Beat Back The Flu

[Don Ro]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Wishful thinking my friend, wishful thinking. That little girly man flu went through our house in Dec. Not enough to stay home from work, just a 24 hour funk. The real flu hit us last Monday during the BCS title game. Wife went down first, and like a good husband I kept the kids downstairs as she puked her guts out in bed. Then my 5-year old daughter did a full Exorcist in the 1st quarter, but I still had control. I went down after halftime and had to run up the white flag. Over the course of about 5 hours all three of my kids (2, 5, 8) proceeded to get sick multiple times. While my wife and I were still sick ourselves. Cleaning up puke while also puking in your own bucket........not good. Possibly the worst night of my life, I slept for about 18 hours straight after the spigot finally closed. Took a good three days to feel right again, it's one of the worst I've had.

^^^^^^^^^^^^
Geezus H. Keerist!
.
I usually caught the flu when it came around...but, for the 10 yrs. I smoked 2 - 3 packs/day, not once.
.
After I quit, sure enough, next season there it was. Was the tar & nicotine killing the virus?

[red-beard]

US hit by new stomach bug spreading around globe

Read more: US hit by new stomach bug spreading around globe - DC Breaking Local News Weather Sports FOX 5 WTTG

By MIKE STOBBE
AP Medical Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - A new strain of stomach bug sweeping the globe is taking over in the U.S., health officials say.

Since September, more than 140 outbreaks in the U.S. have been caused by the new Sydney strain of norovirus. It may not be unusually dangerous; some scientists don't think it is. But it is different, and many people might not be able to fight off its gut-wrenching effects.

Clearly, it's having an impact. The new strain is making people sick in Japan, Western Europe, and other parts of the world. It was first identified last year in Australia and called the Sydney strain.

In the U.S., it is now accounting for about 60 percent of norovirus outbreaks, according to report released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Norovirus - once known as Norwalk virus - is highly contagious and often spreads in places like schools, cruise ships and nursing homes, especially during the winter. Last month, 220 people on the Queen Mary II were stricken during a Caribbean cruise.

Sometimes mistakenly called stomach flu, the virus causes bouts of vomiting and diarrhea for a few days.

Every two or three years, a new strain evolves - the last was in 2009. The Sydney strain's appearance has coincided with a spike in influenza, perhaps contributing to the perception that this is a particularly bad flu season in the U.S.

Ian Goodfellow, a prominent researcher at England's University of Cambridge, calls norovirus 'the Ferrari of viruses' for the speed at which it passes through a large group of people.

"It can sweep through an environment very, very quickly. You can be feeling quite fine one minute and within several hours suffer continuous vomiting and diarrhea," he said.

Health officials have grown better at detecting new strains and figuring out which one is the culprit. They now know that norovirus is also the most common cause of food poisoning in the U.S.

It's spread by infected food handlers who don't do a good job washing their hands after using the bathroom. But unlike salmonella and other foodborne illnesses, norovirus can also spread in the air, through droplets that fly when a sick person vomits.

"It's a headache" to try to control, said Dr. John Crane, a University of Buffalo infectious disease specialist who had to deal with a norovirus outbreak in a hospital ward a couple of years ago.

Each year, noroviruses cause an estimated 21 million illnesses and 800 deaths, the CDC says.

For those infected, there's really no medicine. They just have to ride it out for the day or two of severe symptoms, and guard against dehydration, experts said.

The illness even got the attention of comedian Stephen Colbert, who this week tweeted: "Remember, if you're in public and have the winter vomiting bug, be polite and vomit into your elbow."

[recycled sixtie]

Originally Posted by Don Ro

^^^^^^^^^^^^
Geezus H. Keerist!
.
I usually caught the flu when it came around...but, for the 10 yrs. I smoked 2 - 3 packs/day, not once.
.
After I quit, sure enough, next season there it was. Was the tar & nicotine killing the virus?

I agree with this thinking totally. My father was a heavy smoker and never got the flu or colds. I used to think that the cold/flu virus could not live in his nicotine riddled body. He died at age 52 of cancer.

[vash]

knocking on wood:

i am surrounded by the flu. my wife got it twice..maybe thrice. my BIL got it. FIL got it..my idiot coworkers come to work with it.

i wash my hands like OCD. quit putting my fingers to my face. got the flu shot. all i can do.

i did the get tickle in my throat..headache. i jumped in my truck for some therapy..what therapy?

Soondubo JIGEE!! soft tofu korean soup!! spicy, full of veggies..boiling hot, served up and a glowing hot stone bowl. that mexican dude telling you "careful, HOT PLATE!" would cry like a little girl if he touched this bowl. you dump a raw egg into the soup to poach it. FAST!

then straight to bed. i have dodged the flu!! 100%..again, knocking on wood.

[onewhippedpuppy]

That looks GOOD!