swine flu information

Hey Everybody,

The swine flu thing is an important concern right now and the information about it is really hard to find sometimes. I've found a little bit of info and wanted to share it, please pass on anything you have as well, or let me know if you notice anything amiss. I'd love to know the rest. Elizabeth and I went to a talk last week by a U of W prof on infectious disease, and I've been doing a lot of research.

What we heard in the talk is this: the contagiousness of a virus is represented by a figure R subscript zero, (read r not.) The models run for studying swine flu (H1N1) put the R0 between 1.3 and 1.6. If swine flu is at 1.6 then the peak of incidence (the most people coming down with it) would take place and begin to subside before the vaccines have been administered enough to make any recognizable difference in the spread of the virus (we would have missed our chance and vaccinating for no reason, these narrow windows is one of the reasons that vaccines get out to the public with so little clinical trial information). The other end of the accepted values of the R0 (1.3) put the peak of incidence later and by that time aggressive vaccination practices will have lowered the numbers considerably, predicted to be about 5 million fewer cases of the swine flu. Of those 5 million swine flu in the US has been killing about 0.01% of the people it infects I'll leave the math up to you. So the bottom line: the R0 is right on the line between making the virus useless this winter and making it valuable. We can't be sure.

Another factor to consider here is that if the R0 is 1.6 and we missed our window for prevention this winter, we still may get benefit from it when the H1N1 virus resurfaces next fall. We also may not get benefit. Any influenza type virus changes rapidly and by next fall the vaccine currently available may not be useful against its new form. Again, maybe, maybe not helpful.

Another thing to concern is the long term life resistance. People that were around back in '57 seem to have a much higher baseline immunity to the current H1N1 virus. Apparently there was something going around then that was similar enough to the H1N1 that it created immunity. If someone is vaccinated now we don't know that they will have that type of life time resistance. Although we don't know they won't. The chances, in my opinion, of having lifetime resistance is much higher with nature exposure, and not with the vaccine. Just my opinion.

The treatment of choice for swine flu once it has been contracted is Tamiflu. It must be administered within 48 hrs of onset of symptoms. If you decide not to vaccinate yourself or your children check out the symptoms and make sure you know them by heart. Straight from the Center for Disease Control the symptoms are:

"fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. Some people may have vomiting and diarrhea. People may be infected with the flu, including 2009 H1N1 and have respiratory symptoms without a fever."

The safety of Vaccines:
The vaccines available to the public have all been given the stamp of approval by all the powers that be. If you, like me, aren't put entirely at ease by that then here is some information you may want.

Thimerosol: This is the preservative added to vaccines in the past that have generated such a frenzy with links to autism in children. The harm was thought to be due to the high level of mercury included in them and when given to an infant or small child that is still in the stages of neurological development significant harm was thought to be done. This is included in many of the vaccines for H1N1. As far as I know the only vaccine that doesn't contain this is the Flumist nasal vaccination for children. I should note for fairness that there were plenty of studies done that exonerated Thimerosol, as well as the ones that incriminated it.

Squalene: this was thought by some to be a big culprit in Gulf War Syndrome and has been accused of causing all sorts of other things from Lou Gehrig's disease to fibromyalgia. Again, studies prove that there is no connection. Squalene occurs naturally in humans, and most biological organisms with moderate complexity. When obtained for commercial purposes it comes from shark liver oil, and therefore may contain high levels of mercury. To my knowledge Squalene hasn't been approved for use general use in the United States (correct me if you know otherwise).

Flumist: of all the vaccines this one is significantly different. The vaccines are all dead viruses (meaning that they need a preservative to maintain the purity of it) except this one which is live virus. As the virus is alive no preservative could be added or else the harsh chemicals would kill the virus. While it is alive it is attenuated, meaning weakened to avoid actually causing an illness. Also it is a nasal spray rather than an injection. The nasal mucosa contains a large number of immune system cells in a place where the body can be exposed to it without causing a full blown infection. Evolutionarily that's what all that snot is for. Our digestive systems do similar work studying and making antibodies for bugs that come in with our food. Increasing our resistance. It's a more natural approach than an injection, more in line with what our bodys' expect. There are however some dangers associated with this vaccine. 1.) As it is a live virus, if it were given to a child with a compromised immune system it is possible that it could precipitate an infection with the virus. 2.) as it is a live virus it is thought possible to shed the virus and possibly infect others with a compromised immune system in contact with the vaccinated person. However, given the possible dangers associated with high levels of mercury in other vaccines, if I was to get vaccinated or if I had children that I wanted to get vaccinated, and I thought the R0 closer to 1.3, I would chose this as, in my judgment the safest option.

