Panic much? Madison Co, AL schools (county wide) shut down for the rest of the week.

[SunnyD]

My poor wife - she's stuck with 6 kids (our 4 + the 2 she baby sits during the week) at home for the next two days, all because the county decided to shut down ALL the schools county-wide because of two unconfirmed possible cases of this swine flu. The school (not the one my kids go to) was recommended to be closed for the next week as well.

Seriously? This is getting beyond ridiculous.

 

[Raduque]

Wow, and I thought it was being paranoid that they closed one high school here (out of six) because one kid was suspected of having swine flu.

 

[Newbian]

Pics of wife?

 

[Auggie]

I wonder if they shut down schools and the like back in 1918.

Either way, what are the schools going to do when Flu cases persist for months and months?

 

[Phoenix86]

Fort Worth ISD is closed, but at least they have a confirmed case... Pretty much all extra activities have been canceled in schools in the metroplex.

 

[IronWing]

Sounds like administrators stretching the budget.

 

[SunnyD]

I should mention they've also go so far as to cancel ALL state-wide scholastic athletic events for the next week or two as well.

 

[sao123]

1918 here we come.

 

[krylon]

Originally posted by: Newbian
Pics of wife?

 

[Crusty]

There was one student here in Austin that was tested for the flu and the results aren't even in yet.... yet the school is closed until May 11th!!

 

[mugs]

Better to be cautious than to ignore the possible danger of spreading the flu between hundreds of kids.

 

[A5]

It's only like 2 weeks until graduation there isn't it? I went to school up there and somehow this doesn't surprise me at all.

 

[Newbian]

Originally posted by: mugs
Better to be cautious than to ignore the possible danger of spreading the flu between hundreds of kids.

Considering how long the people can be sick for does a few days make any sense?

 

[FelixDeCat]

We have several districts in north Texas with either county wide or school closures. This is a nationwide phenomenon. I say better to get the "overkill" out of the way now than be sorry later.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

13,000 americans died from the regular flu last year. what is the big deal?

 

[Newbian]

Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler
13,000 americans died from the regular flu last year. what is the big deal?

Just something new and people think 2 or 3 days is long enough to ensure your kids are safe. :laugh:

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler
13,000 americans died from the regular flu last year. what is the big deal?

I feel the same way. I think the big thing they're worried about is that this strain has never been seen before, hence they don't know how virulent it is, what effects it has, and potentially how well the immune system will cope with it.

The flu kills some 36,000 people world-wide every year. What makes this one so different, who knows.

 

[jhayx7]

Originally posted by: SunnyD
My poor wife - she's stuck with 6 kids (our 4 + the 2 she baby sits during the week) at home for the next two days, all because the county decided to shut down ALL the schools county-wide because of two unconfirmed possible cases of this swine flu. The school (not the one my kids go to) was recommended to be closed for the next week as well.

Seriously? This is getting beyond ridiculous.

Sheesh. I live in the 'ham and didn't hear about this

 

[phoenix79]

I was hoping they would have closed UAH so I wouldn't have had to come to work today

 

[racolvin]

pfft .. close UAH? Only in the event of nuclear war

 

[phoenix79]

Yeah, I know... But at the first sign of it on campus I think they'll have to fall to pressure. Not like this means anything, its the damn flu FFS

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Newbian

Originally posted by: mugs
Better to be cautious than to ignore the possible danger of spreading the flu between hundreds of kids.

Considering how long the people can be sick for does a few days make any sense?

It's long enough for people to start exhibiting symptoms - then you just keep the sick kids at home.

Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler
13,000 americans died from the regular flu last year. what is the big deal?

That's a lot of people who died. We put a lot of effort into slowing the spread of the flu with vaccines; without those vaccines and the efforts to prevent its spread, there would likely be a lot more people dying from the flu. We don't have a vaccine for this new flu, and it could be more deadly than the regular flu.

Yeah, maybe there is nothing to worry about. Maybe it will be a dud. But we wouldn't know if that's true or not until bad things happen. Looking at it from the perspective of a school administrator, do you want to guess wrong in this case?

 

[Queasy]

Now WHO says that the Swine/Mexican/Undocumented Virus/Porcine Caused Disaster/H1N1 flu isn't as bad as the run of the mill flu.

As the World Health Organization raised its infectious disease alert level Wednesday and health officials confirmed the first death linked to swine flu inside U.S. borders, scientists studying the virus are coming to the consensus that this hybrid strain of influenza -- at least in its current form -- isn't shaping up to be as fatal as the strains that caused some previous pandemics.

In fact, the current outbreak of the H1N1 virus, which emerged in San Diego and southern Mexico late last month, may not even do as much damage as the run-of-the-mill flu outbreaks that occur each winter without much fanfare.

That hasn't stopped ole Joe from freaking out though

Vice president Joe Biden said today he would tell his family members not to use subways in the U.S. and implied schools should be shuttered as the swine flu outbreak spread to 11 states and forced school closures amid confirmation of the first U.S. death.

"I wouldn't go anywhere in confined places now," Biden said when asked whether he would advise family members to use public transportation.

Biden made his comments during a brief interview on NBC's "Today" show during an interview with Matt Lauer.

"I would tell members of my family, and I have, I wouldn't go anywhere in confined places now. It's not that it's going to Mexico, it's you're in a confined aircraft when one person sneezes it goes all the way through the aircraft. That's me. I would not be, at this point, if they had another way of transportation suggesting they ride the subway. "

 

[RoloMather]

Originally posted by: krylon

Originally posted by: Newbian
Pics of the kids?

Fixed

 

[Red Squirrel]

LOL wow. May as well cancel every school across the country in case of terrorist attack, school shooting, carbon monoxide leak, fire, etc... these are all things that could happen without warning and kill people.