a while back, especially once it made its way to Australia, but who am I to say? Hey, get it? WHO am I to say? Wow, I am on. a. roll. Anyhoo, this shouldn't change things too much, and I think developed countries have already been operating in pandemic mode. A lot of people are concerned that for developing countries, this could inundate and overwhelm their healthcare systems. I would say that's a legitimate concern, and that's why organizations like WHO are so important.

[Click picture to enlarge] Please don't take this the wrong way, but it's almost kind of exciting to have a pandemic. Simmah down, simmah down now...of course, it's terrible that so many people have gotten ill, and that some have died. That's the tragic side of all infectious diseases. But I'd be lying if I said that it didn't fire up the microbiologist in me. This is the first pandemic that I remember. Fortunately, it has been a relatively mild one in terms of mortality. The concern is that when it comes back in the fall--and that's probably inevitable--it may have mutated into a more virulent form. That's what happened in the 1918 pandemic.

I hope that won't happen, but that's why planning for a pandemic is so necessary. So far, we've been fortunate; however, the rapid spread of this should give fair warning that any sort of communicable disease will be easily and quickly transmitted around the world. In a way, this was a dress rehearsal for possibly a much worse scenario. The closing of schools and other public places may have seemed to be a big to-do about nothing, but that's exactly what will need to happen if and when this reoccurs. This has also pointed out the need for greater surveillance of illnesses in animals. That is more than likely where the next pandemic will originate.

Fascinating stuff. Now is a very good time to be a virologist.

*****

Random blog sighting! While reading an ultra-conservative blog I had never come across before, I saw this phrase: “The story doesn’t jive at all.”

See anything wrong there? They were trying to point out a discrepancy in some news story coming from the administration, trying to show that there were conflicting reports. They kneecapped their own outrage and attempts to ridicule the administration by, instead of pointing out the conflicting report, saying that the story just didn’t swing, Daddy-O. I’ve been chuckling to myself about it all day, and I think I have a new phrase. If something doesn’t move me, make me want to cut a rug and shake my tail feathers, if I just plain don’t dig something, I’m going to say, “Hey man…that doesn’t jive.”

The word is jibe, people. 

I’m forced to go there

We just looked at another place tonight, a rental house close to us. We were pleasantly surprised at the size of the place (as well as the reasonable rent), and it is definitely in play. I'm going to call tomorrow and we'll look at another place tomorrow evening. I think we'll work on a "pros and cons" list and try to get it all laid out and logical, because that is the way we roll (Jamie!). It wasn't until I wrote this that I realized who the owner reminded me of...Tim Robbins! You know, Andy Dufresne from "The Shawshank Redemption."

"That was the longest night of his life...."

Thank you, everyone, for your ideas and support in our Great Residence Search '09. It is greatly appreciated, believe me! I'm hopeful that we'll have good news to report about it soon.

I have other things I want to write about, but with this H1N1 mess, I feel I should write a bit more about it. I've written often about influenza in the past (just do a search for 'influenza' in my current blog, or in the Nutwood Junction archives), and you'll find topics including the vaccine, how viruses operate, the 1918 pandemic, and Katherine Anne Porter's Pale Horse, Pale Rider. (Note the Neuraminidase and Hemagglutinin markers in the graphic above. That’s where the H1N1, or others like H5N1, designation comes from.)

Two big stories today. The first U.S. death, a toddler in Texas. Two other serious cases in Texas, another toddler and a woman who just had a C-section, are both in critical condition. Keep in mind that influenza generally targets the young, the elderly, and the immunocompromised. This is nothing new.

The other big story is that the WHO has ratcheted the alert up to level 5, meaning that a pandemic is imminent. I think what is being missed is that you can have a pandemic without having a highly lethal infectious agent. A pandemic merely means that it is widespread throughout many countries, and highly transmissible from human-to-human. This strain was bad news in Mexico, because it seemed to be particularly lethal in 20 to 40 year olds, which is a major red flag for influenza outbreaks. It appears to be less virulent in the States and elsewhere in the world, which leads me to believe that it is moderating and becoming less of a nasty bugger.

Oh, and I guess there was another big story (at the risk of sounding like the Monty Python Spanish Inquisition guys), in that it has now been determined that it is a combination of two swine strains, rather than human-swine-avian, as originally reported. The two strains are the North American and Eurasion swine viruses. Neither have been shown to be contagious in humans before, and that is a problem. People won't have any immunity to this new hybrid virus, and that's why it could become so widespread.

So I agree with the cautionary efforts of the WHO and the CDC, although some might find it a little over the top. It's merely intended to keep people vigilant, and yes, to cut down on travel, in order to try to keep it from spreading. The cat is probably out of the bag, because it is already worldwide, but we can still all work to keep it from spreading to those who are always more vulnerable to the flu. Nothing has changed there. The usual precautions apply...this is nothing new. Influenza, the regular one that arrives every season, kills thousands worldwide every year.