If you chose not to get vaccinated or to not have your children vaccinated you can do a lot of things to improve your chances of not being infected. There are all the obvious things: wash your hands, carry around hand sanitizer for all those things touched by a million people everyday (think the door handle at the mall, be the way we health nerds call them "fomites"). Avoid activities and life styles that are going to tax your immune systems or run down your general energy reserves (get enough sleep, eat healthy, not processed, exercise, laugh: found to increase immunity, make love: found to increase immunity (assuming of course you aren't making love to everybody), relax: found to increase immunity). Other things you can do: take the chinses herbal formula Yu Ping Feng San, eat the following regularly: daikon radish, radish, ginger, mint, chrysanthemum tea, and Cinnamon. These are foods that from a Chinese Medical standpoint coincide with the energetic nature of fall, and act to release pathogenic factors from the surface layers of the energetic anatomy.

Stay well. Pass any questions or additional info on, as I'd love to know the rest.

Kieran Jones

The rest of the Ecuador story

Oh my god. I can't believe it took me this long to finish this thing. Wow. Sorry to anyone that is actually reading this. Here's the rest. We went from Quito to Latacunga to set up the climb of Cotopaxi with a local guide company, and to catch a bus to Chugchilan, a small village tucked in the Andes where we'd stay for 3 days before returning to climb Cotopaxi.

Our tour of the Andes involved going around something called the Quilotoa loop. It's a dirt loop from the main PanAmerican highway, out to a high elevation volcanic caldera lake and back. We stayed a few nights in the town of Chugchilan which is at the far point of the loop and relaxed, went for short hikes and got acclimatized. We stayed at a hostel called Mama Hildas. Every night children from the very small village of Chugchilan would go to our hostel and pull us outside and put on a dance demonstration wearing traditional garb and with traditional music. Very cute. they'd pull in a few of the unsuspecting tourists into the dance one by one, until everyone is spinning in a circle holding hands. When we were done dancing, dinner would be on the table inside and we would eat and drink and talk with the other travelers in Mama Hilda's small communal area. It was the nicest place we stayed for our whole trip. One morning at 4am, we caught the bus from Chugchilan to the town of Quilotoa, 15 miles away, and the location of the Quilotoa Lake, a 300km wide caldera. It was a little unsettling getting dropped off at 5:30 in the morning on the side of a rural road in the Andes at 11,000 feet in pitch black darkness. We stepped off the bus and nearly stepped right off the 45 foot cliff, seriously, not 8 feet from where our feet stepped out of the bus. We froze for about 40 minutes in Quilotoa waiting for the sun to come up. We were huddled together in a stick and straw stall used for the market, teeth chattering. When we could see enough to walk we started out on the trail around the lake. It was a grueling several hour hike made all the more difficult by the 13,000 feet that we were hiking at, and the loose dirt walkway. Painful as it was, it was important acclimatization in preparation for the peak of Cotopaxi, which at over 19,000 feet is the worlds tallest volcano. On our way out of Chugchilan we stopped at the town of Saquisili to go to the market, which was supposedly the best, most authentic market to be had in the Andes, where we saw some interesting things, and cool wares, but we were painfully aware of the effect that tourism has had on this "authentic" market which now seemed to be mainly selling the same overpriced knick knacks and alpaca sweaters that the locals can't afford, or wouldn't wear if they could. There was however a whole other side of the market where we could still see the whole fried pig head being sold, and my favorite, the line of old men and peddle driven sewing machines making a few bucks mending and altering things people brought up. We got a few things, a sweater, some socks and some other gifts for people back home, and were off for Latacunga. We got back to Latacunga, an incredible little city in the Andes which has been buried by the eruption of the nearby volcano Cotopaxi multiple times in the past several centuries. We know that because an old man at the Latacunga museum talked to us for maybe an hour and a half, in Spanish. Which we don't fully understand...and he would quiz us on what he already said. So we really had to pay attention. We got the parts about multiple eruptions and about the Mama Negra festival (especially when he pulled up the manequin's shirt to show that she had breasts), but for the most part it was gibberish, 90 minutes of it. We were exhausted trying to maintain attention to a nice old man while struggling to understand what he's saying. The next morning, we linked back up with the guide company and were off for Cotopaxi, which would be the crowning grand finally of our trip, before we headed back to unemployment, bills, and the rest of the reality of life back in the States. Elizabeth who hadn't been planning on climbing Cotopaxi decided at the last second, to go ahead and try, as the price was less than we had thought it would be.

