From storms to diseases...we have much to contend with. And I truly believe that island folk have the worst when it comes to these things...there is just no where to go. On the native island here - Ebeye - they have recently discovered a large outbreak of H1N1 - Swine Flu. Since half of that population comes here to work, we are all taking extra precautions. We also have Malaria and Dengue...wish they would take the same precautions for these...Dengue is nasty! All of the above mentioned conditions apply on Ebeye... 3rd world, poverty, poor sanitation, (mainly due to lack of water), poor hygiene, (same reason)...a veritable incubation center for disease. We do what we can, but its never enough. Few people will go to hospital...they would rather be treated by a healer, so reports are slow in coming, and by then, the disease has a good foothold. This is the one part of island life that is certainly not to be envied.
Yokwe,
Shari
Storm headed this way!
I've been gone (again) from the computer, but I'm happy everyone is OK! I have lots to catch up with, but I'm glad to see all of you post!
Hugs,
Alexandra
Yesterday, Louisiana had its' first H1N1 death. It may well become like it was with polio back in the 20's and 30's. No public gatherings of any large size. Folks became wary of attending school and church....we shall see.
Ya know...N1H1 IS a pandemic (which is NOT the same as a panic, or an epidemic) and people who have prior conditions and who are compromised are going to die. I don't think this means that we have to stop our lives....we just have to live with more awareness and consideration. Thank goodness it is not the black plague.
Amen to that Carol!
Yokwe,
Shari
Every year thousands of people die from flu and as Carol mentioned these are people who have prior conditions and are already compromised. H1N1 isn't much different. What will happen is that the majority population will develop immunity.
Mosquito borne diseases should be called "human/mosquito borne" as they rely on a cycle requiring both humans and mosquitos for continuation of the cycle. If you can cut that cycle then the parasite dies out and you can still have mosquitos and people living together without the disease.
Malaria used to be very widespread but was wiped out in many (1st world) places by breaking that cycle. We don't have malaria but we do have Ross River Virus and Murray Valley Encephalitis. Dengue Fever is on the east coast but not here. A lot of people I know have/have had Ross River Virus. A few years back a blood test showed up I had immunity to it, obviously caught it some time without knowing and developed the resistance. Most likely it was a weakened infection.
Going to Papua New Guinea I had to be innoculated for Bubonic Plague, Typhoid and Hep C. Also had to take anti-malarials each day.
I am from Kauai and an Iniki survivor,thank who ever your gods are that thing dissipated.
I remember the first swine flu in the 70's. They rushed the vaccine and it ended up killing more people than the flu. A girl I used to work with got Guillain Barre syndrome from the vaccine. Hope they get it right this time. Guess you've got to weigh your options and take the one that feels best to you. I didn't have any reactions to the 70's vaccine. I just had the Shingles vaccine because the wife of one of my husband's friend died from Shingles. Usually people don't die from it, but she was very unfortunate and had months of debilitating pain. Wasted away to 60 pounds. After that my husband pressured me into getting the vaccine, so I took my chances and so far, so good.
My mother died in 2003 after five months of unrelenting pain from shingles that settled in her head. I waited too long for the vaccine and had shingles in June-July 2008. Highly recommend the vacinne unless one prefers high degrees of pain. I do not.
Most people only know Shingles as an annoying rash that hurts. I'd never heard anything different until This poor lady had such a rough time of it. Then, a coincidence that the clinic I work for did a research study on a medication to help with the post shingles pain. I'm sorry your Mom had a awful experience with it. It's too bad more people don't know about the vaccine so they can decide for themselves.
We have dengue but not much malaria. I do worry about dengue in the rainy season but other than don't get bit there isn't anything you can do. They seem to think the life threatening form is a result of multiple infections but they aren't sure.
I asked for the shingles vaccine the other day and was told it is not yet available in Mexico, I'll keep asking. As for the latest swine flu, I am very proud of Mexico's response, it seems they did everything right and have reacted better than most other countries. It has returned here, we are again seeing people working in masks. I just keep washing my hands often and staying out of really crowded areas.
