Mexican swine flu

[MorningGlory]

i'm wondering if there's something in the biological makeup of mexicans that makes them more susceptible (sp?) to this flu. the one death in the US was a mexican baby. like there are certain diseases black people are more prone to get?

There ARE genetic tendencies that make ethnic groups susceptible to diseases....like Type 2 diabetes; hispanics have a 50% chance of developing that; sickle cell anemia is almost exclusively confined to people of African descent and Taysachs disease is found, almost always, only in Jewish people.

My guess is that since most Americans have been vaccinated against different things, including strains of influenza, that may afford us some protection. It's just a guess but I know, for a fact, that most Mexicans never see an inoculation until they come here. I've been told by many of them that they had never seen a doctor or dentist either (in their whole lives!) until they came here. How scary is that? For them and for us.

[MorningGlory]

I think it's the proximity of the Mexicans to The Smithfield Farms (they grow and butcher pigs for resale)....that may be the big clue here.

Strange that this strain is called 'Swine Flu'; it has not been found in pigs at all. At least so far. See here:

http://www.extension.org/pages/Iowans_Urge...ine_Flu_to_Hogs

[MorningGlory]

i'm wondering if there's something in the biological makeup of mexicans that makes them more susceptible (sp?) to this flu. the one death in the US was a mexican baby. like there are certain diseases black people are more prone to get?

There ARE genetic tendencies that make ethnic groups susceptible to diseases....like Type 2 diabetes; hispanics have a 50% chance of developing that; sickle cell anemia is almost exclusively confined to people of African descent and Taysachs disease is found, almost always, only in Jewish people.

My guess is that since most Americans have been vaccinated against different things, including strains of influenza, that may afford us some protection. It's just a guess but I know, for a fact, that most Mexicans never see an inoculation until they come here. I've been told by many of them that they had never seen a doctor or dentist either (in their whole lives!) until they came here. How scary is that? For them and for us.

do other countries innoculate like we do? because other countries have people infected and no deaths. and had the baby who died here been innoculated? it makes some sense, though. maybe it's a combination of both?

Most first world countries...the U.S., Canada, New Zealand, Australia, the U.K, and most EU countries offer inoculations to their citizens. A large percentage of African nations are inoculating too. Not sure about the Middle East or the Asian countries, other than Japan; they definitely do. Most international travel requires certain inoculations as well.

[other one]

i'm wondering if there's something in the biological makeup of mexicans that makes them more susceptible (sp?) to this flu. the one death in the US was a mexican baby. like there are certain diseases black people are more prone to get?

There ARE genetic tendencies that make ethnic groups susceptible to diseases....like Type 2 diabetes; hispanics have a 50% chance of developing that; sickle cell anemia is almost exclusively confined to people of African descent and Taysachs disease is found, almost always, only in Jewish people.

My guess is that since most Americans have been vaccinated against different things, including strains of influenza, that may afford us some protection. It's just a guess but I know, for a fact, that most Mexicans never see an inoculation until they come here. I've been told by many of them that they had never seen a doctor or dentist either (in their whole lives!) until they came here. How scary is that? For them and for us.

It may not be a natural virus, and if it was engineered, it may well have been designed to attack the Asian communities. Mexicans are a genetic blend of Spanish and Mongoloid from the Native American population. I've heard talk about creating things that were race specific. May be something that got loose one way or another.

Have there been any cases in Asia yet?

[other one]

One of the articles I read advocated uping your Vitamin D dosage, too.

We need to check things out before we start building up our immune systems. The other H1N1 viruses use our own immune system to kill us. An over reaction from our system destroys the air sac tissue and our lungs die. The Spanish 1918 flu was of this type..... It kills more healthy people between 15 and 45 than it does the very young and old.

We'll see how it progresses.

[OneLight]

In 1976, only 1 person died from the flu, where hundreds have died as of today.

there haven't been "hundreds" who have died from this flu though, either. in fact, very few deaths have actually been confirmed as being from swine flu. even if all those reported have been, it's still less than 200. or have the numbers jumped since this morning?

Another interesting bit of information just came through the wires. It sounds a bit like fear mongering though.

U.S. Planners: Swine Flu Worst Case is 2 Million Dead

[meagain]

[nebula]

i'm wondering if there's something in the biological makeup of mexicans that makes them more susceptible (sp?) to this flu. the one death in the US was a mexican baby. like there are certain diseases black people are more prone to get?

I don't know about the genetics, but I would suspect over-all health, lifestyle, sanitation, behavior, health care, and other such factors come into play.

[nebula]

Article from Foxnews.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,518199,00.html

Interesting point.

That could be another explanation for the hight death rate - a much higher exposure rate.

[Shiloh62]

Expert analysis: Mexican swine flu