Swine flu confirmed on PAX showfloor

[Treyfish]

Author: <!-- Author Start -->Joe Martin<!-- Author End -->
Published: 9th September 2009 Comments (1) Email to a friend Stumble

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Reports of swine flu have now been confirmed on the show floor of the Penny Arcade Expo - run for your lives.

<!-- Article Start -->Rumours that cases of swine flu have been reported on the show at the on-going Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle have been confirmed by the shows organisers, with reps and staff being urged to report any symptoms they feel.

The H1N1 virus, commonly known as swine flu, has been classified as a pandemic since it first emerged in Mexico a few months ago and, while the vast majority of sufferers make a quick recovery with the aid of anti-virals, doctors urge caution when dealing with the potentially fatal virus.

"Just heard of our first test-confirmed swine flu case at the show. PLEASE if you feel symptoms (fever, etc) go to the doctor," said the official PAX twitter account this morning, alerting the 60,000+ attendees at the show to the problem.

"This is the real thing. If you get this number of people together in this close a proximity it is the perfect storm for these kind of wild fire virus spreads," Penny Arcade's Robert Khoo told Kotaku. "We just want to make sure everyone is informed."

At least one case has been confirmed by a doctor, with the patient apparently being a developer from a Boston-based studio.

The symptoms for swine flu include usual flu-like symptoms, including a sore throat, runny nose, body aches and headache as well as diarrhoea and vomiting. More information is available on the CDC website, so while we encourage :tiphat:http://www.bit-tech.net/news/gaming/2009/09/09/swine-flu-confirmed-on-pax-showfloor/1

 

[drummagick]

Re: Swine flu confirmed on PAX showfloor

My daughter was at PAX all weekend. She's a gaming nerd with a job in the business.

Wonder how she's feeling?

 

[Niko]

Re: Swine flu confirmed on PAX showfloor

My daughter was at PAX all weekend. She's a gaming nerd with a job in the business.

Wonder how she's feeling?

Keep us posted.

 

[drummagick]

Re: Swine flu confirmed on PAX showfloor

Keep us posted.

After I saw this article, I emailed it to her. Hour later I get a text, she's been sick since Monday. She says on Monday it felt like "a fat man was sitting on her chest", but that's eased up some. She's been in bed since Monday with a nasty cough, sore throat, slightly stuffy nose. But she feels
better than she did yesterday and she says it's not been all THAT bad.

I asked "Why didn't YOU CALL ME?!?!"

She says she didn't want me to worry.

 

[drummagick]

Re: Swine flu confirmed on PAX showfloor

PAX Swine Flu Outbreak Soars to Nearly 100 Cases of ?H1Nerd1′
By Gus Mastrapa September 9, 2009 | 3:16 pm | Categories: Events


With sick gamers documenting their illnesses on Twitter, the organizers of last weekend?s Penny Arcade Expo are urging everyone who attended to take an apparent swine flu outbreak seriously.

PAX organizers say they have confirmed nearly 100 cases of H1N1 virus infections, or swine flu, in the wake of the Seattle videogame convention, which drew approximately 75,000 gamers to the Washington State Convention and Trade Center between Sept. 4 and 6.

In an e-mail to Wired.com, Penny Arcade?s Robert Khoo urged attendees to take appropriate steps to keep from spreading the illness, ?especially if you?re around kids and the elderly. The folks that attend PAX are in their mid-twenties and therefore not nearly as susceptible to the more severe issues associated with the flu,? he said, ?but those around them might not (be).?

Twitter is abuzz with discussion of the outbreak, with hash tags #nerdflu and #paxflu being used to discuss PAX flu cases.

?Apparently the PAX swine flu outbreak is being called ?H1Nerd1,?? wrote Twitter user impsy.


Convention organizers are using the Penny Arcade website and the official PAX Twitter feed to keep attendees up to speed. Organizers ask that PAX attendees with doctor-confirmed cases report their illnesses and their flight information so they can update a growing list of outgoing flights that carried sick travelers.

Viruses can spread easily at conventions, where people ? their immune systems already weakened by travel, lack of sleep and strange foods ? are packed together.

?This is the real thing,? PAX?s Khoo told Kotaku. ?If you get this number of people together in this close a proximity it is the perfect storm for these kind of wildfire virus spreads.?

The state of Washington was already watching the spread of the disease closely: More than 2,000 college students at Washington State University reported symptoms similar to those caused by the H1N1 flu virus, according to The New York Times. The school is located in Pullman, on Washington?s eastern border, but shares a similar, young demographic with PAX.

Anyone who attended PAX and feels flulike symptoms should take appropriate steps to monitor their condition and avoid spreading the infection.

Photo from PAX 2007: Puja Parakh/Wired.com

http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2009/09/pax-swine-flu-outbreak-soars-to-nearly-100-cases-of-h1nerd1/

 

[drummagick]

Re: Swine flu confirmed on PAX showfloor

Look what PAX has going on their website!



We Just heard of our first test-confirmed swine flu case at the show. PLEASE if you feel symptoms (fever, etc) call your doctor.

