That’s us, the early birds above! And that’s me in the middle, wearing pink of course. Hehe! Despite getting stranded in various places in the city due to strong rains and winds, we three managed to get to the meeting place (Coffee Cat in Torres St.) first =) Of course, we were all wet! Didn’t matter though, we jumped right in to chatting and updating each other with our lives. Here are more photos when the other doctors arrived last Friday night:
Thank you to Ate Grace for organizing this meetup! And to Aura for the pretty mini-birthday cake you gave me. It was delicious! =) See you soon guys!
Yep, for Breast Cancer Awareness! ^_^ The official month for it is October, still 5 months away. But why wait til October when you can spread the awareness whole year round through Pink Ribbon Gumballs? Yeah, I'm so into food that I'll support any worthy endeavor (like search for a Breast Cancer cure) if it involves food, LOL! ;-) And the gumball above is available in real life! If you wanna support Breast Cancer Research and earn on the side, you can do well selling these yummy gumballs. Nice huh?
UPDATE 4/30/9: The World Health Organization just raised the alert level yet again -- swine flu pandemic alert level is now at 5, the second highest level.
My blog has been receiving lots of traffic from Google Search and CNN.com with regards to the swine flu so I decided to do a follow-up blog post. The latest major news about it is that World Health Organization (WHO) raised the swine flu global pandemic alert level to 4. The question is, what does it mean to the common people? Read on and find out!
Phase 1: “No viruses circulating among animals have been reported to cause infections in humans.”
Phase 2: “An animal influenza virus circulating among domesticated or wild animals is known to have caused infection in humans, and is therefore considered a potential pandemic threat.”
Phase 3: An animal or human-animal influenza reassortant virus (a combination of at least two other viruses, as WSJ explains) has caused sporadic cases or small clusters of disease in people, but there haven’t been “community-level” outbreaks. This “limited transmission” doesn’t mean that the virus is spreading easily enough among humans to cause a pandemic.
Phase 4: A reassortant virus is causing community-level outbreaks, meaning there are sustained disease outbreaks in a community. This marks a “significant upwards shift in the risk for a pandemic.” However, a pandemic isn’t necessarily a forgone conclusion.
Phase 5: There is human-to-human spread of the virus into at least two countries in one WHO region. Most countries aren’t affected at this stage, but declaration of Phase 5 is a “strong signal that a pandemic is imminent.” There is little time remaining to finish the organization, communication and implementation of the planned mitigation measures.
Phase 6: In addition to the countries affected in Phase 5, there are community-level outbreaks in at least one other country in a different WHO region. A global pandemic is occurring.
Just when you thought that the global recession is the only thing to worry about, along comes a health scare that leaves scores of people dying across the Mexican border. So what exactly is Swine Flu in layman's terms? Apparently it's a common respiratory ailment in pigs (1% to 4% die) but the strain that's causing human deaths now appears to be a subtype never before seen in pigs OR humans. It also has a component from bird flu and human flu -- now, isn't that scary?? Uber-mutated virus if there's such a term! Hehe! Anyway here's a Q&A writeup from USA Today about swine flu. Read and be informed on how to protect yourself from the flu. You can also read more at www.cdc.gov ^_^
Q: What are the symptoms of swine flu?
A: The most common symptoms are fever, fatigue, lack of appetite and coughing, although some people also develop a runny nose, sore throat, vomiting or diarrhea, according to the CDC.
Q: What should you do if you have these symptoms?
A: Stay home from work or school, to avoid spreading your illness to other people. Don't get on an airplane. People should call their doctors to ask about the best treatment, but should not simply show up at a clinic or hospital that is unprepared for their arrival.
:: SWINE FLU TREATMENT FOLLOWS ::
Q: Can you catch swine flu from eating pork?
A: No, according to WHO. Pigs coming in to slaughter facilities are monitored for flu symptoms, and those that are ill are not allowed to enter the food supply. Cooking also kills the virus. People who work with pigs, however, can catch the swine flu virus.
Q: Is there a vaccine against swine flu?
A: No, but government scientists could try to create one, according to the CDC. The scientists don't know if this year's flu vaccine offers any protection.
Q: What about antivirals? Can they prevent swine flu?
A: This strain of swine flu does appear sensitive to the antiviral drugs Relenza and Tamiflu, but not to amantadine, or Symmetrel, and rimantadine, or Flumadine. With normal seasonal flus, if taken within the first 48 hours after symptoms appear, antivirals can help people recover a day or two sooner.
Q: How can people protect themselves?
A: As always, people should wash their hands frequently. Surgical masks are designed to prevent the wearer from spreading germs, but may also catch large respiratory droplets if someone sneezes nearby. In a 2007 statement, the CDC said these masks could be worn if someone needs to go to a crowded place, such as a grocery store, for a short time. N95 respirator masks filter out 95% of particles to prevent the wearer from breathing them in. These must be fitted properly around the nose to create a seal, so they can make breathing difficult.
DANG! What's with killers and violent people being doctors or studying to be doctors? We physicians have sworn an oath to take care of people, to heal them, to do them no harm at the very least. So how can a person be a killer and be also a doctor when one ends a life while the other one is for life? You just can't connect the two! Can a doctor's conscience even rationalize killing a person? And I'm not talking about euthanasia and other forms of secret mercy killings coz that's another debate -_- Can the doctor/killer be thinking that it doesn't matter if s/he murders coz s/he has saved a thousand of lives in return? Is there a higher percentage of psychopaths in the medical profession? Questions, so many questions! Anyway, here's a short history and latest update on the Craigslist Killer:
Boston police believe they have arrested the so-called "Craigslist killer" who murdered a young woman after she posted an advert on the popular site to offer massages, US media reported. The Boston Globe and New York Daily News quoted unnamed sources saying they believed the same suspect was behind two other attacks on women in hotels this month.
The first victim was a 29-year-old woman who advertised on Craigslist as an exotic dancer and was robbed of her credit card and 800 dollars cash on April 10. The second, a 26-year-old woman who offered visiting massage services, was shot dead. The third, just four days ago, was a 26-year-old prostitute from Las Vegas who was robbed at gunpoint at a hotel south of Boston, the Daily News said.
Police released surveillance photographs earlier Monday of the suspect. US media has dubbed him the "Craigslist killer."SOURCE
