Swine flu outbreak ‘at critical stage’
Thursday 26th November 2009, 2:59PM GMT.
What’s all the fuss about? Nine-month-old Malo Dodd patiently awaits his turn at a busy St Peter’s Community Centre yesterday as parents queued for swine flu inoculations for their children Picture: JON GUEGAN (00840099)
THE swine flu outbreak is now at a ‘critical’ stage, the Island’s Medical Officer of Health has declared.
Speaking just over two weeks since the vaccination programme was launched, Dr Rosemary Geller said that Health chiefs would discover within a week whether the
Island faced a major outbreak.
The number of Islanders struck down by the disease, which has killed more than 200 people in the UK, has soared during the past month.
Last week 242 people were diagnosed with the virus – more than during the whole of the period from June to the end of October.
Read the full story in the Jersey Evening Post. Click here for subscription details. Individual editions are also available online.
Travel
To, from and around the Island
Airport Arrivals & Departures
Harbours Arrivals & Departures
Bus Information & Timetables
JOIN US ON...
Facebook and Twitter
Follow us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Got a story? Get in touch
KIT 4 CLUBS
Win a share of £10,000
2012 is the year of the London Olympics and to celebrate this great event the Jersey Evening Post, in association with sponsors Ogier is giving all sporting clubs a chance to win a share of £10,000.
This is Jersey
Jersey Evening Post
Useful links
Im getting sick of this, how can 242 out of 100.000 be critical its not even 1% of the population. I am never going to believe a word that this woman says or the other hysterical people freaking out about it. GET A GRIP.
Another point i have to make is supposedly half of the people ill had already had the Tamiflu anti virus a week before symptoms started.
We have had not one person from my work of 60 people ill with the virus. Its all Hype over nothing.
I will end this by asking if its critical i want them to prove it with numbers on the islnd killed, ill and recovered.
Report abuse
Is this the stage where we all turn into zombies? I suppose at least that way we could find better people to run our government…
Report abuse
James E:
Just thank God that you have not had the ‘flu – yet.
Come back and tell us how you felt, and what medicines you used to get better.
Report abuse
The disease, which has killed more than 200 people in the UK.
Yet politians are reponsible for 231 UK troop fatalities by sending them to war. SNAFU!!
Report abuse
Typical media spin to justify her decisions and that of H&SS.! How many of those diagnosed were really seasonal flu or post vaccine syndrome,after all it is ” winter.”
Report abuse
So far we have had a few hundred cases.
As far as we know, and I am sure we would have been told, there is no one in intensive care with swine flu.
No one in Jersey has died of swine flu.
The Health Department has spent hundreds of thousands of pounds and are treating it like the Black Death.
Report abuse
1# James e,
Quite agree with you, don’t forget when they tested all the cases only 50% were actually found to be swine flu, then they did as USA etc and decided that they would no longer count the REAL cases, anyone with swine flu symptoms would be classed as having swine flu.
This idea has now been investigated thoroughly in the USA by the CBS investigative reporter Sharyl Attkisson who has contacted all 50 States in order to find out exactly how many cases anded up really being swine flu, and I quote:
•In Florida, 83 percent of specimens that were presumed to be swine flu were negative for all flu when tested!
•In California, 86 percent of suspected H1N1 specimens were not swine flu or any flu; only 2 percent were confirmed swine flu.
•In Alaska, 93 percent of suspected swine flu specimens were negative for all flu types; only 1 percent was H1N1 flu.
Just goes to show.
Report abuse
If the Swine Flu vaccine is anything like normal flu then people are being injected with a small part of the virus……could this be the reason there have been more cases since you started the island-wide program to innoculate everyone !!!!
Report abuse
Pip Clement says we have spent hundreds of thousands on swine flu. I have it on good authority that this is something of an underestimation. The States have released millions to support Rosemary Geller’s hysterical crusade. We need to be asking for the figures of just how much exactly this has cost the Jersey tax payer, that’s you and me folks.
Oh and while we’re at it let’s compare the vastly expensive Jersey approach with Guernsey, they’ve had a much lower key and consequently financially more modest way of going about things but don’t seem to have any more cases or any worse problems than we do.
Report abuse
Beranrd #2
Most flu strains kill people. I know a lot of people that have been infected with swine flu but it was not a serious problem. Even in the health deceived US a lot of doctors are not prescribing Tamiflu unless there are serious symptoms.
I also have a friend that camedown with it severely. You cannot have a blanket approach and doctors need to evaluate each case rationally.
