Patdfan94's Journals

SWINE FLU (is worrying)

A flu outbreak affecting more than 900 people in Mexico, including at least 16 who died, was caused by a new strain of swine influenza "that can attack anyone," Mexico's health minister said Friday.

"It is a virus that mutated from pigs and then at some point was transmitted to humans," Jose Angel Cordova Villalobos said.

The outbreak, which Mexican authorities began reporting April 18, is being investigated by public health officials throughout North America. In the United States, officials say they're studying eight cases, including the initial two children in California and Texas who had no contact with pigs or each other, suggesting that human-to-human transmission of this new swine flu virus occurred. All have since recovered.

No cases of this new strain have yet been found in Canada. But the country's national laboratory in Winnipeg is analyzing 51 samples from Mexico. Results are expected within days.

In the meantime, the following is a summary of frequently asked questions about swine influenza prepared by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

· Swine flu is caused by type A influenza virus and gives pigs the flu. Swine flu viruses cause regular outbreaks of flu in pigs but death is infrequent.

· Right now, there are 4 main influenza type A swine flu viruses that have been isolated in pigs: H1N1, H1N2, H3N2, and H3N1. Most of the recently isolated influenza viruses from pigs have been H1N1 viruses.

· Swine flu viruses do not normally infect humans. However, sporadic human infections have occurred. Most commonly, these cases occur in persons with direct exposure to pigs, such as children near pigs at a fair or workers in the swine industry. In addition, there have been documented cases of one person spreading swine flu to others

· The symptoms of swine flu in people are expected to be similar to the symptoms of regular human seasonal influenza and include fever, lethargy, lack of appetite and coughing. Some people with swine flu also have reported runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. (Source: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Swine influenza (swine flu) is caused by type A influenza virus and gives pigs the flu. Swine flu viruses cause regular outbreaks of flu in pigs but death is infrequent. The viruses may circulate among pigs throughout the year, but most outbreaks occur during the late fall and winter months similar to outbreaks in humans. The classical swine flu virus (an influenza type A H1N1 virus) was first isolated from a pig in 1930.

Like all flu viruses, swine flu viruses change constantly. Pigs can be infected by avian, human and swine influenza viruses. When influenza viruses from different species infect pigs, the viruses can reassort and new ones emerge that are a mix of swine, human and/or avian influenza viruses. Over the years, different variations of swine flu viruses have emerged. Right now, there are four main influenza type A virus subtypes that have been isolated in pigs: H1N1, H1N2, H3N2, and H3N1. However, most of the recently isolated influenza viruses from pigs have been H1N1 viruses.

Swine flu viruses do not normally infect humans. However, sporadic human infections with swine flu have occurred. Most commonly, these cases occur in persons with direct exposure to pigs, such as children near pigs at a fair or workers in the swine industry.

There have been documented cases of one person spreading swine flu to others. In 1988, an outbreak of apparent swine flu infection in pigs in Wisconsin resulted in multiple human infections, and although no community outbreak resulted, there was antibody evidence of virus transmission from the patient to health care workers who had close contact with the patient.

In the past, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention received reports of about one human swine flu virus infection every one to two years in the U.S., but from December 2005 through February 2009, 12 cases of human infection with swine flu have been reported. Five of the 12 cases occurred in patients who had direct exposure to pigs, six in patients reported being near pigs, and the exposure in one case was unknown.

The symptoms of swine flu in people are expected to be similar to the symptoms of regular human seasonal influenza and include fever, lethargy, lack of appetite and coughing. Some people with swine flu also have reported runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

No. Swine flu viruses are not transmitted by food. You cannot get swine flu from eating pork or pork products.

Influenza viruses can be directly transmitted from pigs to people and from people to pigs. Human infection with swine flu viruses are most likely to occur when people are in close proximity to infected pigs, such as in pig barns and livestock exhibits at fairs.

Human-to-human transmission of swine flu can also occur. This is thought to occur in the same way as seasonal flu occurs in people, which is mainly person-to-person transmission through coughing or sneezing of people infected with the flu virus. People may become infected by touching something with flu viruses on it and then touching their mouth or nose.

In September 1988, a healthy 32-year-old pregnant woman was hospitalized for pneumonia and died eight days later. A swine H1N1 flu virus was detected. Four days before getting sick, she had visited a county fair swine exhibition where there was widespread flu-like illness among the pigs.

