JCC The Great Australian Flu of 2018 Thread

So, some folk in Ireland and the United Kingdom have died of this Aussie flu. Death and gloom is among one of the favourite topics at JCC, that I thought we'd discuss this outbreak together.



I had my flu jab last month, so the warm arms of death have to wait awhile before I embrace them.

 

Paiging @Rylo Ken

 

Spanish influenza killed maybe 2.7% of the world's population in 1918. That's a lot though a tiny fraction of the world population killed by the Black Death in the 1340s and 50s. A flu that could kill 50 million today would be killing .7% of the population. To do an equivalent amount of damage the flu would need to kill 189 million people worldwide.

Another interesting question would be: what kind of prevalence would it take to overwhelm the healthcare delivery systems of developed countries? It wouldn't have to be all that deadly to do it, but the prevalence might have to be pretty high. And the inability to get inadequate healthcare because of overwhelming the system might drive up the death rate a bit.

 

that was my point. Nothing to get excited about. Even the worst strains of flu are treatable with modern medicine, so unless you can completely overwhelm the healthcare delivery infrastructure through sheer numbers of cases, you're not going to generate many deaths in developed countries.

 

So you agree or disagree with the idea that the flu is not going to be able to kill large numbers of people in the developed world?

 

It's a lot different from say the recent cholera epidemic in Yemen (war torn and with inadequate healthcare infrastructure) and the ebola epidemic on the west coast of Africa (fast-spreading, high death rate, extremely difficult to treat safely without adequate equipment/infrastructure).

 

"The Sinister Flu" is what the Daily Express are calling Australian flu.

 

I don't have time for such nonsense as the flu.

 

I find it's easy to get confused by all the hemagglutinin and neuraminidase subtypes. So many! Nobody knew influenza could be so complicated. Sick!

 

Between this and the jellyfish that country should be abandoned.

 

Arguably just out of spite for Kensington, Hammersmith, Putney or Shepherds Bush.

 

This has nothing on Man-Flu.

 

Have you had both?

 

I've seen completely healthy adults flat-out on their backs for days with this thing. Beware of Australians with sinister coughs.

 

(Also, actual coughs and not just Australian working class accents (aka Strayan). They sound similar but are different.)

 

I'v had a few family members go down with it and one as far as pneumonia(fully recovered now), hopefully my seemingly high immunity to respiratory illness keeps up.

 

Feels like you're just making excuses for the squad that "turned up" (but didn't turn up) to the Ashes this year.

 

The heck?? The Sinister Flu of 2017 just wrapped up and I thought I could FINALLY take the baby out in public. IS IT BACK or did it never leave???

 

It's a UK thing. Like falling apart in test cricket or good manners.

 

Ohhh that is okay then.

I still am a little worried I'll fail the citizenship exam (if they ever look at my application.... 6 months and counting!) because I mix up all the cricket stuff.