Guys, please take this in the spirit intended. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control, the state of Texas is showing widespread influenza activity right now. A packed convention floor is a very favorable environment for viral disease transmission, especially with all the handshaking and physical contact. Please consider taking precautions beyond your flu shot, which you should have had by now. We're talking frequent hand washing, care coughing and or sneezing into the arm of your shirt -- and just staying home and missing the convention if you feel like you are coming down with a bug. I had real influenza some years ago, and the only time I was sicker was when I developed a case of mycoplasm pneumonia that about killed me. I watched my father die of H1N1 on my birthday in 2012. This is a merciless killer if it gets a good start, so please be careful and have a safe convention. Wishing you all a healthy 2018.

I have found that the whisky drunk on the floor and in the evenings will take care of any germs.

Those are good points year round not just where there are a lot of folks around.

This is very interesting!

I considered going to DSC convention rather than SCI because last year during me 2nd day SCI convention I started feeling ill. Spent the next day in my hotel room before going home. I was so ill I didn't think I could make it to airport ( I probably spread my germs too)!

Turns out I had contracted pneumonia and was very ill for weeks. Not saying I can prove I contacted it at the convention, but the memories of being so sick, have kept me from going to the show this year after attending for many years.

In this day and age and epidemics easily traveling the world, be cautious about the possibility of picking up a bug!

Best regards, D. Nelson

I think I caught something at the last years SCI show that lasted until the summer.The symptoms first appeared at the show.Dizziness,weakness,etc..It was a mean bug.I have not had a drink or a coffee since.Someone I know caught something similar that lasted for about the same time.The worst time I got sick was right after attending a hockey game.I caught something of a lung bug and was coughing 24hrs/day for a whole year.I spent a lot of time in bed that year reading African hunting books.It made me put on around 50lbs.I thought I would not make it through that.

Think I will slip a bottle of hand sanitizer in my pocket before I go.

quote:

Originally posted by shootaway:
I think I caught something at the last years SCI show that lasted until the summer.The symptoms first appeared at the show.Dizziness,weakness,etc..It was a mean bug.I have not had a drink or a coffee since

With all the varieties of breeds in the chicken farming industry going on in Vegas you might have caught a mild form of Avian Flu.

A little caution goes a long way. I know several exhibitors who got very sick at the end of SCI last year. I started getting sick which turned into full fledged pneumonia.

Hand sanitizer is not a bad idea. It is very little effort for the potential rewards.

I never got sick. I must’ve got lucky or I must’ve consumed just enough sanitizer to keep the bugs at bay

Getting to the convention can be just as problematic. Aircraft are germ pits! The first thing I do when taking my seat in a plane is to wipe down the area with a saintizing wipe. And, yes, wash my hands a lot.

I don't buy that washing your hands many times helps.It might be worst because you will remove all the natural oil barrier from your skin.It's the contaminated air you are breathing that you can do nothing about.

I recently read that airplane seat belt buckles and the tray tables are the number 1 and 2 worst transmitters. So getting to either convention might be as bad or worse than hanging out on the floor. I do the wipe down procedure in my seat on every flight. On my first couple of trips to Africa we came down with "traveler's flu", which was clearly something contracted in the flying incubator.

I suggest that you get your flu, pneumonia and other shots; then all of you buy and wear face masks. That way, everyone will know who is an AR member!

quote:

Originally posted by shootaway:
I think I caught something at the last years SCI show that lasted until the summer.The symptoms first appeared at the show.Dizziness,weakness,etc..It was a mean bug.I have not had a drink or a coffee since.Someone I know caught something similar that lasted for about the same time.The worst time I got sick was right after attending a hockey game.I caught something of a lung bug and was coughing 24hrs/day for a whole year.I spent a lot of time in bed that year reading African hunting books.It made me put on around 50lbs.I thought I would not make it through that.