Malaria, swine flu, west nile virus, dengue fever.....they all remind me of HG Wells' War of the World.....in the end it was a tiny germ that saved the earth from aliens.....just like it was a tiny germ brought to the new world by Columbus that wreaked havoc with the indigenous population, and missionaries bringing their tiny bugs to Hawai'i. It is hard to get people to respect the dangers inherent in something they can't see.
yeah....and just when you aren't expecting it, LIFE happens...OMG! Then, what do we do? (Personally, I go to the beach)
I always thought Dengue was a ho-hum thingy...until i met a couple (GET THIs) sailing (alone on their boat) from Fiji to New Zealand (a hellish sail in good times) came down with Dengue...managed to get to NZ, she lost 60 lbs and all her hair and he looked like a scarcrow. Horrific. I am sure we all have these memories which only should make us more aware of preventitive medicines, vaccines etc. and not feel like Superman. They say that the H!N! virus hits my generation the most kind...somewhere in our medical history is probably a similar bug to which we have some resistance. TG.
TheMoonGlow - if only we knew then what we know now!!!! Here on TBI one person flaunted caution and introduced, in a shipment, the LittleRedFireAnt...it has now totally invaded and saturated out lives: in every bush we brush, every tree we work, in ever clump of weed we pull...LRFA!!! They fall into your clothes and after biting, leave huge welts that last 5-6 days of maniacal itching. They are attracted to electrical energy so fuse boxes get shorted out all day by them.
Unfortunately...there is little information on good erradication and protection....and onward we go...itchin an'askratchin.
Alohahoya, I live in south Louisiana, the Fire Ant capital of the USA. Diazanon kills them and a product called Amdro fire ant granules kills and helps control them. When they bite (sting) they inject formic acid. That is what causes the necrotic pustules. They love to nest where it is dry, so that is why electrical boxes and phone junction boxes attract them. When it floods, they are coated with a waxy substance that allows them to ball up in a clump and float.
In 2001, hurricane Allison plopped her wet hinney over south LA and rained for days, pretty much non-stop. After the rain, the area around us was flooded. My neighbor's grandson was wading through a couple feet of water and brushed one of the floaters. We heard him howling nearly a block away as he was running home. Without even thinking, my husband and I rushed out side. I had the Windex bottle in my hand and as we were trying to get the ants off him, I spilled Windex on his leg. The burning stopped immediately.
After a bit of research, we found that Ammonia seems to neutralize formic acid. You have to make sure that it is the original ammonia based windex, or a mild solution of sudsy ammonia and water. Take care to not get into eyes or mucous membranes as it will burn, but by leaving it on for a few minutes, it reduces the damage from the formic acid and also reduces the post bite itching. Believe me, we have seen calves killed by fire ants....nothing that kills them can be a bad thing.
one should also be careful what prevention and vaccination one takes, as these can have dangerous side effects. i am on malaria prevention at the moment, its called malarone. some friends of mine in New England gave it to me. we did some research, and it appears that at the moment its the safest prevention to take.
i once put a pitchfork through my foot (i know, i am an idiot), and had to get a tetanus shot. i went to the local hospital, and the nurse gave me the injection without even cleaning my arm first, and she gave it to me outside in the dust. thank goodness at least it was a clean needle, i made sure it came out of a sealed packet.
something i forgot to mention earlier, is that in the hospitals here, they treat the whites better than the blacks. NO OFFENSE TO ANYONE, i am against this myself. it terrible to see them sometimes how they treat their own people, so many people die from malaria, especially children, just because they weren't given the proper medication at the hospital. if you are white, or if you have money, they treat you royally, which in my opinion is wrong. well, if they want to treat us that way, they should treat their own people the same way.
another LARGE problem in Mozambique is AIDS, thousands of people are dying from it.
westraad
I don't mind the fire ants biting my fingers, it helps relieve arthritis. I even stick my knuckles in the middle of their nests!
Every time I trim a tree, remove dead leaves from bananas, move around in the brush, I get bit several times.
They fall on you, they're hard to see, they bite repeatedly.
It sucks! It's very irritating! When they bite you in your private areas it can change your day!
I wouldn't live anywhere else though!
Hey Westraad, nothing is new!
Here, poor folks (myself) that need help, go to the clinic, wait in line for several hours to get help, for an "emergency".
If it's not an emergency, you might as well stay home.
Two years ago, I was going through Ketoacidosis and starving to death, and the clinic decided my case was not a priority.
I did not get help till I was in a coma!
Luckily, being near dead, they decided that I needed some help!
I'm a lucky guy!
good thing you are still alive!
government hospitals are pathetic here, and private clinics are sooooo expensive, especially if you don't have medical insurance, like me.