-Gabe out

Flight List for those with Confirmed Cases:

Departed Sunday:
Alaska Airlines #664, Seattle to Dallas, Departed Sunday Night
JetBlue #498, Seattle to Boston, Departed Sunday Night
United #958, Seattle to Chicago, Departed Sunday Morning

Departed Monday:
Alaska Airline #12, Seattle to Boston, Departed Monday Morning
American Airlines #1414, Seattle to St. Louis, Departed Sunday Afternoon
American Airlines #1162, St. Louis to Chicago
Delta #1050, Seattle to Atlanta, Departed Monday Morning
Delta #1058, Seattle to Atlanta, Departed Monday Afternoon
Frontier #432, Seattle to Denver, Departed Monday Morning
Horizon #2475, Seattle to Santa Rosa, Departed Monday Afternoon
JetBlue #176, Seattle to New York, Departed Monday Morning
Northwest #154, Seattle to Minneapolis, Departed Monday Super Early morning
Southwest #1221, Seattle to Salt Lake City, Departed Monday Night
United #356, Seattle to Denver, Departed Monday Afternoon
United #416, Denver to Tulsa, Departed Monday Night
United #505, Denver to Albuquerque, Departed Monday Night
US Airways #685, Seattle to Phoenix, Departed Monday Morning
US Airways #156, Phoenix to St. Louis

Departed Tuesday:
Frontier #432, Seattle to Denver, Departed Tuesday Morning
Virgin #755, Seattle to San Francisco, Departed Tuesday Afternoon

Train List for those with Confirmed Cases:

Amtrak Coastal Starlight #11, Seattle to Los Angeles, Departed Monday Morning

The Department of Public Health also asked we link over to this site for more info on H1N1.

There are enough confirmed cases at this point to go ahead and take the necessary precautions if you have the symptoms.

http://www.penny-arcade.com/

 

[Jeremy]

Re: Swine flu confirmed on PAX showfloor

PAX Swine Flu Outbreak Soars to Nearly 100 Cases of ?H1Nerd1′
By Gus Mastrapa September 9, 2009 | 3:16 pm | Categories: Events


With sick gamers documenting their illnesses on Twitter, the organizers of last weekend?s Penny Arcade Expo are urging everyone who attended to take an apparent swine flu outbreak seriously.

PAX organizers say they have confirmed nearly 100 cases of H1N1 virus infections, or swine flu, in the wake of the Seattle videogame convention, which drew approximately 75,000 gamers to the Washington State Convention and Trade Center between Sept. 4 and 6.

In an e-mail to Wired.com, Penny Arcade?s Robert Khoo urged attendees to take appropriate steps to keep from spreading the illness, ?especially if you?re around kids and the elderly. The folks that attend PAX are in their mid-twenties and therefore not nearly as susceptible to the more severe issues associated with the flu,? he said, ?but those around them might not (be).?

Twitter is abuzz with discussion of the outbreak, with hash tags #nerdflu and #paxflu being used to discuss PAX flu cases.

?Apparently the PAX swine flu outbreak is being called ?H1Nerd1,?? wrote Twitter user impsy.


Convention organizers are using the Penny Arcade website and the official PAX Twitter feed to keep attendees up to speed. Organizers ask that PAX attendees with doctor-confirmed cases report their illnesses and their flight information so they can update a growing list of outgoing flights that carried sick travelers.

Viruses can spread easily at conventions, where people ? their immune systems already weakened by travel, lack of sleep and strange foods ? are packed together.

?This is the real thing,? PAX?s Khoo told Kotaku. ?If you get this number of people together in this close a proximity it is the perfect storm for these kind of wildfire virus spreads.?

The state of Washington was already watching the spread of the disease closely: More than 2,000 college students at Washington State University reported symptoms similar to those caused by the H1N1 flu virus, according to The New York Times. The school is located in Pullman, on Washington?s eastern border, but shares a similar, young demographic with PAX.

Anyone who attended PAX and feels flulike symptoms should take appropriate steps to monitor their condition and avoid spreading the infection.

Photo from PAX 2007: Puja Parakh/Wired.com

http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2009/09/pax-swine-flu-outbreak-soars-to-nearly-100-cases-of-h1nerd1/

Shows how the government still needs to do more to educate some people.

Someone might want to tell Mr Khoo that people in their mid twenties are the MOST susceptible to the effects from the H1N1.

 

[drummagick]

Re: Swine flu confirmed on PAX showfloor

Daughter is on the mend, after being sick almost a week. She says the last few days she has had some low grade nausea as well. Still coughing up lots of crud though.

She never did have much of a fever, if any, but did report episodes of feeling hot and then cold. no bad body aches. She says the worst of it was the coughing and fatigue.

One of my co-workers and her boyfriend had the exact same symptoms about 3 weeks ago. I came on shift right after her two days running and didn't catch it. As soon as she showed symptoms though, I was all over taking Airborne and Immune Defense EmergenC cocktails and elderberry syrup.