Swine flu - possible trigger

[Chococat]

I am worried sick about this swine flu that is in the news not about whether I will get it but whether people I love will get it. I live in England and have elderly parents neither of whom are in good health. In fact my mother has severe respiratory problems so I am worried about her getting it if it becomes a pandemic. Also I have a close friend in America who I love like a daughter who is also in poor health so I am worried sick about her getting it. What makes it worse is that one of my Facebook friends who lives in the same state as my friend, but not near her, made a joke in her update section about one of her co workers being in Mexico and so when this person came back to work she would start wearing a mask! (Ha ha very funny NOT!!!) Also I have just read that a toddler in Texas has just died from it and there is talk about the virus "changing". I know some of it could well be media exaggeration but it doesn't help when you see people from the WHO wearing germ suits being interviewed! What scares me more is that I also post on another Christian board which is big on the End Times and God's judgment and there many people are talking about prophecies of God's wrath being poured out on the earth for our sins and I am so scared this swine flu is part of it. The other part is supposedly the current economic climate. Is it any use to pray that God will stop or ease His judgment (if these things are that) or do we just have to grin and bear it. I am feeling a lot of anger against God for this. I mean why should a 3 year old child have to suffer because certain people are leading sinful lives? I know the child is in Heaven now but still.

 

[Chococat]

Also like an idiot I just went to that site I mentioned and the admin has reproduced something from a poster at an End Times site which is saying this is the Big One and it may well be like the 1918 Spanish flu outbreak that killed millions. I have just had a panic attack. Please help!!!

 

[TheMainException]

Let me combat this with some stats. You have this chance of getting the swine flu: .1%. That means...out of 1000 people, you could get it. The chance of dying from it...unlikely. The chances are greater in very highly populated areas (like Mexico City...they have enough people in that city to fill up a couple big american cities). There are very few cases in the US and even less in europe. This is not an epidemic. This is like the regular flu. Those who die...very young and very old people...those whose immune systems are extremely compromised (those with AIDS, etc). BUT...they have to GET the virus first. All viruses change, it's normal.

And children die all the time...what should anyone have to suffer? Sin entered the world. It happened...people die. Many fall ill, many are injured. God is not judging us for anything, He waits for that. God is not killing innocent 3 year olds. This world is sinful and even the germs in this world are corrupt. That is not the doing of God...but satan who taunts and tempts us to try and make us fall.

This Swine flu is NOT the judgement of God. I promise. I warn against listening to those who preach the end times so much...do not focus on such a thing...what we need to focus on is living a life of love. the economy is nothing for christians...God is for us. You need not fear.

 

[kaykay9.0]

Also like an idiot I just went to that site I mentioned and the admin has reproduced something from a poster at an End Times site which is saying this is the Big One and it may well be like the 1918 Spanish flu outbreak that killed millions. I have just had a panic attack. Please help!!!

Praying for you. Please try to stay calm. For one thing this is not 1918. Our medical care is far advanced from what they had available. Obviously, this is something we need to take seriously, but we really have to just trust God right now.

I'm not sure if this is a judgment, an indication we are living in the end times or just whether it is a byproduct of living in a "fallen world." Jesus did say that the rain falls on both the righteous and the unrighteous and that we would have tribulation. So I'm not sure where this falls. You mentioned the child that died here in Texas and I would just urge you to remember how much Jesus seem to care for children when he was on earth.

I would also encourage you to stay off that website that bothered you. Some people are likely to overreact to this and say all sorts of things. That doesn't make it true. Often we think we know what God is up to and we don't. I think you should also limit your media input right now too as some media tend to overhype stuff like this as well.

Again, praying for you for peace and protection~

 

[Chococat]

Thanks for the reply but I am still worried as they are saying that if it reaches pandemic proportions 40% of people in the UK could get it. My main worry is about my mother who has a partially collapsed lung. Also I have just read Yahoo's news which says that 10 US states have reported cases of "virulent" swine flu and that they may well be putting the alert(?) up to Level 6 soon. I'm not worried about getting it myself as I am healthy and would probably make a good recovery it's my parents especially my mother who I'm worried about. She is pretty much housebound so hopefully that will reduce her chances of getting it. What bothers me is this preacher in the US made a prophecy that something terrible will happen very soon in the US and, from what I can gather,this guy prophesied something similar just prior to 911 and is a genuine prophet of God (or so I hear). I'm sorry if my previous post offended anyone but I felt so angry with God at the time over this swine flu epidemic. I know that was probably Satan but the Bible does tell us that God judged nations in the past for their rebellion against Him and I know most of the world have abandoned Him.

