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xchrom

(108,903 posts)
Fri Sep 14, 2012, 10:14 AM Sep 2012

Majority of U.S. Schools Not Ready for Next Pandemic, Researchers Say

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120914082055.htm

ScienceDaily (Sep. 14, 2012) — Many U.S. schools are not prepared for bioterrorism attacks, outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases or pandemics, despite the recent 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic that resulted in more than 18,000 deaths worldwide, Saint Louis University researchers say.

The study, led by Terri Rebmann, Ph.D., associate professor at SLU's Institute for Biosecurity, surveyed about 2000 nurses working in elementary, middle and high schools across 26 states. The findings reveal that only 48 percent of schools address pandemic preparedness and only 40 percent of schools have updated their plans since the 2009 H1N1 pandemic that spread illnesses in more than 214 countries.

"There is a lot of research that shows influenza spreads quickly in schools because it's a communicable disease and kids interact closely," Rebmann said. "Schools need to have a written pandemic plan in order to be prepared to put interventions into place quickly when an event occurs."

The study suggests that every school should review and update its pandemic preparedness plan annually and address gaps in infectious disease emergency planning. Schools also need to coordinate these plans with the local and regional disaster response agencies, and organize disaster drills and exercises, including holding drills that involve an infectious disease scenario.

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Terri Rebmann, Ph.D., is an associate professor at SLU’s Institute for Biosecurity. (Credit: Image courtesy of Saint Louis University Medical Center)
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Gord4356

(1 post)
1. Adverse Reactions to H1N1 Vaccine
Fri Sep 14, 2012, 11:26 AM
Sep 2012

I was with the Canadian Military in 2009, and was ordered to get the H1N1 shot (AREPANRIX by GSK GlaxoSmithKline). I had an adverse reaction to the vaccine which included PERMANENT neurological, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, and respiratory symptoms. It's difficult to believe but I now have dizziness, vertigo, irregular heart rythyms, shortness of breath, muscle weakness and pain, and numbness moving up my body, to name but a few of the serious symptoms. I went from special forces fit to that of a 70 year old in a matter of days. Please choose wisely if you do plan to have your next flu shot or vaccination. You may also ask your doctor and other Heath care workers if they will be getting these shots. My doctor flat out said "no way".

kickysnana

(3,908 posts)
3. Welcome, there is a group here that might be non-hospitable
Fri Sep 14, 2012, 01:19 PM
Sep 2012

They are vaccine purists, vaccines can do no wrong and if you are against them you are a murderer but the majority here are somewhere else in their opinions.

My grandfather never recovered from a Swine Flu Shot in the 1960's and I watched a gal go into anaphylactic shock seconds after a DPT shot in 1970.

I also tried and failed to keep the LymeRix vaccine off the market because the surface protein they used for the vaccine caused an incurable auto-immune reaction in up to 25% of the people. An available genetic test would have prevented those people from receiving the vaccine but of course that did not happen. Salesmen were selling it to doctors as a cure for Lyme Disease here in Minnesota.

A relative of a in-law worked for the DNR and got the first shot and was sick for three days and when he got the second he had a massive heart attack that left him unable to continue working plus the arthritis. Nobody ever studied those folks to see what went wrong so of course they would keep engineering vaccines in the same manner and probably have the same results.

I really prefer to only have only medicines that were on the market before 1993. I have 26 prescriptions a day and about 6 others as needed so I have to pay attention to side effects, interactions and effectiveness.

So I told my kids that vaccines have saved lives but they also have taken them so they should educate themselves before they got their kids vaccinated, not to depend on their doctor to know any of the above. The kids have had most vaccines.

uppityperson

(115,674 posts)
5. There is also a group here that would be highly supportive of never getting a vaccine, ever.
Fri Sep 14, 2012, 07:30 PM
Sep 2012

They are anti-vaccine purists, vaccines can only do wrong and if you are for them you are a murderer but the majority here are somewhere else in their opinions.

My doctor gets flu vaccine and H1N1 also. He understands, as most of us on DU do, that while for the majority it will help, there are always some who react wrongly or for whom a particular vaccine or medicine is not right.