In follow-up studies, 76 per cent of swine exhibitors tested had antibody evidence of swine flu infection but no serious illnesses were detected among this group. Additional studies suggest that one to three health care personnel who had contact with the patient developed mild influenza-like illnesses with antibody evidence of swine flu infection.

To diagnose swine influenza A infection, a respiratory specimen is ideally collected within the first four to five days of illness and sent to the CDC for testing.

Four antiviral drugs are licensed for use in the United States: amantadine, rimantadine, oseltamivir and zanamivir. While most swine flu viruses have been susceptible to all four drugs, the most recent seven swine flu viruses isolated from humans are resistant to amantadine and rimantadine. Right now, the CDC recommends oseltamivir or zanamivir for the treatment and/or prevention of infection with swine flu viruses.

The most well known outbreak of swine flu was 1976 one among soldiers in Fort Dix, N.J. The virus caused illnesses in at least four soldiers and one death; all were previously healthy. The virus was transmitted in close contact at a basic training camp. It was thought to have circulated for a month and disappeared. The source of the virus, the exact time of its introduction into Fort Dix and factors limiting its spread and duration are unknown. The outbreak may have been caused by introduction of an animal virus into a stressed human population in close contact during the winter.

Source: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

What other examples of swine flu outbreaks are there?

What medications are available to treat humans with swine flu?

How are human infections with swine flu diagnosed?

What is known about human-to-human spread of swine flu?

How does swine flu spread?

Can people catch swine flu from eating pork?

What are the symptoms of swine flu in humans?

How common is swine flu infection in humans?

Can humans catch swine flu?

How many swine flu viruses are there?

What is swine influenza?

Panic at the Disco answers 17 questions

1. When was your first kiss?
Spencer: Eighth grade. It was while we were at the movie Save the Last Dance.

2. Who's your celebrity crush?
Spencer: Jessica Biel. Sheâ�™s very attractive. Iâ�™ve seen her in some serious interviews and she came off very, very intelligent and seemed like a normal person.

3. What's a girl fashion trend that confuses you?
Brendon: Those big sunglasses that cover their faces.
Spencer: I donâ�™t like the waist-high jeans. I just saw that yesterday. I guess itâ�™s not flattering.
Jon: Uggs â�” especially the white ones that get really dirty and disgusting.

4. What's the girly movie you secretly love?
Jon: The Notebook.
Spencer: 10 Things I Hate About You is a funny movie. Oh, and I liked Josie and the Pussycats.

5. What's your TV guilty pleasure?
Spencer: Project Runway. It was The OC for a while.
Jon: Yeah, for me itâ�™s The OC. But The Office is really good, too.

6. Who would play you in the movie version of your life?
Jon: Val Kilmer.
Brendon: Leslie Nielsen.
Spencer: Wesley Snipes.

7. What's your dream job?
Jon: Golf.
Spencer: Chef.
Brendon: Cosmetology. Iâ�™m serious. I cut my own hair.

8. If you could trade places with anyone in the world for one day, who would it be?
Brendon: Johnny Depp. I call him. No hesitation. For at least one day. You could do whatever you want to.
Spencer: My girlfriend would want me to be Brad Pitt or Johnny Depp.

9. Who in your family are you closest to?
Jon: The cats! I have two cats, both tabbies.
Brendon: Everyone. My whole family.
Spencer: The pets. I have two boxers; oneâ�™s a boy and oneâ�™s a girl.

10. What's your favorite Website?
Jon: Myspace.com/panicatthedisco.

11. What's the fast food you can't live without?
Brendon: Burger King.
Jon: Sub Shop. I donâ�™t like fast food, but I like this.
Spencer: Port of Subs. Itâ�™s really only in Las Vegas, California, and Arizona.

12. What's your worst habit?
Brendon: I bite my nails.
Spencer: I bite the inside of my gums. Itâ�™s just annoying.

13. What's the last song you listened to on your iPod?
Brendon: â�œThree Little Birds,â� by Bob Marley.
Spencer: â�œThe Boys Are Back in Town,â� by Thin Lizzy.

14. What's the last thing you bought?
Jon: Shoes. These shoes. I literally just got these shoes. I took off my old shoes and wore these out of the store.
Spencer: A shirt.

