Has anyone heard of anyone coming down with it near them? My brother told me today that someone had been diagnosed with it in his building,in Sydney.

We've got seven cases here in my US state. There isn't much drama about it here just yet. I think there's more concern about a few months from now, when the weather in the US turns cold again and the strain has a chance to mutate.

Be sure and stay as far away as possible from the stuff, Roos.

In the NYC area, they've been closing schools for a week each time a student or faculty member comes down with it. And, there have been a couple of deaths.

I'm not any more worried than I am with any other flu. It seems to be most dangerous for the very young, very old, and those with compromised immune systems. It wouldn't be pleasant to have, but I see no reason to panic.

We have had a number of people tested but no positives.

Apparently vaccine is expected to be available around about October. http://www.ajc.com/health/content/shared-auto/healthnews/cdc-/627562.html

Apparently our local government pre-ordered enough of the vaccine, to be delivered as soon as it is available, to vaccinate the entire population. We also have enough Tamiflu to treat everyone too. Perhaps overkill, I am not sure. Part of the thinking is that in such a small community it will affect a higher percentage of the population if it gets hold than in most places.

Health officials are saying that people might need three flu shots this year--one for the regular seasonal flu, and two shots of the vaccine for swine flu (if it is available).

There are sporadic cases popping up all around here, but the only clusters appear to be in schools. They really have no clear idea of how many people might be affected/infected because most cases are mild and do not require hospitalization or even testing to confirm the illness.

They are now discouraging people with mild flu symptoms from suddenly showing up in ER's and doctor's offices and suggesting, instead, that people intially contact their doctors by phone or e-mail. Unless one has underlying medical problems--respiratory disease, diabetes, heart disease, obesity, etc.--they are saying that no medical treatment (including Tamaflu) is really needed for a mild case of swine flu.

I'm not overly concerned at the moment, but I am worried about the spread of a possibly more virulent strain of swine flu during the regular flu season next winter. Because I noticed that the drug stores near me immediately sold out of face masks and hand sanitizers when the swine flu first surfaced, I did buy a box of face masks online, just to have onhand for next winter in case there is a serious epidemic. I'll probably never use them, but I have them should I need them. I felt a little silly about purchasing them, because I've never used a face mask before, nor ever thought about using one. But, should it prove to be a very bad flu season next winter, I know they will be harder to get and I might be glad to have them.

I normally carry a small bottle of hand sanitizer in my purse and use it after I am in public places, especially during the regular flu season. So, I've been cleaning my hands with sanitizer more regularly these days after going into stores, offices, the library, etc. just to be on the safe side. And the first thing I always do, after getting home, is to wash my hands. These measures must generally work because I can't remember the last time I even had a cold.

They think that people over the age of 50 might have some immunity to this particular strain of swine flu because of the types of flu that circulated in the general population prior to 1957. Most of the people currently contracting swine flu do appear to be young, although both of the people who died in NYC were over 50. For some reason, obesity also appears to be a factor in how severely this particular strain of swine flu affects one--more obese people seem to require hospitalization for it.

So, right now, I'm not worried. But, who knows how this swine flu virus might mutate or change during the winter months?

In this neck of the woods we're about to get into the West Nile virus season, where the threat is from mosquitoes. As Gilda Radner used to say, "It's always something".

We have the first confirmed case here locally, it was only a matter of time. They estimate that it will spread far faster here than in larger areas as we are in each others pockets.

Apparently the person with the flu acted responsibly so hopefully the risk isn't too high just now.

We have only 50 odd cases and all Primary schools and below are closed for two weeks till the end of term. This may drastically affect our planned Summer School Programme and is a bit OTT, but I suppose in view of the SARS business it is better to be safe. All our Primary teachers are really fed up as they have to prepare lessons for emailing to each student and mark and send it back as well as all the homework and all the end of term stuff like test marking and reports.Ah well.

