I was in the Beijing airport on Jan. 4. Read about the virus on Jan. 6. Started feeling ill on the 8th or 9th. Still not over it.

Contagion (2011) ⭐ 6.8 | Drama, Thriller
1h 46m | PG-13
Average Rating: 6.8
Duration: 01:46
I was in the Beijing airport on Jan. 4. Read about the virus on Jan. 6. Started feeling ill on the 8th or 9th. Still not over it.
Please seek professional medical care, steatopygia.
You posted that at 1649 PST. By 1800 PST that number had risen:
The National Health Commission reported a jump in the number of people infected with the virus to 1,287 with 41 deaths. The latest tally comes from 29 provinces across China, including 237 patients in serious condition. All 41 deaths have been in China, including 39 in Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak, one in Hebei and one in Heilongjiang.
And there’s more!
Meanwhile, Australia announced its first case Saturday, a Chinese man in his 50s who last week returned from China. France said that three people had fallen ill with the virus — the disease’s first appearance in Europe.
Please seek professional medical care, steatopygia.
I’m a nurse.
I’m guessing that most people interested in these kinds of infections may have seen the film “Outbreak” (1995) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt00000114069
That film may be one of the best to deal with Ebola and similar outbreaks. It may exaggerate some of the events. But it is still worth seeing. The film is absolutely terrifying. So please be careful when watching it in front of children. For anyone who wants to know more about these kinds of outbreaks, please be sure you take the events with a grain of salt, but I believe it is worth watching this film to get some idea of what the worst case scenario might be.
“Contagion” is about a mutant, deadly strain of influenza, and is MUCH better and more accurate than “Outbreak.”
1h 46m | PG-13
Average Rating: 6.8
Duration: 01:46
ETA: Both movies are rated 6.6 on IMDB. I’d personally rate “Outbreak” as a 6.5, and “Contagion” an 8 or 9.
There are places not far from the US where you can buy them over the counter.
You can buy some antibiotics OTC at farm supply stores. My local Theisen’s has them, and some antivirals and antifungals along with large-bore needs used to administer them, and even some animal vaccines, right out on the sales floor.
I found this cool map where you can see the virus spread across the world, Plague Inc style.
“Contagion” is about a mutant, deadly strain of influenza, and is MUCH better and more accurate than “Outbreak.”
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1598778/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
ETA: Both movies are rated 6.6 on IMDB. I’d personally rate “Outbreak” as a 6.5, and “Contagion” an 8 or 9.
Thank you for the tip. I have been wanting to see that.
I’m a nurse.
Which means you are in the group that’s the worst about taking care of themselves. Too busy taking care of others.
I’m living in Shanghai, so I can actually be something of a on-the-ground war correspondent for this one.
Within a km of my home, a street of offices was closed (all the office workers told to work from home), because of one confirmed case. The government is really trying hard to keep this thing under control.
Which brings me to one thing I want to say, which is that, in various foreign forums I’ve seen, the idea that the Chinese government has been slower or more secretive than other countries would be, in the handling of this outbreak, seems to be a popular view. Not on the straight dope yet, but I want to be preemptive on this: most Chinese people have been surprised by how open the government has been internally and externally, and how seriously they’ve taken the threat. There are plenty of anecdotes like the street getting closed that I mentioned, and scientific data is being published in Western journals as well as direct collaboration with foreign disease centers.
I think a lot has been learned after SARS.
BTW I have had a sore throat and runny nose for the last 2 days or so. Almost certainly it is coincidental but everyone’s a hypochondriac in these situations.
I’d say this is the scariest thing that’s happened since the last time it’s happened.
Are you old enough to remember the Bird Flu scare around 2000? The Ebola scare in the nineties? The AIDS scare in the eighties? The Swine Flu scare in the seventies? The Andromeda Strain scare of the sixties? (Okay, that last one may not have actually happened.)
This is not the first time we’ve had reports of some new disease arising and killing people and some people begin projecting the danger into the collapse of civilization or even the end of humanity. But what’s always happened is that the disease hits a peak and then we get it under control. It becomes just another thing that some people die of; tragic for those people and their families but not a threat to humanity as a whole.
Yeah but the OP did not ask whether or not it’s an extinction level event.
All the things you list are things to be legitimately concerned about (especially the andromeda strain), and this new virus is too.
Not jump out your window and run down the street screaming concerned, but yeah, concerned.
If our response is inadequate, huge numbers of people could die and/or suffer.