Interesting about the arthritis relief. I would guess the irritation from the IRFA bite brings more blood to the area helping the discomfort of the arthritis. Personally I am not sure if the pain would not be better than the dreadful itch from the bites. We have had epic amounts of rain this summer and soil is saturated so the FA's are all up on the surface right now. My poor dog got bitten on his face while he was sniffing the other day. Those d@/m FA's have killed more than calves; I know of people who have died as a result of their bites.
We don't have Fire Ants here, although they did get them around Brisbane. Had a massive eradication program which seemed successful. They claimed it to be the first successful elimination of a feral species. But I think they've found a few stragglers since.
Ginger Ants are one of our bad ones. Tiny, but sting like a blowtorch. I'm lucky and don't have any adverse reactions. Well, other than several choice words that I won't repeat here. ;O) Amdro seems to work well on them.
Hi,everyone.
Carol, I love your approach: when in doubt or under duress, go to the beach. Yep, you gotta love that plan. I'm with you on that one.
When I worked for Unemployment Insurance in Canada, I found that constant exposure to the public increased my chances of contracting whatever bug was going around. One day, I happened upon 4 boxes full of fancy pens in a flea market, which I purchased for next to nothing: 48 pens. I gave them away to my fellow customer service clerks to use exclusively, encouraging them to keep a supply of ordinary pens and pencils in a cup on their desk for the customers to use.
The word around the office was that we should never lend our fancy pen to the clients, not use the pens and pencils we provided for them, not shake their hands and cough into our sleeves if we needed to. I included a box of tissues on my desk for the customers. Personally, I used a Mont Blanc fountain pen that I never allowed anyone to use. It disappeared one day, a victim of someone else's envy. It was never found and I never purchased another one. Sic transit gloria mundi.
Those few apparently inoccuous measures helped us make it through some of the worst flu seasons with very little sickness. When someone was sick and insisted on coming in to work, we sent them back home. We didn't need heroes, we needed healthy people.
Funny story: when someone wished to shake my hand after an interview, I would scratch the palm of my right hand and tell them the dermatologist was not sure if that itch was contagious or not. That settled the question quickly.
Take good care, all.
Sylvain.
.....great information on the LRFA, MoonHowl...I am collecting all the information I can! Yes, Amdro does work, but it is a soybased pellet and totally disolves in the rain...and when not wetted, the humidity only lets it last 24 hours. A mixture of Sevin/water kills them on contact...and Telsta sprinkled around will kill the forager ants but they don't have time to get it back to the nest!!! Avunt mixed with peanutbutter is working out to be effective as a bait/killer.
MUST carry a bottle of Ammonia/water around with me!!! what is the ratio....you know?
Rubbing the inside of a banana peel on the bite helps too!!!! The scientist working on them here in Hilo said that a close relative of this ant does not bite with formic acid...it is an alkaline substance... must ask more about that!!! DH, an engineer, finds them in all the electrical boxes and connections....he is convinced it isn't the dry they are after but the electrical charge.... They go into the electrical boxes inside my greenhouse which is dry....
If possible, one could set up an electrical box that is not connected to the power lines and another box that is. If the ants are really attracted to the electrical charge in the electrical box, they will disregard the one that is not connected. The results could be interesting. Hey, I have a curious (meaning inquisitive and also peculiar) mind and a lot of time on my hands . This is fascinating.
Take care,
Sylvain.
Interesting observation about the fire-ants and electric Carol.
The ants seem to line up to commit suicide by my generator.
Funny little tidbit to add to the mix: My Mom was feeling quite ill many years ago, and went to the Navy Hospital clinic. For 5 months they were treating her for malaria. Turns out, she was pregnant! Two months later my youngest brother was born - premie. My Mom was so pissed! Said she hardly had time to buy/wear maternity clothes and pop, there he was! So does this mean that quinine causes early childbirth? Who knows? But we constantly tease my brother that he is just a figment of a fever dream!
Yokwe,
Shari
We have an ant that also gets into electrical equipment, junction boxes, etc., and rearranges the circuitry. The electricians here love them (and lightning), a big money spinner for them. No economic downturn in that business.
