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ESA not bothered by swine flu
Author: Joe MartinPublished: 30th April 2009
The ESA says that it is not altering plans for June's E3 show in LA because of the spread of swine flu.
The swine flu infection has begun to spread across the world and, while officials insist that there is no cause to panic, attending large public events and international travel are being discouraged by some health organisation. You can gain more information on the potential pandemic by checking the official websites for the World Health Organisation and the BBC news health section. There's also an on-going discussion in the bit-tech forums about the spread of the infection.
The ESA isn't put off by the spread of the virus though and says that it is in contact with public health officials who are taking all the appropriate steps.
"The 2009 E3 Expo is progressing as planned," ESA spokesperson Dan Hewitt told Joystiq. "Public health officials are taking all appropriate steps and we continue to follow their direction on all measures."
"We look forward to a great event, and to seeing you in Los Angeles in June."
However, it's worth mentioning that attendance at the show will be affected by the location of the show - LA is only a few hundred miles from the Mexico/US border, which may prove a worry to the predicted 40,000 attendees.
Are you worried about swine flu, or do you think it's all just a big panic over nothing? Let us know your thoughts in the forums.
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Tell that to the 50 million who died of the spanish flu pandemic.
What we're seeing now has the potential to get a lot worse. I very much doubt it could get as bad as the spanish flu pandemic, but this isn't the full extent of what it could turn into.
Anywho, back on the topic of E3, what are we expecting to see there this year - I'm a bit out of touch with the latest gaming news.
How many people who goto E3 might have it and not realise, then pass it on to who knows how many at the event?
It was on the BBC news website today that it is nto a case of whether people will die or not - just how many. I see no reasonable reason to take flamboyant risks by attending these sorts of events. I could get it and pass it on to my family friends or work collegues. No thanks.
One guy where I work is back from Mexico today and has been put into "quarantine" for 2 weeks.
I'll admit I had that opinion yesterday. My grandfather called me last night and changed my mind though - he used to be an epidemiologist for the NHS and WHO and he clarified a few things for me quite excellently. It's not a case of panic, just altering daily routine to prevent pointless risks. Avoiding a large public event which will definitely have international visitors from major cities isn't an over-reaction; it's a sensible precaution. I'm thankful we never had plans to go.
Ahhh fair enough. Maybe I've been sitting in the serious discussion thread for too long...
-Why is it that these "flus" are all avoidable by the same vaccine?
-Why didn't the pigs get the "flu" when the chickens got the "flu" if its, theoretically, the same viral string?
-Didn't they sell enough vaccines last time?
-Why are all specialists "government officials"?
Even if that were entirely true then it wouldn't remove the fact that most people have family or friends who are either very young or very old.
Short answer - they're not.
the reason this is serious is that it is killing people from 25-45. im not paniced or even worried yet, but thats because i have faith in people not to do stupid things to spread it(ie an international trade show) btw its h1n1 now, as the pork industry didnt like the name because you cant catch it from pork
As for the flu I think as others have said the best thing atm is calm caution and just seeing what's happening. I agree it has the potential to get bad. It might also go away and we'll laugh at all the fuss. However I don't think anyone has a crystal ball and so nobody knows for sure whether it will be really bad or not bad at all and so we shouldn't be taking flippant risks like flying to mexico city when we don't need to and we should be taking measured caution like washing hands etc. (we should do that all the time, but go figure ;))