Health Report
And about, walking around and talking. It's near miraculous how long it takes for someone whose had a cardiac operation to heal up and be at a state where they can function again. When she had this done the last time it took a month. It was a week for the chest incision to just look presentable, this time it was exposed on the second day! There's a lot of gratitude let me tell you, in this family. A lot...
In other news, the first instances of bird flu have been found in Sudan. Typically the next pandemic doesn't register on my radar screen at all, but this is hitting closer to home - or more specifically closer to my loved ones. Any epidemiologists in the house?
Comments
Hope your sister is continuing to do well with her recovery. Reading between the lines I gather she has some birth defect of the heart? The better word for it escapes me at the moment. As far as the whole bird flu goes, I think it's a bag of hot air, similar to SARS. Remember less than 10,000 people got sick, and less than 1000 people died worldwide of SARS, which was localized to southeast Asia. Birdflu currently spans from southeast asia to eastern europe and now I guess northern africa, and less than 500 people have died from it. Compare to 36,000 deaths from standard flu yearly in the U.S. alone. There are massive numbers (millions) of poultry dying or culled due to the virus, which I guess could cause economic disruption to Sudan, but otherwise I wouldn't spend time worrying about it.
Posted by: B_Cleereman | April 21, 2006 7:59 AM
not an epidemiologist, exactly, but i've read about it, and it seems that the receptors for "bird flu," or the bird flu that would actually infect humans - which will only happen after another couple of mutations in its genome - are located very deep down in our lungs. This has caused some actual epidemiologists to speculate that maybe this whole bird flu scare won't turn into the pandemic everyone feared. http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/312/5772/379
they just had their first case in scotland, too...
Posted by: germ | April 21, 2006 8:48 AM
If I may, the leap from birds to people will happen not by accident but, in an echo of the BSE or mad-cow scenario, through extended contact and consumption. True it's a few mutations away from the leap to homo sapiens but now is the time to doing our best to understand and contain the disease - while it's still manageable. This is not a question of panic, but prevention and government accountability.
Posted by: Lo Fat Mo | April 21, 2006 12:57 PM
Dude, you give her my love. She's special. Unlike some of the other ratty members of your family. i.e. You and that brother of yours. Hopefully she'll be up and tipping cows, or in this case Sudanese brothers soon to claim they have the birdflu, in no time.
Posted by: phatmunkay | April 21, 2006 1:48 PM
I couldn't agree more, Doctor. I was just attempting to assuage your fears regarding your loved ones with a little scientific mumbo jumbo. And rest assured that epidemiologists everywhere are trying their darndest to understand H5N1 as quickly as possible. The government, on the other hand......
Posted by: germ | April 21, 2006 3:32 PM
Phatmunkay, thanks for the vote of support, I'll make sure it gets to her.
germ, there is nothing I love more than scientific mumbo jumbo, ask B_Cleereman.
Posted by: Lo Fat Mo | April 22, 2006 4:08 PM
He he. Man, I hope you love 7x16 on-site coverage too, because I've heard some nasty rumors in the air.
Posted by: B_Cleereman | April 22, 2006 8:41 PM
Best wishes to your sister and your family as she recovers.
Posted by: Alex | April 23, 2006 2:30 AM
Thanks Alex, it's appreciated, certainly more than the threats from Senor Cleereman!
Posted by: Lo Fat Mo | April 23, 2006 7:14 PM