NickB79

(19,113 posts)
6. You tried to prevent the Lymerix vaccine? What a shame
Mon Sep 17, 2012, 02:15 PM
Sep 2012

A friend's mother of mine suffered with Lyme disease for years, and saw her symptoms improve following her vaccination regiment.

What's your basis for claiming that 25% of recipients had auto-immune reactions to Lymerix? The FDA and CDC found no connection: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyme_disease#Vaccination

Supported by some patient advocacy groups, a number of class-action lawsuits were filed against GlaxoSmithKline, alleging the vaccine had caused these health problems. These claims were investigated by the FDA and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), who found no connection between the vaccine and the autoimmune complaints.[110]

kickysnana

(3,908 posts)
8. Peer reviewed testing done on the surface protien they used...
Mon Sep 17, 2012, 09:41 PM
Sep 2012

only one protein does this there are three that could be used. There were several vaccines in the pipeline but Glaxco won the brass ring but there was money and professional conflicts of interest at the FDA. One of them launched at jihad at Quack watch against the Lyme community. Canada courts disbanded Quack watch up there when they tried to form a group up there. Nasty people, not dong anyone any service because their information is lies. Canadian Lyme Disease Association has the most up to date, sources sited information on the LymeRix story and a lot of other things.

Lyme was one of the first genomes patented and that also restricted research. The people that held the patent consulted with Glaxo. Having the patent does not mean you have any idea how to make a vaccine.

There is no way this vaccine could cure Lyme. I would assume it was other treatment that your friends mother was receiving that knocked down the Lyme or her case went tertiary which means the some time in the future her immune system takes a big hit it will be back, like shingles.

Since they had no tests at that time accurate enough to prove who did and did not have Lyme how could they know they made a vaccine that worked?

 

SheilaT

(23,156 posts)
4. For some years now there has been a steady drum beat of these kinds of stories.
Fri Sep 14, 2012, 03:04 PM
Sep 2012

Almost every single year we get the panicked, "OMG! This year's flu epidemic is going to be 1918 all over again!" And when that doesn't happen we get many stories about how we just barely dodged the bullet, and that it is simply inevitable that there will be a repeat of 1918. Inevitable.

I constantly argue that such is not the case. To begin with, many, many social conditions that contributed directly to the terrible 1918 epidemic simply do not exist now. The main thing is that we are not at war with thousands of young conscripts who'd grown up on isolated farms and never really been exposed to many diseases now crammed into less than sanitary military camps. In addition, simple hand-washing is far, far more common than it was when many people did not have running water in their homes. For the most part we have clean water to drink. Overall, our general level of health is better.

Personally, I don't get flu shots. I think it was three years ago when the last major flu panic was out there and there was a move to require everyone, especially in certain job areas, to get a shot, I politely declined. The 22 year old who was having me sign the waiver looked quite blank when I told her that I've lived through the past two major type A influenza epidemics (the Asian flu in 1957, and the Hong Kong flu in 1968) and I'm thinking I did get flu the first time around. Meaning, like all the older people in 1918, I'm now immune to type A flu. I've probably had all three subtypes, because I know I got flu a few times while growing up. Since then, not at all.

Meanwhile, schools can do a lot of good, common-sense measures. Start by making hand-washing a basic. Encourage students to stay home when sick. Too many students and employees work while sick, which is not a good thing.

I also contend that if we ever have a world-wide death-dealing pandemic, it's going to come from some place we're not even looking at.

NickB79

(19,113 posts)
7. We DIDN'T dodge a bullet with the last flu pandemic
Mon Sep 17, 2012, 02:17 PM
Sep 2012
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-25/swine-flu-deaths-may-have-been-15-times-higher-than-reported.html

The 2009 swine flu pandemic may have killed 15 times more people globally than reported at the time, according to the first study to estimate the death toll.

The H1N1 influenza virus probably killed about 284,500 people worldwide, compared with 18,500 deaths reported to the World Health Organization, researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wrote in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases today. More than half the deaths may have been in southeast Asia and Africa, compared with 12 percent of officially reported fatalities, the authors wrote.


Not 1918-level deaths, not even close to it, but still pretty damn bad.

My family gets our flu vaccinations annually.
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