We drove up to the refugio at 4800 meters, (15,750 feet). And had a small dinner, some conversation and headed to bed for a few hours of anxious restless sleep. We woke at midnight and had a quick breakfast and were out the door. We had a half hour hike to the glacier, then several more hours of glacier travel to the peak. When we woke, Elizabeth hadn't been feeling well and about an hour into the hike up the the glacier the guide asked Elizabeth how she was feeling. She was very nauseous so the guide told her that she would just get worse if she continued and if she had to turn back, I would have to turn back too. She ended up going back to the refuge before we got to the glacier, and spent the day nursing some serious nausea and stomach ache and headache she was always on the verge of puking but never did. The rest of our crew headed up towards the glacier, strapped on our crampons and pulled out our axes for the rest of the climb. We were roped up in a team of two and one of three. A guide and I on one rope, and the two Canadians we were with and another guide on the second rope. The climb was pretty simple, only a few crevasses to hop and pretty narrow. We made the peak just as the sun was coming up. Unfortunately it was completely socked in and we couldn't see a thing. The way back was pretty quick. we got back in an hour and a half or so. After rousing Elizabeth from bed and eating all the food in sight we got back in the truck to head back to Latacunga. Apparently the Cherokee we were in was having some trouble with the altitude and it was a damn lucky thing it was downhill for the next ten miles so we coasted stalled and sputtered, losing brake assist and power steering every few minutes. It was perhaps the most thrilling part about climbing Cotopaxi.
Eventually we got back to Latacunga, then to Guayaquil (10 hours on a bus) then to Miami (4 hours) then to San Fransisco (5 hours). The I drove to Bremerton (14 hours). So with climbing I traveled for a total of 42 hours in four days. After which I drove to Bellingham to climb the 9 thousand foot peak Mt. Shuksan with my brother Chad and spread our father's ashes. It ended up being the perfect finish to the trip.
Here we are in Bremerton now living it up, and looking for jobs and a place to live in Seattle. Hopefully we'll have another adventure very very soon.

blue footed boobies, masked boobies, and other exciting sights

We´ve been in the galapagos for a week or so now. We spent our first couple of days cruising around the island of Santa Cruz. One day we hiked out to Tortuga Bahia (turtle bay) for snorkling and general beach going. There were massive marine iguanas on the trail between us and our destination. They were all black and red and brown and peeling, piled on top of each other, crawling over one another...and spitting. When anyone got too close to them they would spit at them. Don´t really know what the deal with the spit is, luckily we never got got. The next day I had a surf at a decent sized beach break, and realized I'm not in surfing shape right now, but it was great to be in the water...blue water, sun, trunking it south of the equator, mmmmm. Another day we took a tour to another island, a two hour boat ride south of us, Isla Floreana. We were welcomed to the dock by a snoozing sea lion blocking the top of the stairs. We hiked around the old port then took a bus ride into the highlands where we saw tortoises, pirate caves, coffee growing, and the homes of the original settlers. We returned to the boat and saw a sea turtle swimming at the surface. We rode around the island while the guide pointed out penguins, blue-footed boobies, masked boobies, frigate birds, and tropic birds. We finished the tour with some snorkeling which was incredible. Besides all the interesting tropical fish, there were a half dozen sea lions that were very playful and would swim around and around us. One of them got so close to Elizabeth that she could have reached out and kissed it. When we got back on the boat Elizabeth was freezing. Her hands were shaking so bad she could hardly get a banana into her mouth. On the boat trip back a pod of dolphins came up to check us out and we floated there for a while watching them jump and play all around the boat. When we started going again they followed us for a ways, jumping out of the water at the bow of the boat. A day later, we took a boat out to Isabela island which is much less touristy than Santa Cruz. They don´t even have a bank! Unfortunately, we didn´t bring enough money but we explored the island and had fun with the rations we had. We hiked along a boardwalk through some salt marshes, mangrove forests, and drier scrub brush which led us to a tortoise breeding center. As we walked along, we kept hearing a groaning/moaning sound and thought there might be cows around. We got to the last large tortoise enclosure and realized the sounds were coming from a male tortoise mounting an unwilling female. The breeding center was clearly successful! We then hiked up the beach and onto a trail for about 4 hours to a wall built by prisoners...it´s called the ¨Wall of Tears¨and was built for no apparent reason other than to make the prisoners work. On our hike, we explored a lava tube (Kieran actually took his shoes off and went into the abyss), saw more huge iguanas, some little fishies in tide pools, and ran into some wild tortoises. We then decided to take a dip in a calm ocean pool just off of the harbor. We swam out to some lava rocks and watched shrimp nibble at our feet. We´re back on Santa Cruz island now and may rent some bikes and go to the highlands. We´re off to Quito tomorrow and then to Latacunga in the Andes where we´ll travel around small mountain towns and hike through the cloudforest. Kieran will try his luck at summiting Cotopaxi volcano while I lounge in the lodge. We´ll try to update this again, but there probably won´t be internet in the Andes. If we don´t post again, you´ll just have to wait until we get back to hear about the rest of our trip.