If viral infections last 6-12 months for you, you might want to have your immune system checked for a certain virus...Of course the immune deficiency problem i am thinking of usually causes weight loss

quote:

Originally posted by shootaway:
I think I caught something at the last years SCI show that lasted until the summer.The symptoms first appeared at the show.Dizziness,weakness,etc..It was a mean bug.I have not had a drink or a coffee since.Someone I know caught something similar that lasted for about the same time.The worst time I got sick was right after attending a hockey game.I caught something of a lung bug and was coughing 24hrs/day for a whole year.I spent a lot of time in bed that year reading African hunting books.It made me put on around 50lbs.I thought I would not make it through that.

You didn’t catch it at the show it takes a few days for the virus to incubate, more then likely on the plane there

I catch a little "bug" every year, I think iyt's a combination of thousands of people from all over the world, lots of stress and not enough sleep. Only lasts for a few days. Many if not most of the DSC volunteers catch a slight cold or something.
I, too, try to consume a bit of "medicine" during the show, who knows, it might help.

Karl, a dose of Bombay Sapphire with tonic water is a known restorative and preventative. Highly recommended. Repeat at frequent intervals.

Bill,
I keep a bottle of Bombay Saphire in my freezer just for this purpose. I'll have a dollop or two in your honor.

quote:

Originally posted by K Evans:
I catch a little "bug" every year, I think iyt's a combination of thousands of people from all over the world, lots of stress and not enough sleep. Only lasts for a few days. Many if not most of the DSC volunteers catch a slight cold or something.
I, too, try to consume a bit of "medicine" during the show, who knows, it might help.

Ditto, sir.

Thanks for your concern, but I guess I still think I'm bullet proof. Would be a hell of a thing if I died of the flu!

The flu strain this year is expected to be pretty bad. Even flu shots are not supposed to be effective on certain strains. A little caution might save a lot of misery.

I've had friends die of the flu that were much younger than me. Don't take any risks if at all possible-that's my advice.

Juniper berries have a long history in disease control, particularly the plague.

Yes, Gin IS a proven preventative medicine. It's not the alcohol, it is the berry.

BTW, Use crushed juniper berries and crocodile excrement for a contraceptive....

Have fun!

Buffalo, don't discount the therapeutic benefits of the quinine in the tonic water, either.
Larry, your comment is on point. Australia finishes its flu season just as ours gets going and they had a rough one, with this year's vaccine only 10 percent effective against the most virulent type A H3N2 strain.

http://www.latimes.com/science...ason-h3n2-story.html

Vaccines On the Go booth 224, I get my flu and a B12 shot their every year.

Are you serious? Vaccines take some days to become effective. So getting them at the show is completely wasted during the show. And B12 shots are a long standing joke to make money for providers with no known benefits unless you have pernicious anemia.Similar to the bullshit theory about mega doses of vitamin C curing the common cold. Linus Pauling missed that one big time...

Biggest concern I have with DSC is wondering why on earth they would schedule their show on the last weekend of TX deer season? I know they schedule shows far in advance, but everyone with a clue knows TX deer season always ends on the first weekend of January.

quote:

Originally posted by JGRaider:
Biggest concern I have with DSC is wondering why on earth they would schedule their show on the last weekend of TX deer season? I know they schedule shows far in advance, but everyone with a clue knows TX deer season always ends on the first weekend of January.

Your are correct about having to schedule years in advance, dates have to be planned to not conflict with other groups conventions, too.
Maybe we would have better luck convincing the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission to close deer season a week earlier

My wife and I had our flu shots several months ago and both came down with the flu a few weeks ago. Turns out the vaccine is for Influenza B and we came down with Influenza A (I think I contracted it while traveling in the Southeast U.S.). Now, let me tell you that bug was evil. I have only been sicker one time when I came down with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.

This flu kicked us badly. Be cautious - it is not a small thing.

This year’s flu vaccine is well known to be only about 10% effective against the various flu strains out there. Better than nothing, but just barely.