I am going to Cancun and an island in the Gulf of Mexico on June 27th. I am not concerned at all about the swine flu. I believe that mass media sensationalization has made the matter much worse than it is.

The biggest problem we have in Tasmania is that three paramedics have come down with swine flu and another ten are being tested for it. One of the paramedics managed to, before he had showed any symptoms, pass it along to one of his patients.

we've had several cases here in Texas,but we just got our first confimed cas here in Smith County

A fourth grade girl at my daughter's school died from it a couple weeks ago. She apparently had another type of infection along with it and wasn't at school the week she would have been contagious. However, a few more students also became ill and it was believed they had it too; but school is out now, so I'm not sure what's become of that.
It seems to me the school reacted properly, didn't panic and close. There are many cases of it around here, but only a very few have been particularly bad, and only this one death in this county. Only 6 in the San Francisco Bay Area. So I'm not too concerned.
It was a little difficult explaining to my 6 year old what happened though. She was worried that the girl was a friend of hers (who had actually just moved away), and wanted to know if it could happen to her too. I just kept telling her if we're careful, and wash our hands a lot, etc, then she wouldn't have anything to worry about. I didn't really know what else to tell her, she understands about death and all, that's why she was concerned.

The UK has recorded its first fatality from swine flu. A woman in Scotland who had other underlying health problems. We now have 1261 confirmed cases of the disease.

My nephew is in Mexico at the moment with his church. They go every summer to help out. Almost got canceled though due to this swine flu.

We have just had the first two confirmed deaths this week. The first a 23year old college student in the Cape and two days later a man in his 50's in Natal. Only hope it stops there.

well here it is......was tested for swine flu yesterday, the say it'll take a few days to get results
bummer

Thanks Sue, I'm taking the meds prescribed and hope it comes back neg.
I'll be sure to keep you updated.

First confirmed death here in The Netherlands too, a 17 year old boy. Looks like the pandemic has started for real.

Where I live in South East London is one the worst hit areas in the UK. Several people I know have had it, including a few at my children's nursery and it is spreading fast. Thankfully, so far, all cases I know of have been relatively mild.

still awaiting test results, but according to our news, they're predicting 40% of U.S. population could contact the H1N1 virus.......wonder whats next?

Just to keep things in perspective, ordinary 'flu/pneumonia is responsible for 56,000 deaths annually in the USA alone, according to the Centres for Disease Control Prevention, a much larger number than the 4,379 swine 'flu cases and 46 deaths worldwide reported by the WHO (World Health Organization) in May of this year.

I know it`s still fewer deaths than by the normal flu but that WHO site is really out of date MadMags ( I noticed you did mention that it was only quoting figures to May). It states 1 infection in Australia and as far as I`m aware there have been at least 10 deaths ,with a surge in deaths expected this month. I expect the infections and deaths stated for other countries to be similarly out of date.

Every time I visit the local hospital there are more signs warning people not to enter without a mask if they have any symptoms and the local schools have signs outside stating that cases of swine flu have been reported by students.

Edited to add........The link to a map on that WHO page is up to date and states 70 deaths in Australia.

Roos, I'm sure the figures should all be adjusted upward, albeit it slightly. My point is though, in the time period Australia had ten deaths due to swine 'flu, how many did it have due to ordinary 'flu? I'm wondering if this panic/concern is media driven, as we never hear about a death due to ordinary flu on the news, yet the media gives a worrying blow by blow description of every additional person found with symptoms of swine 'flu. Is the media responsible for our worry?

As a note, I recently crossed the border from Nicaragua to Costa Rica. A health official boarded the bus, and gave a 25 minute speech on how many people had died in the States, and elsewhere, not to use other people's cellphones, wash your hands often, yadda yadda. Four people have died of swine 'flu in Costa Rica, and 7 in Nicaragua. That's 11 people out of a combined population of over 10 million people. I felt his time might have been better spent warning about say, drunk driving, or using one's cellphone while driving.