# Laurie Garrett on lessons from the 1918 flu



## daftandbarmy (14 Apr 2011)

I was scared about earthquakes untill I saw this. Upside? Tsunamis look pretty lame in comparison.....

Laurie Garrett on lessons from the 1918 flu

In 2007, as the world worried about a possible avian flu epidemic, Laurie Garrett, author of "The Coming Plague," gave this powerful talk to a small TED University audience. Her insights from past pandemics are suddenly more relevant than ever.

http://www.ted.com/talks/laurie_garrett_on_lessons_from_the_1918_flu.html


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## PMed (15 Apr 2011)

The earthquake/tsunamis still worry me more...

That being said, as much as we want to be "prepared", in general, people don't take proper precautions until the **** has hit the fan.  Regular hand washing would cut infection rates by more than half but are people diligent about doing it?  Nah...  
She makes a lot of good points, even if the video is a tiny bit outdated.  There are procedures in place for stuff like that but you need to get "buy in" from everyone and that can be the biggest challenge.

In closing, I am just waiting for Chlamydia to become antibiotic resistant, with the amount that are dished out from pharmacies daily it is inevitable.  Now that would be interesting...


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## daftandbarmy (16 Apr 2011)

SMRT said:
			
		

> In closing, I am just waiting for Chlamydia to become antibiotic resistant, with the amount that are dished out from pharmacies daily it is inevitable.  Now that would be interesting...



I've worked for peoploe who must have escaped from one of those petri dishes....


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## mariomike (21 Apr 2011)

daftandbarmy said:
			
		

> Laurie Garrett on lessons from the 1918 flu



SARS in 2003 was enough to put a fright into me. Toronto's 850 paramedics had 1,166 potential SARS exposures, and 436 were placed in a 10-day home quarantine, which meant being isolated from those persons within the home, continuously wearing an N95 respirator, and taking their temperature twice a day. SARS-like illnesses developed in 62 Toronto paramedics, and suspected or probable SARS requiring hospitalization developed in 4 others. 
Ref: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
"Toronto Emergency Medical Services and SARS":
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol10no9/pdfs/04-0170.pdf


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## PMedMoe (21 Apr 2011)

mariomike said:
			
		

> continuously wearing an N95 respirator mask



Wonder if they were fit tested?


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## mariomike (21 Apr 2011)

PMedMoe said:
			
		

> Wonder if they were fit tested?



SARS began in March ( 2003 ) and T-EMS was ordered to do fit testing in mid June. Testing began in July.

What bothered me more than that was the way the public absolutely shunned us. It was a "working quarantine". There was no other way to remain operational. My family was fairly understanding about it, but I heard some others were not. 

It wasn't all bad. During the working quarantine, they put us on double-time. By the end of July, "SARS-fest" was hosted at the former CFB Downsview. It gave local tourism a much needed confidence boost. It was the largest outdoor ticketed event in Canadian history, and one of the largest in North American history. ( According to Wikipedia ).

It was a summer to remember:
Apr. 25 2003 
TORONTO — "Toronto Mayor Mel Lastman lashed out Thursday at the World Health Organization, telling CNN: "They don't know what they're talking about. I don't know who this group is, I never heard of them before. I'd never seen them before.":
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/20030425/lastman_cnn030425/


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