U.S. recreate 1918 flu strain

by **Valarius** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 12:41 pm

Heheheh.

Oy.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3719990.stm

*makes any number of Resident Evil/28 Days Later references you can think of*

by **the_klenzer** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 3:33 pm

Swell, one more thing to kill us on the planet.

I got a flu shot for the first time ever this morning. Hope it does me some good this year.

by **-Jason-** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 8:29 pm

I never get flu shots. Hell I havent been in 6 years.

by **ProZombieHunter** » Fri Oct 08, 2004 11:21 am

Don't worry about the flu. It's the fucking flu.

by **Ivan** » Fri Oct 08, 2004 12:36 pm

Don't worry about the flu. It's the fucking flu.

Huh?

Flu strains have been responsible for an incredible amount of death across the globe. Not just in the history books, but in the current news as well.

Unless I mis-understood what you were saying.

by **Rien** » Sat Oct 09, 2004 12:48 am

Ivan wrote:
Don't worry about the flu. It's the fucking flu.

Huh?

Flu strains have been responsible for an incredible amount of death across the globe. Not just in the history books, but in the current news as well.

Unless I mis-understood what you were saying.

Acording to the CDC, Flu deaths average around 36,000 a year just in the US alone. Relatively small number considering the population but its still crazy to think that 36,000 people die yearly of something that really to most people just ruins your weekend.

by **Quasar665** » Sat Oct 09, 2004 3:35 am

Rien wrote:
Ivan wrote:
Don't worry about the flu. It's the fucking flu.

Huh?

Flu strains have been responsible for an incredible amount of death across the globe. Not just in the history books, but in the current news as well.

Unless I mis-understood what you were saying.

Acording to the CDC, Flu deaths average around 36,000 a year just in the US alone. Relatively small number considering the population but its still crazy to think that 36,000 people die yearly of something that really to most people just ruins your weekend.

For the most part yes.. the 1918 strain that they have recreated was a pandemic though... it killed far more than that. This thing was "The Flu" capital letters, big bad ass boss man version of 'the flu'.

by **Matias** » Sat Oct 09, 2004 9:47 am

ProZombieHunter wrote:Don't worry about the flu. It's the fucking flu.

Precisely. It's not deadly to americans, because we get it all the fucking time. You've gotta have one hell of a weak immune system or one bad case of the flu to die from it. I've had it so many times that I developed an immunity.
Although the times i've had it have had a lasting effect on my digestive system; I can't eat steak without...well..you know.

by **jamoni** » Sat Oct 09, 2004 10:04 am

How is killing 36,000 people a year not deadly? And the reason we do better than third world countries is that we eat better, have better health care, and can afford to stay home from work or out of the fields until we get better. Pneumonia, dehydration, these are killers in a survival situation.

by **bgaesop** » Sat Oct 09, 2004 3:14 pm

Oh this is awesome, I need a disease related news article for health class, and what do you guys show me? I loves you guys, especially because now I can surf here and claim it's for school!

by **will** » Sat Oct 09, 2004 8:51 pm

so if i read that article correctly they MADE that version of the flu...

is there a place we can go to slap people who do this sort of thing?

by **bgaesop** » Sat Oct 09, 2004 9:14 pm

Only if you remember to wash your hands.

by **Quasar665** » Sun Oct 10, 2004 10:03 am

Will - this is the problem with science for the sake of science. The average flu is bad enough, but they have to manipulate it to recreate a far deadlier strain from the past that killed more people than died in WW1.

by **will** » Sun Oct 10, 2004 12:47 pm

yep, why are smart people so stupid?

by **bgaesop** » Sun Oct 10, 2004 1:58 pm

They're not stupid, they're unwise.

In DnD terms, High Int, low Wis.

And no Cha.

by **jamoni** » Sun Oct 10, 2004 2:03 pm

Yeah, I'm applying for a government grant to develop a nanovirus that eats plastic and turns it into molecular acid, to see if plastic that has been turned into molecular acid by a nanovirus would be more dangerous than normal plastic. Pure science.

by **Jeff** » Sun Oct 10, 2004 4:39 pm

Someone with a PhD explain this to me, because I sure as hell don't get it:

(re)Creating a deadly virus is helpful to the human race.... how? Yelling at Iran for attempting to defend itself by bulilding nuclear weapons seems like a moot point when our own people are creating incredibly potent and deadly viruses that can cause far more harm than a half dozen low-yield bombs.

by **bgaesop** » Sun Oct 10, 2004 4:50 pm

That's the viewpoint I've always held. Sorry I can't be more helpful, I don't have my PHD yet.

by **will** » Sun Oct 10, 2004 6:32 pm

yes jeff i agree. why is it the world seems so unable to cope with small countries having WMD when the US has so many and is the only nation in history to ever actually use them? (the nukes anyway).

by **Valarius** » Mon Oct 11, 2004 12:17 am

Oh this is awesome, I need a disease related news article for health class, and what do you guys show me? I loves you guys, especially because now I can surf here and claim it's for school!

I aim to please.

by **Horatio_Tyllis** » Mon Oct 11, 2004 5:29 am

They have re-created this particular strain so that they can study why it was so much more lethal than any other strain. It was probabally done in a level 3 or 4 lab somewhere, and I trust those labs to be pretty darn secure. These sorts of things happen every day guys. I agree that in theory it is stupid to tinker up an old virus because it could get out and kill a lot of people, but that's not the point. In theory it is also incredibly stupid to have on hand samples of active smallpox and ebola fever.

They have these things so they can study them, and in the case of a serious problem, they can try to do something about it.

Would you like to see the 1918 flu come back because some farmer somewhere dug up the body of a perosn who died of that strain and was buried at random? Wouldn't it be a lot nicer if in that sort of circumstance there was already means of making a vaccine that wouldn't take 3 months? or even a stockpile of it?

This is pre-emptive, not mad scientist insanity.

And if this bugs you, read up on the sort of things that they have at the CDC in Atlanta that justify level 4 containment.

http://www.cdc.gov/od/ohs/pdffiles/4th%20BMBL.pdf

Page 198 contains a nifty list of 11 Level 4 viral agents... Google the names of them and see what kind of fun stuff is in there!

by **ghostface** » Mon Oct 11, 2004 10:54 am

Thank god. I was beginning to think that I was the only one who didn't think it was a bad idea.

by **jamoni** » Mon Oct 11, 2004 5:50 pm

does that mean I can go ahead with my nanovirus?

by **Horatio_Tyllis** » Mon Oct 11, 2004 7:39 pm

Jamoni wrote:does that mean I can go ahead with my nanovirus?

Only if you give up the boat.

U.S. recreate 1918 flu strain

U.S. recreate 1918 flu strain

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