Hi everyone!
i haven't been on since Saturday, i was in the hospital for 4 days. Swine flu. i want to warn all of you, that take EVERY precaution you can think of to avoid getting swine flu, its horrible to have it. the vomiting is beyond imagination, i was sicker than i was with malaria.
i take back some of what i said earlier about the hospital here, they have improved greatly since my last stay a year and a half ago. the doctors were kinder and more helpful, the process is better, and overall its much better. i was quite impressed. its not as good as a private hospital, of course, but it is very good for a third world country. i will just keep my mouth shut about the bathrooms. don't misunderstand me, the staff do their best to keep everything clean, its some of the other patients from the rural areas. they apparently don't know how to use a toilet, nor do they know the difference between a toilet and a shower. i refused to shower in my stay there, and when i was released yesterday afternoon i took a looooong, cleansing shower at home. felt like heaven!
it seems that i am the first official person i Mozambique to have swine flu, but do not think its an honor, i don't. i never want to go through it again, it was terrible, especially the first night. its scary, because i know if some people get it and they don't have any means of medical help, they could die. Swine flu has different degrees, and i had a very bad one. not all people get it as bad. but if someone does, and he can't get medical help, i can easily believe it can be fatal.
westraad
So sorry you had to go through all that and so glad to hear you are on the mend. Thank you for posting the warning about how dangerous this nasty virus can be. Hearing about a first hand experience means so much more.
Please be careful and rest for a while. Here's hoping you feel better soon and stay well.
-a-
This message was edited Aug 19, 2009 2:23 PM
Sounds like your bout with malaria left you wide open for H1N1. Hope you will be back to good health soon. It is amazing how something as tiny as a virus can wreak such havoc on our bodies. Take care and get strong again.
thanks, guys. i am resting most of the time, my hands are just itching to get back in the garden though. but that will have to wait until i am better. in the meantime its a great time to read my Bible, some novels, watch movies, write emails, and chat on DG. i took a long a nap, woke a while ago, and i feel much more refreshed. maybe by this weekend i'll be back to normal. hopefully. one thing thats still bothering me is my low bloodpressure, makes it feel like i am gonna faint.
anyway, enough about me, i am glad to be back!
westraad
It's good that you're well on the road to recovery. H1N1 is getting around everywhere now. Once you've had it you should get an immunity. It's starting to get into our local indigenous community here now which is a bit of a worry. Take care.
Westraad, so sorry to hear that you had to have the honor! Please take care, and get better. Don't fool around with trying to do too much too soon...your lessons from malaria should have taught you better than that!
Sending healing thoughts,
Yokwe,
Shari
Here's a news item which could be of interest - progress is being made:
AAP August 20, 2009, 11:27 am
The federal government will take delivery of two million doses of swine flu vaccine by the end of next week, with the first vaccinations likely to occur in September, Health Minister Nicola Roxon says.
Pregnant women and people with underlying medical conditions will be treated first if human trials currently underway reveal the vaccine is safe.
"We will be in receipt by the end of next week of two million doses of swine flu vaccine," Ms Roxon told reporters in Canberra.
"We are planning and working with the states and territories for the vaccination program to commence at some time in September."
The health minister stressed that timetable was dependent on the safety and efficacy results of the human trial.
The final report on it is expected in the coming weeks but initial data suggests the vaccine is as safe as that for regular seasonal flu, Ms Roxon said.
The first doses will be given to around 4.3 million priority people, including pregnant women and those with underlying medical conditions such as asthma, respiratory disease, cancer and obesity.
"This will be the biggest vaccination program in the shortest period of time that the commonwealth has ever undertaken," the health minister said.
There are currently 94 people in intensive care with swine flu in Australia.
There have been 121 swine flu-related deaths to date.
very interesting, Tbreeze. i sure hope that vaccine works and is safe, swineflu is a dangerous disease.
Don't worry, Shari. i am taking it very easy, just feeding all my pets, and telling my Mozambican gardener what to do for the day, and then the rest of the day i just rest. i think by next week i should pretty much be myself. i have lost more weight again, as if i'm not scrawny enough!
thank you all for your best wishes.
westraad
Hi everyone,
i am much better now, just a bit of a runny nose. i am now back in the garden, work has piled up in my abscence. keeping busy! i really hope all of you guys stay healthy, and don't get the swine flu.
Isaac
Isaac, good on, just don't overtax yourself....no relapses...Glad you are feeling better.
don't worry, i have learned from malaria not to overdo it...
thanks.