Face Masks

[thaibeachlovers]

Well, to add my 5 cents worth, I work in an operating theatre, and current practice in most theatres is not to bother with masks ( unless actually in the operating field ) as they are pointless.

To obtain protection from other people and the environment, respirator type masks as worn by the military are necessary. The sort of masks as worn by most people may provide some psychological comfort, but IMO are worthless in actually preventing infection.

As I see it, we are at risk because in the modern world, most people are too ignorant to actually cover their face when coughing/ sneezing, and wash their hands. Perhaps some manners would be more effective than spending money on worthless masks.

[dee123]

I would assume Fascino on North Pattaya Road would stock them. But they don't work, you know that right?

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/97522/...ould-be-useless

Are you basing your theory on the news report you linked, or do you have some scientific evidence to back up your claim that they don't work?

The article you linked contradicts itself more than once in that it indicates that they do work if changed often, and then says they don't work and the title says that they MAY not work.

Quotes from that article:

1. "...face masks COULD be useless" - this implies they could also work.

2. "To be effective, masks would need to be changed twice a day and be disposed of correctly" - this indicates that they are effective if changed twice a day.

3. "But this would be too costly and impossible to monitor, according to GP and Daily Express columnist Dr Rosemary Leonard." - this would not be too costly for everyone.

4. " "Once they are wet, they don't work and because of respiration they become damp fairly quickly. If you wore one for two or three hours, it would be damp and wouldn't offer any protection because it becomes more porous and any virus would just seep in." - this indicates that they would be useful if kept dry and changed every 2 or 3 hours.

5. ""Everyone would need a new one twice a day so we would need a ­phenomenal amount. There is no scientific basis that they work and it is false reassurance." - a contradiction. They say that people would need a new one twice a day and then that there is no scietific "basis" that they work. If they don't work, why would anyone need to change them twice a day.... and where is the scientific evidence that they don't work?

Your news report is merely the opinion of one so called (and confused) unnamed expert.

so is it half an hour per facemask with the ability to stop micro bacterial infections? if so I would like to order a few months supply ,...how much? and will i need a few portable washhand basin too?

[phaethon]

On sky news just an hour ago, chief medical man said the masks were Useless...

On the contrary, if you have flu face masks prevent other people identifying you as the person who gave it to them...

[Rinrada]

Hope the bar girls don't start wearing them.

On some of them that I have met that would be an improvement.....

[Ulysses G.]

I went to a well known hospital in Pat's yesterday and got a prescription for Tamiflu as you can only get this in Hospitals in Thailand.

From what I have read, Tamiflu is not useful for swine flu. Why spend so much money for something that does not work?

[dee123]

I went to a well known hospital in Pat's yesterday and got a prescription for Tamiflu as you can only get this in Hospitals in Thailand.

From what I have read, Tamiflu is not useful for swine flu. Why spend so much money for something that does not work?

no drugs work yet until they produce a resistent drug with this new H1N1 virus but does it not relieve some symptons thus giving the patient better chance?

[Ulysses G.]

I'm not sure that it is worth risking the possible side affects.

[seadoo]

I went to a well known hospital in Pat's yesterday and got a prescription for Tamiflu as you can only get this in Hospitals in Thailand.

From what I have read, Tamiflu is not useful for swine flu. Why spend so much money for something that does not work?

BECAUSE I CAN AND BECAUSE I CAN AFFORD IT

[Ulysses G.]

Want to buy a bridge?

[Jingthing]

I don't get this discussion. Tamiflu helps with the symptoms and saves lives. There is no cure except going through the infection and recovering from it.

Back to the mask subject. Another poster mentioned this and it is true: you can get a flu virus by way of your EYES as well. So goggles AND masks, is that the ticket?

Edited May 4, 2009 by Jingthing

[Ulysses G.]

Swine flu alert clears old stock of Tamiflu

30 April 2009 It is almost three years since we faced the hysteria of an avian flu epidemic, when governments bought billions of dollars of Tamiflu – the same anti-viral now being promoted to combat a supposed swine flu pandemic. The shelf life of Tamiflu also happens to be three years.

The World Health Organization has, at the time of writing, increased its threat level to five, which means governments can activate their pandemic plans – and start handing out Tamiflu drugs.

This is extremely convenient for governments that would have very soon have to dispose of billions of dollars of Tamiflu stock, which they bought to counter avian flu, or H5N1. The US government ordered 20 million doses, costing $2bn, in October, 2005, and around that time the UK government ordered 14.6 million doses. Tamiflu's manufacturer, Roche, has confirmed that the shelf life of its anti-viral is three years.

England's chief medical officer Sir Liam Donaldson has said that the UK is "well prepared" to counter swine flu – but only because it was well prepared to counter an avian flu pandemic that never happened.

The other worry is when, or if, medicine comes up with a specific anti-viral for swine flu. The last time they did – when we had the last swine flu scare in 1976 - health officials rushed through a vaccination programme that resulted in 1 out of 100,000 vaccinated Americans developing Guillain-Barre paralysis. The US government paid out $93 million in compensation.

Those of us who quaked in fear from the expected SARS epidemic and shook from the anticipated avian flu pandemic may feel they've been here before. Despite the dire warnings, at the time of writing just 2,600 cases of swine flu have been confirmed or suspected around the world , and there have been 160 deaths, and not all of these may turn out to be caused by swine flu. More people die on UK roads every month.

Meanwhile, while we're blaming the Mexicans for starting the anticipated global pandemic of swine flu, who are the Mexicans blaming?

Several of their newspapers are pointing the finger at local plants of Smithfield Foods, the world's largest pork packer and hog producer. Mexican journalists report on concerns from locals in Perote, Santa Cruz, Mexico – where the outbreak was believed to have started – that the pig breeding farm polluted the atmosphere and local water supplies.