Please seek professional medical care, steatopygia.
Do people really “seek professional medical care” for presumed viral infections? I’ve never gone to a doctor because of colds/flu. I’ve been pretty ill, but assumed I’d just be told to use symptomatic care.
We’ve returned last Sunday from international travel and my gf has had a fever/cough/congestion for five days now. She was pretty sick initially, seems to be gradually improving. What (other than a bill) would she get from a doctor visit?
And another thing…why do people take their temperatures? Why bother? I can tell when I have a fever, why document it?
Do people really “seek professional medical care” for presumed viral infections? I’ve never gone to a doctor because of colds/flu. I’ve been pretty ill, but assumed I’d just be told to use symptomatic care.
Well, I’ve been known to do that, largely for two reasons:
I have asthma, therefore, I am at a higher risk for complications than the average person. I visit the doctor when I do not see rapid improvement so problems can be dealt with sooner rather than later.
I have sometimes worked for employers who want a doctor’s note for an illness lasting more than a day or two.
And another thing…why do people take their temperatures? Why bother? I can tell when I have a fever, why document it?
Because while a fever of 100F is a minor thing, a fever of 102 or 103 is much more serious and may require medical attention, and 104+ is life-threatening in many cases.
I’m guessing that you have been blessed in never having had a truly serious illness in your life. In which case, good for you, we should all be so fortunate.
Sorry. I’ve been kind of panicking and I was going to make a panic type of post but changed my mind for fear of foolishly alarming anyone unecessarily.
I will post a link to the Drudge Report so people who are interested can check out its current headlines. But be warned, they certainly seem alarming to me.
And another thing…why do people take their temperatures? Why bother? I can tell when I have a fever, why document it?
I can’t, or at least not a low grade one.
I will post a link to the Drudge Report so people who are interested can check out its current headlines. But be warned, they certainly seem alarming to me.
In a world where online sources get paid for clicks, headlines will always be angled towards the alarming. Stop obsessing over it.
Because while a fever of 100F is a minor thing, a fever of 102 or 103 is much more serious and may require medical attention, and 104+ is life-threatening in many cases.
But wouldn’t your condition mirror the grade of your fever? If your thermometer is defective and reads 104F but you feel fine, you don’t run to urgent care, right? Likewise, if you feel like you’re going to die and the thermometer reads 100F you seek medical care.
Other than infants, I just don’t see why that particular parameter is measured and then that result responded to.
I’m guessing that you have been blessed in never having had a truly serious illness in your life. In which case, good for you, we should all be so fortunate.
I’ve been all kinds of sick. Had my gallbladder removed, a stent placed in a coronary artery, numerous colds and viral infections. No, I do not have asthma, so I cannot speak to that, but other than asthmatics, who is helped by seeking medical care for common viral disease?
I’m supposed to accompany my husband on a business trip to Beijing in April, and I don’t particularly want to go. This virus thing is not helping.
I wouldn’t worry about going because right after Chinese New Year ends and infections rates continue to rise, American companies will end any non-essential travel.
I have already seen business trips being cancelled.
Having lived in China during SARS, and currently based in the US for one of the largest manufacturers in China (including about a factory campus with about 100,000 employees, you could say I’m watching this very closely. We have a daily executive war room set up to track the spread, how it is affecting our factory and our supply chains. Nothing notable yet, but China and all of our factories are shut until Feb2. 5 days ago our Wuhan factory implemented temperature checks for every person coming in and out.
Pulled out the playbook from SARS. Good news, this coronavirus was recognized as a threat much faster, there is a playbook, it’s implemented much earlier in the cycle, transmission vector is largely understood (wash your hands and cough into your shoulder and avoid rubbing your eyes or nose).
I’ll read thru this thread and will have a lot more comments later today
other than asthmatics, who is helped by seeking medical care for common viral disease?
Lung disease in general, not just asthma but copd, pulmonary fibrosis, cystic fibrosis and others can benefit from early deployment of steroids, antiviral, antibiotic, hydration, supplemental oxygen, and more depending on the individual condition.
Also folks with congestive heart failure, unstable angina, brittle diabetes, poorly controlled epilepsy, sickle cell anemia, and other significant chronic illnesses.
Those are the patients I want to hear from, and maybe see, when they have a significant viral illness. The otherwise healthy folk will do fine on their own, most (but not all ) of the time.
And some of the sickest folks may run no fevers at all
the year when flu vaccine was in short supply I got it because I am diabetic.