 

[TheMainException]

Because of Jesus death, the judgement is held off. Bad things will come and go...death comes to all mankind...you must remember that your parents will die eventually. This is not to make you upset or cause pain in you...I say this because you need to remember that. Death comes to everyone, don't let the thought destroy you.

 

[keryakos]

Have you ever considered that all of the end time preachers know more about when Jesus will return that he does ..

Did he not say that only his Father knew that ?

As for the flu ... I can safely say and i know none of you will believe me but you read this right now have a stronger chance of living to be 100 than dieing from this flu ..

With the available vaccine , bettter sanitation better anti flu drugs and lessons learned from the past the hysteria over this bull.

 

[ridge0660]

My brother is a doctor and he can not stand when the media does this about any sort of medical problem. It is terrible that a young child died from this flu, but we do not know the whole situation. His immune system could have been suppressed. The thing is I was listening to my local news and there were many wrecks in this past week that have killed people-just in my local area. Wrecks are not being broadcast as a level 5 or 6 on any kind of scale. Yet they kill many more people per day than any flu does and you can't protect yourself against a wreck(drunk driver).
Back to my brother the doctor-he told me today that the regular flu virus has killed over 35,000 this year alone-yet we do not hear about that statistic. We just have to trust in God and not man. There is a time and place for our death and it will come-vaccine, mask, seat belt or not. Just live your life in Love not in fear. I will try and do the same thing-it is a daily walk.

 

[Chococat]

I'm trying to stay calm but I just caught site of Yahoo's newspage and it is saying the WHO has raised the danger level to Level 5 and are now saying a pandemic is inevitable so it is not just reporters saying this it is the World Health Organisation. By the way what is a "pandemic" exactly? The word terrifies me. Also if it is no worse than normal flu why are the doctors wearing masks when treating these patients? On top of that there are now 8 confirmed cases of Swine flu in the UK whereas there was only one at the start of the week? I might be able to just write it off as overimaginative journalists if the WHO weren't involved and talking of a pandemic. Sorry to be a bore but I just can't seem to find any peace about the situation. I'm also worried that if there is a pandemic the government will forcibly quarantine people in their homes for weeks on end and I don't have enough food supplies for myself and my cats or if my parents don't have them. Or if we all have to stockpile (one of the preachers I mentioned advised stocking up on 30 days supplies of canned food for the prophesied disaster) and the shops run out of food? What then? Is there anyone from the UK here who may throw some light on this? Surely being in your home without food is far more of a danger than 100 flu pandemics!!! Would a government have the right to forcibly quarantine people like that as it sounds like a violation of human rights to me!

 

[ObsessedButBlessed]

The WHO does that to cover their butts. Seriously. Let the public health officials make these decisions. No matter how virulent an outbreak seems at the beginning, public health departments will react aggressively. That's their job—better safe than sorry—and that's how epidemics are contained.

Secondly, about these prophecies: if they are not Biblical, then ignore them. By the way, did you know that every year, 36,000 people die from the flu in the U.S.? Kind of puts things into perspective, huh?

 

[kaykay9.0]

If it makes you feel any better, Chococat, Dr. Timothy Johnson, who reports on medical issues on the ABC nightly news here, just said that they had one piece of good news that they were cautiously optimistic about ~~they have studied the virus now and says it lacks an amino acid that is present in particularly virulent viruses such as the one in 1918. He also indicated that he thought that though it should obviously be taken seriously, that some in the media etc were probably overreacting to this. He also said they had learned that because this virus was similar to some previous virus, I can't remember all medical -ese about it, that they are also cautiously optimistic that some older people have some degree of immunity to it. Hope this helps a little. Finally, try to remember that as Christians, we are exhorted not to worry about anything but to pray about everything!

 

[TheMainException]

The media wants people to watch their channel, the governments want people behind them and obeying them, and the WHO just follows the prez's and prime ministers. Don't listen to the media. It's junk...all bunk, they are incredibly able to blow anything out of the water. It's so insane how they do that. Seriously, the chances of dying in a plane crash, car accident, fire, or maybe even struck by lightening are higher than getting this flu virus...the normal virus seems to affect many people people and that sweeps across the nation super fast...this has only hit 8 states in 5 days in the whole US and we are right above mexico, so it's not like the wind is bringing it up here or anything.