A municipal health official seems to support the locals' concerns, and says the outbreak may have been started by flies that reproduced in the pig waste.

http://www.wddty.com/03363800372785950688/...of-tamiflu.html

Avian flu how safe is tamiflu?

It is hoped that, at best, Tamiflu may help avian flu victims in the first few days after catching the virus. It is specifically designed to treat symptoms of influenza A and B viruses. Nevertheless, while avian flu is an influenza A virus, each type has numerous subgroups that are determined by HA (haemagglutinin) and NA (neuraminidase) proteins. Altogether, there are 16 HA subtypes and nine NA subtypes, so an influenza A virus can have a unique chemical profile that makes it difficult to counteract with drugs.

More worrying is the safety profile of Tamiflu. The Japanese health authorities have reported that, so far, eight people have died after being given Tamiflu. Dr Rokuro Hama, head of the Japan Institute of Pharmaco-Vigilance, says that all of the victims have been children and adolescents between two and 17 years of age.

Two of the victims were teenage boys who behaved abnormally after being given the drug, said Chugai Pharmaceuticals, Tamiflu's distributor in Japan, according to an online website (SABCNews.com). Earlier this year, a 14-year-old boy, after taking one Tamiflu capsule, jumped or fell from the ninth floor of an apartment building. In another case from last year, a 17-year-old boy left his home during a snowstorm, and jumped in front of a truck and died after taking the drug. Doctors say that, in both these cases, the boys had not exhibited any abnormal behaviour before taking the drug.

In addition, Japan's health ministry has received reports of 64 cases of psychological disorders associated with the vaccine over the past four years.

This is not the first health alert for this drug. In 2003, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), America's drugs regulator, issued an alert that Tamiflu might be dangerous if taken by children younger than one year old. Following this warning, Roche issued a letter that instructed doctors not to prescribe the drug to very young children as animal studies had suggested that it could be fatal.

Both these reports are worrying developments for a drug that Roche had consistently maintained is 'well tolerated'. Side-effects were thought to be relatively benign and transitory, and include nausea and vomiting. Other effects that have been regularly reported include diarrhoea, bronchitis, stomach pain, dizziness and headache.

Tamiflu shouldn't be taken by anyone with kidney or liver disease, or any chronic condition. Pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers are also not advised to take the drug as there are insufficient data from human studies to determine its safety.

Furthermore, although it is regularly given to children and adolescents, its safety has never been established in children younger than 18 years of age as a flu treatment, or among 13-year-olds as a preventative.

Tamiflu: Flu drug can kill, FDA warns

06 March 2008 Tamiflu, one of the front-line drugs against flu, can kill, a new warning from America’s drug regulator, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has revealed this week.

The drug can cause hallucinations, delirium or abnormal behaviour which sometimes “results in fatal outcomes,” the FDA has said.

These new reactions have been discovered by doctors who suspected the drug of being the cause, and so there’s no way of knowing how widespread the problem is.

Tamiflu’s manufacturer, Roche, has this week written to every practitioner in the USA about the new reactions, and it has been instructed to change the warnings on the drug’s patient information sheet.

The drug is also being used as a defence against avian flu, and governments around the world have bought billions of dollars worth of supplies to be used to protect key workers.

(Source: FDA web site).

Edited May 4, 2009 by Ulysses G.

[Cobrabiker]

I need to fly to the UK soon and am a little concerned about infection of the recently reported swine flu, I have seen people on the news wearing protective face masks and would buy some in Pattaya, can anyone advise me where to try

Did you get it eventually? I am looking for it myself, the 3M N95 flu mask, have tried a few pharmacies, but they don't sell the 3m n95, anbody know where exactly to get? Please help, I am flying back next week. Thanks!

[OZEMADE]

I need to fly to the UK soon and am a little concerned about infection of the recently reported swine flu, I have seen people on the news wearing protective face masks and would buy some in Pattaya, can anyone advise me where to try

Did you get it eventually? I am looking for it myself, the 3M N95 flu mask, have tried a few pharmacies, but they don't sell the 3m n95, anbody know where exactly to get? Please help, I am flying back next week. Thanks!

Yeah, in the UK.

[Carib]

The arlines may charge extra for weight.....

[tropo]

i'm confused. are you saying there are a lot more unreported swine fle deaths in Mexico and that many of those deaths have been young healthy types? sorry, i'm slow tonight, i've been high on mescaline all day...

Many more suspected deaths, just not officially confirmed as yet. Yes, many of the deaths in Mexico have been of the kinds of people who would not normally die in a normal flu cycle. So far, the US cases are not showing that pattern. Scientists don't yet know why for sure, but remember viruses mutate over time. The significance is that this is a totally new virus carrying genetic info from multiple species. It is still developing in its human potential, and whether or not it becomes like another 1918 again is a potential only, not a certainty. If it strengthens, in theory most everyone exposed to it in anyway will become infected because humans have no immunity to it. The theory about why young people die is that they are strong and their immune system goes into overdrive to kill the virus, but it kills them instead.

You've been well brainwashed into thinking this is a major threat, that's for sure.

Let's not use Mexico as a guideline as medical facilities there are questionable. Let's take the US as a better approximation of what threat a Farang in Thailand faces as most expats and tourists would have access to good medical facilities.

From about 13,000 cases (in the US) of swine-flu reported only 27 have died and only half of them were previously healthy according to the medical authorities....so we have, in over a month only 13 apparently healthy people who died out of 13,000 cases.

You can juggle these figures around a bit if you like, but no way is there any serious threat to humanity from this trumped up swine flu.

I'm sure anyone who is too afraid to shop at Central Festival will be rushing down to the local pharmacy to buy masks.