Report abuse
#8 BS Deluxe: ‘could this be the reason there have been more cases since you started the island-wide program to innoculate everyone !!!!’
No.
Report abuse
could we also have a number of people who recovered from the virus with no complications??????? stop scaring people with headlines like this one!!!!!!!!!!
Report abuse
Actually #11 yes the vaccine manufacturers even admit that a vaccine induced virus can spread from the vaccinated to the unvaccinated.
Report abuse
I would ask james e to reread the article. By “critical” the M.O.H meant that the outbreak would be controlled or would be uncontrollable and would know within the next week. Her article is very clear and easy to understand.
Having just recovered from Swine Flu (Tamiflu helped a lot!)I can assure anyone who has not had it, it is very unpleasant. Yes we could on Jersey have done what Guernsey did, I.E.nothing, but the cost to the wider economy through increased sickness and Hospital admissions , would have been enormous. Also if just one person dies because our Authorities have done nothing, what price do you put on that life? Come on everyone,lets get real.
Public Health here on Jersey( and the Health Minister) should be congratulated on their swift handling of this potentially very nasty crisis.
Report abuse
I have also just recovered from Swine Flu my entire household got it after a trip to A&E on an unrelated matter. A&E were treating suspected swine flu cases next to normal emergency admissions. This I believe is down to the fact that many cannot afford a trip to their GP. My only critisism of the handling of this outbreak is that they should have followed the UK approach and had ‘flu friends’ go and collect tamiflu instead of having those infected go into the surgeries and spread the infection wider. what does cheese me off is the ill-informed, unhelpful churlish comments abounding on this site slaging off the health authorities for taking this outbreak as seriously as they can.
Report abuse
Sorry no 14 but where is the crisis.!As usual the States of Jersey threw money in haste,due to recommendations by Civil Servants.I agree that we should have all financial and other figures to hand to justify the taxpayers expense,as well as the cost of the staff used to vaccinate the general public.
Report abuse
Re: james e (1) and Pip Clement (6). Could not agree more; we are being fed a misrepresentation of the facts.
Swine Flu is nasty, but so is seasonal flu and yes people die. What we are not being told that the statistical significance of the current outbreak of Swine Flu is. Currently the treat to my own premature mortality is Swine Flu 1: Motorist 180.
Re: BS Deluxe (8). Yes inoculation caries risks, just like crossing the road. Is it a risk worth taking?
Report abuse
The amount of resources that are available to spend on health care are not infinite.
The fact is that the island is facing a few very difficult years when the money we have spent combating swine flu could have been better spent on diseases that actually kill islanders.
Report abuse
Er isnt influenza always rife at this time of year?
Bernard we already have a zombie nation..
Report abuse
#13 Paul Mac
The vaccine induces an immune response in the person receiving it, not a ‘virus’ or swine flu infection. Since the person receiving the vaccine is never infected with it, they cannot spread it to others.
I’d be interested to see this information on the drug company’s website. Can you provide a link? Thank you in advance.
Report abuse
#20 try theflucase.com it in there some where. sorry i read stuff then can’t find it later.
Report abuse
Michael 11
Care to back your answer up with any relevant facts?
Report abuse
#21 Paul Mac
This is Jane Burgermeister’s website, which is perhaps slightly less than impartial.
You said that ‘the vaccine manufacturers even admit that a vaccine induced virus can spread from the vaccinated to the unvaccinated’. Are there no other sources?
#22 BS Deluxe
Certainly. Please see http://www.patient.co.uk/doctor/Vaccines-and-Immunological-Products.htm for information on how vaccines work.
Report abuse
“In a letter sent by the HPA on July 29, neurologists have been asked to monitor closely any cases of GBS as the vaccine is rolled out.
It alerts them to the use of a swine flu vaccine in the US in 1976, which was followed by more than 500 cases of GBS, including 25 deaths. The US programme was stopped after 10 weeks because of concerns over its safety, and the Government paid out millions of dollars in compensation to those affected.
The swine flu virus in the new vaccine is a different strain from the 1976 virus, but the possibility of an increased incidence of GBS remains a concern.”
Personally, I feel a lot safer by not taking this vaccine !
Report abuse
Two phrases seem to be absent from this discussion.
The first is “common sense”, and the second is “informed choice”.
No one in Jersey is being forced against his or her will to accept vaccination.
So, all you naysayers, use your “common sense” and then make an “informed choice” on whether or not to accept immunisation against influenza.
