![]() |
![]() |
#1 (permalink) |
Junkie
Location: Pa, USA
|
Is SARS an issue where you live?
I got a brief overview of SARs last night in the TFP chat room (great place, btw), and also heard from a few members that had SARs as concern in their lives.
I live in PA, and it isn't really a big deal here. However, from what I have gathered so far, it seems to be a bigger problem in Canada. Given your location, do you have any SARs concerns, or aren't you worried? During a baseball game last week they showed some fans with medical masks on top of their hats, and that was a rather odd site. Are these masks becoming present in your cities and places of large public gatherings? |
![]() |
![]() |
#2 (permalink) |
Insane
|
I'm about 50 minutes from Toronto....and i live above a medical centre. I would definitely say i'm nervous about it- especially since the number of deaths is rising, not falling.
I'm sure there are many TFP members actually from Toronto, however. So i'll just shut up, and hope for the best for them. |
![]() |
![]() |
#3 (permalink) |
Psycho
Location: lost
|
I'm at a school not that far from Canada... maybe 45 minutes. I wasn't really worried, since I'm in the school bubble and don't really get all that much news from the outside world. Then the other day, we got a campus-wide email that listed a few cities up in Canada and said to find out if anyone we know had been to those cities, and if so watch for signs of the disease, which they listed. Don't know of anyone who the actually think has it, but its kinda scary. I hear lots of rumors, and few facts.
__________________
I'd rather be climbing... I approach college much like a recovering alcoholic--one day at a time... |
![]() |
![]() |
#4 (permalink) |
42, baby!
Location: The Netherlands
|
Not at all a problem here in the Netherlands. And frankly, I don't see what all the fuss is about. 95% survive the disease, and only the weak people die. People also die from the common cold, or any other disease... and that 5% mortality rate isn't that bad.
|
![]() |
![]() |
#5 (permalink) |
Getting it.
Super Moderator
Location: Lion City
|
I live in downtown Toronto and I have to say that the whole SARS thing seems rather blow out of proportion.
From what I can see it is largely contained in hospitals and health care centres and all but one can be traced back to the original case. I travel on public transit, go to work, shop, go see movies, etc. and don't give it another thought. From here it seems that news organizations are just jumping on the story and (as usual) making a mountain out of a mole hill (gotta keep the eyeballs entertained after all). The reality here is much different.
__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars." - Old Man Luedecke |
![]() |
![]() |
#6 (permalink) |
it's jam
Location: Lowerainland BC
|
I'm in Canada and I'm not worried about it. The sad thing is most people listen to rumors and such rather than getting themselves well informed. To ignore it is stupid but to get freaked out about it is equally stupid. I worry about crossing the street more than SARS.
__________________
nice line eh? |
![]() |
![]() |
#7 (permalink) |
feeling tingly
|
It's not a big problem, but since the early stages of SARS are similar to flu-like symptoms, anyone who feels sick has to second-guess exactly what it is.
I certainly hope that they can figure this out before anyone else dies.
__________________
My mom is a Diamondbacks fan. She really likes the Big Unit |
![]() |
![]() |
#9 (permalink) |
Insane
Location: The 7th Level..
|
It hasn't been a problem in my town as far as I know, but there were 2 cases in the southern area of my state. (That'd be Illinois, by the way.) I'm not freaking out about it.
__________________
Sex is not the answer. Sex is the question. Yes is the answer. |
![]() |
![]() |
#11 (permalink) |
Junkie
Location: Chicago
|
There have a been a few cases in Ohio, but there doesn't seem to be much hysteria over them. Most of the news is still focused on Hong Kong and Toronto.
__________________
"I can normally tell how intelligent a man is by how stupid he thinks I am" - Cormac McCarthy, All The Pretty Horses |
![]() |
![]() |
#13 (permalink) | |
Psycho
|
Quote:
Come to Toronto, help us out, and enjoy the most ethnically diverse city in the world. ![]() |
|
![]() |
![]() |
#14 (permalink) |
Junkie
Location: The True North Strong and Free!
|
I love in Toronto area too and I think the media and WHO has blown SARS waaaaaay out of proportion. They make it sound like people are dropping dead in the streets.
To give you and idea of the scale of it - more people have died in car accidents and more people have died of the FLU than have died of SARS. The WHO is going to destroy Toronto's economy with their unbased warnings.
__________________
"It is impossible to obtain a conviction for sodomy from an English jury. Half of them don't believe that it can physically be done, and the other half are doing it." Winston Churchill |
![]() |
![]() |
#15 (permalink) |
Getting it.
Super Moderator
Location: Lion City
|
People die from influenza, pneumonia and west nile virus in great numbers every year. SARS is just another one of many illnesses that can kill.
It should be noted that of those that have died they are mostly the very old or very sick. Their immune systems were already run down. The worst thing that can be said about SARS at this time is that it is extremely contagious. But so is the common cold.
__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars." - Old Man Luedecke |
![]() |
![]() |
#17 (permalink) |
Crazy
Location: blah
|
In Summit County in Ohio it hasn't been much of an issue I don't think. But if it ever becomes one, I'm in big trouble. I work in a place with about a hundred people in one large room at the same time, where each one of them may expect to switch computers about 5-6 times a night. Every once in a while, we'll get a disease epidemic, like the flu or whatever, that will sweep through the place.