 

[Chococat]

Thanks to all who answered. I feel a lot better now but am trying my best to avoid the news like the plague as seeing another headline may cause me to start worrying again. IMO the problem is a combination of OCD, general stress/depression due to parental illness and the loss of 2 important friendships in my life, the "End Times" mania on that other board and maybe physical factors as I have just recovered from a mild tummy bug myself this week (not swine flu LOL!!!).

 

[TheMainException]

Thanks to all who answered. I feel a lot better now but am trying my best to avoid the news like the plague as seeing another headline may cause me to start worrying again. IMO the problem is a combination of OCD, general stress/depression due to parental illness and the loss of 2 important friendships in my life, the "End Times" mania on that other board and maybe physical factors as I have just recovered from a mild tummy bug myself this week (not swine flu LOL!!!).

It's really good that you are figuring out the factors that are combining to cause your worry...rationalize things out, it's a very good thing for those with OCD. And I respect your ability to ignore the media!

 

[Chococat]

Well praise God I am feeling so much better now. While I've avoided the news for almost a week my father tells me that SF is out of the news and has died down. I know that it has died down in Mexico, thank God. Staying away from that forum I mentioned has helped a lot as has reading psalm 91 which has been a real comfort to me.

 

[ObsessedButBlessed]

Well praise God I am feeling so much better now. While I've avoided the news for almost a week my father tells me that SF is out of the news and has died down. I know that it has died down in Mexico, thank God. Staying away from that forum I mentioned has helped a lot as has reading psalm 91 which has been a real comfort to me.

So glad it has died down in Mexico.. I'll be on the beach in Cancun in less than 8 weeks!

 

[Chococat]

Well I have recently been panicking about this again especially as 4 people have died of it in about 2 to 3 weeks. However all these people had other health problems as well. Also there has been one case in my home town and some medical person said there will be more! The media is once again trying to scare us all and the UK Chief Medical Officer is, allegedly, talking about 100,000 cases a week by the end of August. I try not to think of it but when I hear of another death I start getting scared. So I have to keep reminding myself that thousands of people die in road traffic accidents every week and the media ignores them. Also like some have said, thousands die of ordinary flu yearly. Still I'll be glad when a vaccine is available and just wish these hired medical people working for the government and the media scaremongers would go live on a desert island somewhere for all our sakes!

 

[keryakos]

Well I have recently been panicking about this again especially as 4 people have died of it in about 2 to 3 weeks. However all these people had other health problems as well. Also there has been one case in my home town and some medical person said there will be more! The media is once again trying to scare us all and the UK Chief Medical Officer is, allegedly, talking about 100,000 cases a week by the end of August. I try not to think of it but when I hear of another death I start getting scared. So I have to keep reminding myself that thousands of people die in road traffic accidents every week and the media ignores them. Also like some have said, thousands die of ordinary flu yearly. Still I'll be glad when a vaccine is available and just wish these hired medical people working for the government and the media scaremongers would go live on a desert island somewhere for all our sakes!

This is scary no doubt and i wont try to down play it is frightning because it brings you face to face with what happens after this life ..
even if you are assured of salvation which i hope you are still it is terrifing because in a sense you are dealing with the unkown

praying for you

 

[Chococat]

You hit the nail on the head there keryakos. That's a big part of the problem we just don't know what exactly we are dealing with here. OTOH I still believe many people in the media, government etc are hyping it for their own ends. The UK govt for instance, IMO, wants to be seen as "heroes" for "saving us all" from this terrible pestilence and thus hoping we'll all forget the pig's ear (excuse the pun!) they've made of the economy and thus get our votes in next year's general election.

 

[keryakos]

You hit the nail on the head there keryakos. That's a big part of the problem we just don't know what exactly we are dealing with here. OTOH I still believe many people in the media, government etc are hyping it for their own ends. The UK govt for instance, IMO, wants to be seen as "heroes" for "saving us all" from this terrible pestilence and thus hoping we'll all forget the pig's ear (excuse the pun!) they've made of the economy and thus get our votes in next year's general election.

thank you and you may very well be right about the rest but if that only should remind us to try though its not easy i know to base our fears on facts alone