Report abuse
Magnolia Man (25) I think this is the first time I have ever fully agreed with a comment you have made!
Consent to having any procedure be it vaccination, medication, examination, etc needs to be sought from patients (or carers in the case of children or others who do not have capacity to consent) and that consent must be based on an informed decision being made in the absence of duress. Unfortunately in the case of swine flu I have seen evidence of duress – i.e. schools not allowing children to go in unless they take tamiflu, emotional blackmail on health staff and teachers (get vaccinated otherwise you’ll infect patients or kids), emotional blackmail on parents (just read the wording of the letters that went out prior to nursery school and school vaccinations!), and the list could go on.
I am all for people using their common sense and making informed decisions. Just remember that those decisions need to be made in the absence of duress.
To those who are currently not opting for the vaccination but feel under pressure – just remember that you can always have it at a later date, when you have had time to fully research and digest the information you require to make the decision. You cannot un-vaccinate later!
Report abuse
#25 Well said. People say they feel ‘pressured’ into having it. That’s NOT the same as being forced. Society tries to pressure me into having kids by suggesting there’s something inherently wrong with any woman that doesn’t want them, I don’t turn round and claim I’m being forced to have them!
Report abuse
Michael Neal & BS Deluxe
Although the website you posted is correct in it facts, an attenuated virus can jump from a vaccinated person to an unvaccinated person and infect them, its incredibly rare but has been recorded, so technicall BS Deluxe is right.
Saying that this vaccine isn’t an attenuated virus, if it has an small amount of the virus it tends to be an attenuated virus. Flu mutates to quickly so it doesn’t work like that and they rely more on the adjuvants side of things whilst also using previously known version of the flu as a base to invoke an immune reponse. So this vaccine won’t pass from person to person. Folks seem to be thinking this vaccine is similar to polio vaccines, its not. Once you have it you can’t get others ill, saying that I still think its a waste of time cause its can be risky in other ways, and swine flu is less harmful than regular flu and is constanly misdiagnosed, just read Linda #7.
Report abuse
I am i total also agree that it is about a choice. But i think that is where in may cases the medical and governmental influences go wild some people are thinking it could be the flu to end all flu’s and there might be 10 of thousands dead.
If the pro vaccine people on here would take time to look at
“vaccine the hidden truth” and to look at the connections between politics and big business.
I am not here to prove my self right or that i am smarter than anyone else. i have a real concern for everyone.
Report abuse
In Jersey the vaccines that have been made available are
1) Pandremix by GlaxoSmithKline – contains Squalene (believed to be responsible for Gulf war syndrome), and Thiomersal (mercury)
2) Celvapan by Baxter AG. – propagated in Vero cells (African green monkey kidney). Baxter themselves have come in for some bad press recently, i.e. putting in for a patent for swine flu vaccine a year before there was a pandemic (must be using a very good crystal ball) and allegedly somehow mixing live avian flu virus with their seasonal flu materials before distributing them across Europe.
If you wish to see the patent application here is the link to it. Date filed is on page 1 and the reference to green monkey kidney is on page 6.
http://preventdisease.com/news/pdf/BAXTER%20Patent%20Application_Monkey_Kidney_Cell_Culture.pdf
It appears that you have a choice of squalene & thiomersal, African green monkey kidney or letting your own immune system do what it’s supposed to!
I hope that someone will find this information useful. My apologies if any of it is proven to be misinformation.
Out of all the websites that claim to be impartial on the subject, the best one that I’ve stumbled across (in my opinion) is
http://www.novaccine.com/specific-vaccines/vaccine.asp?v_id=16
Report abuse
30# Wave,
Very well done you, I never thought this info would be allowed to be printed, so well done to JEP also. It’s really time the other side of this awful situation was brought into the public domain.
I really pity the poor Mother in court trying to protect her 9 year old daughter from being possibly forced to have the swine flu injection.
I would only say to the Father, please, please think again about what you are suggesting for your daughter, there’s a very informative interview by Dr Mercola with an expert Pediatrician Dr Larry Palevsky which explains all the ins and outs of vaccinations to parents, and really needs to be heard by anyone who is unsure.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/11/14/Expert-Pediatrician-Exposes-Vaccine-Myths.aspx
Report abuse
As I said this has nothing to do with race as those who would be classed as “scottish” come from a whole panoply of races (French, Jersey, Irish, English, Scottish, Portuguese etc etc etc) just the same as the “non-scots” do.
Report abuse