People have been swabbing down their keyboards with little moist towelette things. I am just careful about how I use my hands after I touch the keyboard (don't touch my eyes, ears, nose, etc.) and wash my hands every break (once an hour). I get more diseases from my brothers than I get from the office. |
![]() |
![]() |
#18 (permalink) |
Upright
|
Actually, SARS doesn't seem to exhibit a strong preference amongst people of differing immunity systems. While people of frail constitutions are more likely to die from SARS- as with any other illness- SARS has killed youth who are otherwise brimming with good health. It may of course be argued that these hapless youth had immunity deficiencies that we aren't aware of; nonetheless, the current evidence suggests that susceptibility to SAR's more fatal effects is genetic, and quite distinct from the same genetic predilections that affect the immune system.
|
![]() |
![]() |
#24 (permalink) |
Junkie
Location: Sydney, Australia
|
I think one worry in Australia is that, since the war "ended", our right wing government has been cooking up a whole new batch of "asylum seeker" scares for the rednecks to get hysterical about.
Not only are malnourished 80 year old boat people supposedly all terrorists, they're now all diseased terrorists. *sigh*, and so it goes... |
![]() |
![]() |
#25 (permalink) |
Registered User
Location: Deep South Texas
|
Man--here in the Rio Grande valley that would just be an inconvience.
being just 5 miles from Mexico, it seems we have every air born alergie and mosqutio born desease in the world...... we just wash our hands a lot (every one shakes hands down here as a friendly jesture)....and use a lot of waterless hand disenfectent. |
![]() |
![]() |
#28 (permalink) |
Insane
|
People are fucked where I live. Toronto, Canada
Ladies giving birth have to leave the hospital 24 hours after the birth and if the child needs to stay they send them to sticksville out in the country! Lotsa businesses are suffering and you can be quarantined for up to 10 days if you have symptoms or contact with someone who has it. I don't know what to think about it.
__________________
Hey. Wasn't Me. |
![]() |
![]() |
#29 (permalink) |
Tilted
Location: British Columbia, Canada
|
I have to agree with mst of the posters that live in Toronto. The media, WHO, and CDC have blown the story out of porportion. The concern I feel is more of an afterthought. This does not make me avoid The Paramount movie theaters or the Eaton's Centre or any public area.
I think I'll paraphrase Jeremy Roenick (yes, he's a Flyer and it pains me, a Leafs fan, to acknowledge him) by saying that I'll just avoid the doctors right know because all they bring is bad news.
__________________
"Forty-two," said Deep Thought, with infinite majesty and calm. |
![]() |
![]() |
#31 (permalink) | |
Getting it.
Super Moderator
Location: Lion City
|
Quote:
|
|
![]() |
![]() |
#32 (permalink) | |
Tilted Cat Head
Administrator
Location: Manhattan, NY
|
Quote:
NYC Chinatown is like a ghost town... first the economy...then 9/11.. then the economy again... then SARS...
__________________
I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not. |
|
![]() |
![]() |
#33 (permalink) | |
Psycho
|
Quote:
As for being tired from walking from the waterfall, did you mean Niagara Falls, since the closest thing Toronto has to a waterfall is the Wonder Mountain at Paramunt Canada's Wonderland. |
|
![]() |
![]() |
#34 (permalink) |
Tilted
Location: Canada's capital, eh
|
It's odd that the WHO has 'quarantined' Toronto, but no other city, including Bejing.
What's up with that?
__________________
"Laughter is nothing else but a sudden glory arising from some sudden conception of some eminency in ourselves, by comparison with the infirmity of others, or with our own formerly." -Thomas Hobbes |
![]() |
![]() |
#36 (permalink) | |
Poison
Location: Canada
|
Quote:
When it first hit here, There was this huge panic....Now it seems everybody has just accepted it. |
|
![]() |
![]() |
#37 (permalink) |
Insane
Location: Toronto
|
rant
I live in Markham which is about smack dab in the middle of all this fuss. Two hospitals within 15 minutes of me are closed because of this underpowered disease with a high energy PR firm. People of asian background are the majority in Markham, and some make monthly trips back to Hong Kong to visit relatives or do business. Still, only some 20 people have died in Toronto. This is all horribly overrated. My dad who works for an American telecommunications company was not allowed to make a routine business trip down to Atlanta because the company thought he would infect the American headquarters. A Canadian womens soccer team was not allowed to travel to the states for a tournament meant to showcase the northerners talent, because of the threat of SARS. This tournament was designed so that the players could get scholarships to American universities. People in Toronto have accepted the fact that this little sickness is running around, and they have realized that the death rate is miniscule, but the rest of the world hasn't. Caution is acceptable, but the WHO is killing Toronto's travel sector by singling it out with its warnings. /rant |
![]() |
![]() |
#40 (permalink) |
Insane
Location: P.R. Mass.
|
In Boston I'm not aware of any cases in the city (or more than one or two.) Only change thus far is that I'm more inclined to give someone shiat on the train if they sneeze and opt to share their mist with their fellow travellers (you know, the ones who don't cover their mouths or make any effort to make a dent in the amount of airborne globules of spit.)
|
![]() |
Tags |
issue, live, sars |
|
|