15. What did you dream about last night?
Jon: That our hotel room caught on fire and I had to jump out of the room with a mattress.
Spencer: I had a dream the other night that some other band that I didnâ�™t know was covering our song. I donâ�™t know what that means.

16. How much money is in your wallet right now?
Ryan: Zero cash. I have no money, but I have some credit cards.

17. Fill in the blank: When I was 17, I was ____________.
Spencer: Touring.
Brendon: Having tropical smoothies.
Ryan: Chillaxing. I was also really good-looking.
Jon: Actually, we were just getting signed. I guess I turned 18 as we were getting done.

Exclusive @ Out.com: Is Panic! Pretty, Gay?

Before Panic at the Disco lost their exclamation point and started dressing like hippies, they could have been quite easily confused with Victorian dandies who had been hitting the absinthe a little too hard. And yet they went platinum and conquered MTV and MySpace alike with a decidedly weird, amazingly confident dance-rock-cabaret debut album, 2005's A Fever You Can't Sweat Out, recorded before anyone in the band was old enough to drink (half their members still aren't legal).

At last week's announcement that the band would headline the Honda Civic Tour, I got a chance to chat with the rhythm section, Jon Walker and Spencer Smith, about Panic's much-anticipated sophomore release, Pretty. Odd., their boyhood sleepovers and how much they wouldn't care if all the gay rumors about them were actually true.

But what I found most fascinating even in our brief interview was how the guys were perfectly happy to answer any gay question I threw at them, whether completely serious or totally flippant. They were, in fact, the most casually accepting artists I think I've ever interviewed. I don't know whether it's simply a product of being more generationally evolved or they're just ridiculously cool dudes, but they seemed to genuinely not consider the way they seem very queer on-stage or off to be that big of a deal.

In that way, they're not at all like earlier emo-punk bands that deliberately played gay on stage just to fuck with the heads of their fans (or their fans' parents) -- including Fall Out Boy, whose frontman, Pete Wentz, started his own record label to sign Panic when no one else thought they'd be even an indie hit. The way this group talks about their live shows -- which have included elaborate make-up, flamboyant costumes and scripted interludes where they re-enacted dreams of chasing a lover for a perfect kiss -- and their own sexuality isn't intended to push buttons or prove a point. It seems simply a genuine reflection of their own creative tendencies.

A few other highlights from my buddies at Buzznet, who were a few feet away talking to Brendon and Ryan at the same time I was interviewing Jon and Spencer:

> Brendon and Ryan burst into the Beatles' "Birthday," plus 100 percent of Panic agrees: The best and most consistent rumors about the band are that Ryan and Brendon are dating. "It's obviously completely true," Ryan says, and Brendon responds, "Why wouldn't it be?"

> Someone in the audience asks if anyone in the band is available, and the boys all point to Brendon, the sole member without a girlfriend.

Some more video clips at YouTube from the announcement, including Brendon singing the Super Mario Brothers theme song like a champion dork.

Panic! at Abbey road

PANIC! AT ABBEY ROAD

www.myspace.com/panicatthedisco

Las Vegas-based Panic! At The Disco will decamp to London's legendary Abbey Road studios later this week to work on the follow-up to 2005's A Fever You Can't Sweat Out.

"[It's] truly is a dream come true for us," said the band. "Over the next five days we will finish in the studio at home and make our way to Abbey Road Studios in London. There, we will record all of the strings, horns, whatchyamacallit's, and so on. Then, we will mix the record at Abbey Road as well."

Abbey Road was made famous in the 1950s, 60s and 70s by legendary British artists such as The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Dame Shirley Bassey and er, Cliff Richard.

The band's as-yet-untitled new album will be released in the summer through Fueled by Ramen. However, if you can't wait 'til then, they've posted a rough mix of new track Were So Starving on their MySpace page.

"This is not the final mix or version of the song," they say."It will undergo some change while we're in London, but we wanted to show you something from what we've done so far. Hope you enjoy."

The happines donÂ´t buy, but in this case yes :)

IÂ´m so excited because i inform that A.F.I come to MÃ©xico!!!!!!!! :) and i sooooooooo happy, but the good thing is that today i buy the tickets for the concert!!!!!!! I know that the happines donÂ´t buy , but in this case yes. But i need make thing to can go :(

I want that this day come, i canÂ´t hope!!!!!!