Atypical pneumonia... anyone else dealing with this?

I'm hearing rumors flying around... is everyone getting worried?
p.s. thank goodness Kiki made it back from Thailand in time..🙂 😁
it was Thailand, wasn't it?

northernseal6 said:I’m hearing rumors it’s spreading... anyone else getting worried?
p.s. thank god Kiki made it back from Thailand in time..🙂 😁
it was Thailand, wasn't it?

I am. I've been traveling quite a bit these past few weeks—airports are basically breeding grounds for contamination—and right now I'm actually in a country bordering Germany where it's already showing up...

I’m feeling the tension too, even though I wouldn't call myself a total panic freak. The closest hotspot to Washington, D.C. would be somewhere like Vienna, but honestly—who knows how tight the screening actually is around here? 🙄

So, ABC News mentioned today that they’re ramping up checks on people coming off those "major" flights—you know, the ones landing from New York City, London, and places like that. It just seems... 😲 😲 😲 Like contamination can't just happen anywhere else? And what about the folks flying through Vienna, Prague, or Budapest? It's not like they didn't have plenty of chances to run into someone sick there. Plus, you've got everyone crossing the border by car or train who could have been anywhere else entirely before they hit us. 😲

That lady over at the CDC mentioned that this outbreak couldn't have picked a worse time to show up, since it's hitting right when flu season is peaking. Because the early symptoms look so similar, they're bracing for a massive surge at infectious disease hospitals—and a whole lot of hypochondriacs, too. 🙄 😢

About a month ago at the airport, I saw some Chinese people wearing face masks and honestly thought they had completely lost their minds...

That’s just how things are being done over in China these days, isn't it?

Honestly, it feels like we're heading for a total meltdown
There’s really no saving us at this point—might as well enjoy life while we still can. I was reading some reports where people are genuinely worried we might see a repeat of the Spanish Flu, which wiped out
something like 40 million people.

Man, why are we all being such pessimists? 😲 Look, try looking at this from a different angle. After all those people who didn't make it through the last few outbreaks, someone always manages to pull through. 🙄 And hey, why couldn't that be us? 😁 I mean, that’s just how I see it—if something is meant for you, it’ll find you, whether you're in Thailand, Germany, or wherever. If it isn't meant for you, you'll stay safe. Whether we stress about it or not, what's gonna happen is gonna happen. 😉 😉 Like, look at me, I’m barely leaving the house, just hanging out on my PC. 😁 😁 😁 (I'm not even scared) lol

Has anyone else here ever just picked up a cloth and decided to wipe the dust off their desk?

Well, I suppose nature is just doing its thing now—nothing else really... just a little bit of spontaneous house cleaning...

The world might actually look a little brighter once this settles, much like my desk will... and as for the dust... honestly, forget about the dust; it wasn't meant to stay on that table forever anyway.😁

Thomas Mendoza5 said:Have you people seriously never picked up a rag and wiped the dust off a table before?

Well, nature is doing the sweeping now. That’s all there is to it... just a little bit of house cleaning...

The world is going to look a lot cleaner once this is over, much like that table... and as for the dust... screw the dust, it wasn't staying on that table forever anyway.😁

Look, buddy, maybe that sounds poetic to you sitting tens of thousands of miles away from Southeast Asia... but being right here in the center of everything gives you a different perspective. Believe me... 👎

What do you think? In about a month, we'll probably be seeing some serious snowstorms sweeping across all of Europe too.

By the time news like this finally trickles down to us regular folks, it means the SARS outbreak is already spiraling out of control...

Today I heard about a case in San Diego, only for them to deny it immediately. Then I hear about one in Miami—turns out it was just a false alarm. It’s honestly not even funny at this point...

What’s everyone’s take here—are we witnessing the dawn of some kind of "biological warfare"?

Unfortunately, I didn't manage to catch the full report an hour ago (and damn it, I really should have been paying closer attention 😁), but I caught enough to hear something along the lines of a sub-strain virus being out there with no known cure. Apparently, some German scientists are already suggesting this isn't just some random act of nature, but something more calculated 🙄

The only thing that doesn't sit right with me is why it’s emerging from Asia specifically... and just who exactly is running these experiments over there? 😕

melloweagle26 said:What do you guys think? Is this some kind of biological warfare starting up?

I’m actually leaning towards agreeing with Thomas Mendoza5... it feels more like Mother Nature is just tidying up her garden...

P.S. My data on incidence rates is a bit scattered, if I can put it that way, regarding some potential biological attack...

Megan Rodriguez44 said:I’m somewhat inclined to side with Thomas Mendoza5’s perspective—that Mother Nature is finally doing a little spring cleaning in her own backyard.

I find myself nodding along with that sentiment; everything feels a bit scattered and chaotic right now, but honestly, these days you can't take anything for certain anymore.

Historically speaking, various pathogens have always found their way out of the lab and into the wild, regardless of how tight the seal was.

But hey, let's just hope this particular thread doesn't become a breeding ground for more trouble.😁

I just caught the update on ABC News, and it looks like they’re confirming that the situation over in San Diego was indeed an atypical case of pneumonia.

Nancy Cook61 said:ABC News just reported that the situation in San Diego turned out to be atypical pneumonia after all.

😲 😲 😲

That's rough. 😢 I guess it’s finally making its way toward us, too. 😢

Miami folks, stay sharp! 😢 Next time someone sneezes right in your face without even bothering to cover their mouth—just give 'em a swift kick into the Atlantic. 😉

Nancy Cook61 said:ABC News just reported that the situation in San Diego was actually an atypical case of pneumonia.

Watch what you say.😲 😲

Looks like the chaos has reached your neck of the woods too, huh?

Now it’s my turn to offer some comfort to Mickey Mouse! 😁 It isn't quite the apocalypse just yet; researchers over in Hong Kong have identified the virus responsible for this (or whatever it is)... which is supposedly a major breakthrough. The real issue—I was reading about it last night on the BBC website—is that there aren't any vaccines for this specific strain yet. It’ll take a few years to develop one, so the priority right now is simply stopping the spread.

On another note... they’re saying that out of those who have passed away, two patients in Hong Kong already had underlying health conditions... so that offers a bit of a silver lining. They also mentioned that the condition of that woman from Europe... and that British man... is improving thanks to antibiotic therapy. Given that this guy is 67, I suppose there's plenty of hope left for us younger folks. 😁

To be fair... you've got that mother and child... as well as that French doctor... among the deceased... but honestly, who knows what's coming. 🙄

Are there any medical professionals here who can provide some general recommendations on how to prepare, God forbid? Is there a specific way we should be handling this?

I think I’ll just grab a big bucket of popcorn and settle in, hoping that everyone I can't stand gets hit by a bad bout of flu before I do. 😁

That way, I can sit back and watch them struggle through it, and then maybe I'll join in on the fun myself. 🙄 😁