I'm not going to do a little dance and say "I told you so!" because this is a nasty infection that has killed people. But I've said for some time that we will eventually face a pandemic infection at some point (have I mentioned that we're overdue?), and it's not surprising that it might be a virus (they mutate like crazy). So far, it looks as though this particular nastiness will not be a killer. But the potential exists for one that could be a killer, and smart companies will come up with a plan for how they will deal with a massive outbreak. The lab I worked at had a plan, and Ken's company has one. It's going to be okay, I believe that.

To lighten the mood a bit, David made me laugh with this take on H1N1, which he found on another blog. Hee hee!

Kicking it down a notch

Okay, a little bit better today, and less high anxiety about this move. I had a bad night last night, waking up around 3:30 and unable to get back to sleep because my mind kicked into overdrive. I hate it when that happens, and it seems that it feeds upon itself. I went from thinking about this move, to thinking about finalizing the menu for Ken's PMI group dinner next week (and picking up the information packets from the Chamber of Commerce), to reminding myself to check the grocery store ads before I went out on my errands today...aaggghhhh!

I was finally able to calm down and get back to sleep, but MAN, did I have some crazy dreams! They weren't exactly bad, but so vivid that they were on the verge of hallucinatory. At one point, I recall waking up partway because I was trying to shoo something away...I don't recall what. I've lost most of them now, even though I tried to remember them because they were so bizarre, but I remember a cat with spots like an ocelot, I remember being in the yard and picking electronic parts (ordered by a neighbor but delivered to us) out of the grass, and I remember a group of guys standing behind me hitting golf balls. One of them made a remark about President Obama, and I marched over to him and said, "I find that very offensive and I'd appreciate it if you didn't say such things." He laughed and said, "Oh yeah? Well, you'd just better worry about who's going to wash your balls now that this guy is in office!"

Okay, I can laugh about it now, but what the hell?! It was on the verge of "The Prisoner" level of surreal.

My errand run didn't start out well, when I made my first stop at a newer apartment complex nearby. (In Ken's discussion with his Mom, he discussed the reality of things, and it sounds like they are willing to go the apartment route. The hangup there was that they want to keep their appliances. Ken's question: "So here's what you need to decide. Do you want to keep your appliances, or would you rather be somewhere closer to us? We can probably find you something 20-30 miles away where you can do that." Like I said, I was a nervous wreck just hearing one side of the conversation!) I told the woman at the complex the situation, and she said they won't have any openings until August. Dammit! We'll keep looking.

But Ken’s Mom needs to know by Friday. And they've already started packing. I just don't want to go there right now, though. Happy thoughts, happy thoughts....

I found a couple of lounge chairs on sale at Target today. I've been wanting one for a while, because I love to sit, and hey, I love to lounge! A lounge chair is a natural! When I saw that these were on sale, Ken said to get two, so I'm excited to use my new lounge chair. Our summery weather seems to be done for the moment, and it rained this afternoon, so I might not get to use it for a while. Those suckers were heavy--they have a steel frame, so I hope that means they'll last for a while.

I saw two Rose-breasted Grosbeaks earlier today (picture is from last year), and they are not shy at all, coming right up to the feeders. These guys are so interesting...they look to me like they've just torn the throat out of something, with that bright red bib, but that's just me. I've often seen the Grosbeak with the Oriole, and I was very happy to see Oreo make an appearance late this afternoon! I'll need to put an orange out for him tomorrow.

The swine flu outbreak is a big deal in the news right now. From what I've read, while it's been quite nasty in Mexico, all U.S. cases have been fairly mild. While I think it's good that they're recommending caution, including limiting travel to affected areas, it would seem that the virus is mutating to a less virulent form. Too early to tell, of course, and the usual cautions apply, but I'm not panicking. This virus is an interesting chimera, though. (And how often do I get to use the word 'chimera?' Almost never! I'm delighted!) It's a mixture of human, swine, and avian influenza, and shows that viruses can recombine (naturally, without our help) into something unseen before. Although I don't panic over something like this, I have a healthy respect for the ability of bacteria and viruses to mutate and evolve.

Look at it this way: you're a virus, and you have to have a host in order to replicate. You're not a bad guy, and don't want to hurt your host...in fact, if you do hurt them too much (i.e., kill them), you've lost your host, and if you haven't found a new one, you're toast. So it's to your advantage to continue to be a mild guy, just hanging out and replicating without hurting too many people. But one day you encounter a couple of cousins who are also not real bad guys...but when you all get together, you get a little crazy, and you get up to some real bad-ass activities. In fact, you end up hurting some people pretty bad, and realize that you need to back off before you all get killed. So you decide you'll all go back to being mild guys and quit hurting people. After all, you're only going to get hurt in the end, right?

That's a virus for you, especially one that unexpectedly recombines or has an antigenic shift into a more virulent form. It's to the virus's disadvantage to kill all its hosts, so it will eventually morph into something milder and less menacing. That's what I'm hoping will happen with this particular H1N1 strain. The phrase "can't be contained" seems to be freaking a lot of people out. It obviously can't be contained, because it's already in Scotland and Spain, and it’s very much a global community when it comes to the spread of infections. That's a moot point. So hang tight, wash your hands, don't touch your eyes or face, and if you're sick, stay home!