Guayaquil, heckling street performs, and hole digging

I arrived in Guayaquil yesterday and met Elizabeth at the airport. When we got back to the hotel (cab ride oddly reminiscent of mario cart) she got us we discovered we were both famished and wandered out in search of a bite to eat. It was late and there wasn't going to be a lot of options. The large crowd down the street seemed a good start, so we wanderd over to see what was happening. Upon arriving at the edge of the crowd the street performer (street heckler perhaps is more telling) immediately sighted us as possible suckers for his donation pile. He discovered that we were american and Elizabeth and I served as the fodder for several following jokes to get his crowd rolling, hoping to embarass us into giving him money? Nothing like arriving in a foreign country and within the hour having a crowd of fifty people all looking at you and laughing. I considered it an honorable welcome. When his back and attention were turned we snuck away and were on our way to a meal.

The next morning we took a two hour plane ride to the galapagos. A couple busses and a ferry ride and we have arrived. Elizasbeth has been giddy like a three year old mexican girl on spicy candy. It's a big deal. As Elizabeth puts it, it's a pilgrimage to the biology holy land. On a not so holy note, or maybe more of a holy shit note, yesterday night she told me a tale of honor and malice, daring and deciet, the story of a surfer on a beach with seriously bad game. I'm passing the keyboard to her to fill you in...I was laying on the beach in Montañita enjoying a book and the company of a stray dog when an Ecuadorian surfer walked over and said "como estas?" I was unaware that answering him was an invitation for him to plop down stretched out inches from my face. He proceeded to dig a small hole to lay upon...I wasn't quite sure what he was doing but I would eventually find out. He proceeded to stare at my butt and tell me I had nice "curvas" and "piel" (curves and skin). I changed the subject and started teaching him a bit of english but he just kept staring longingly at my butt. I tried to get rid of him and ignore him but couldn't get him to leave until my friends came over. When he finally got up and left, my friend said "did that dude have a hard-on?" I then explained that he had dug a hole for it when he first laid down but I couldn't verify the reason until he finally left. We all had a huge laugh over it. We later discovered 4 boys laying chest down at the water's edge staring up at us...maybe they all had penis holes as well. Good times! We'll write more of our adventures later.

Miami....ah

Wandering off a 757 at 4:30am with eye boogers blocking your vision is a bad start to any day. Make that world that your walking into dense with humidity and heat. Make the coffee weak, and take away nearly everyone's ability to speak english. Bad right? Okay now have all the men trade in their pants for speedos. Sounds like a twisted nightmare right? That my friends is Miami, and the world I stepped into when I got off my plane in Miami for my 9 hour layover. Elizabeth's been busy in Ecuador going to a wedding and seeing the sights for a week now while I stayed home and took care of cleaning our house and the rest of moving out. Now after a red-eye from SFO I'm in Miami a mere 4 hours more from my destination, but I already feel like I'm in a different country! When we meet tonight, Elizabeth has us a room at a hostel and hopefully we'll be able to enjoy a little bit of guayaquil tonight. We're on a plane to the galapagos in the morning. I can hardly wait. The plan right now is to be in the galapagos till the 16th, do some hiking till the 21st on the mainland, then climb Cotopaxi on the 22nd after getting appropriately acclimatized.

Southbound and down!

I'm heading to Ecuador in a week. There's a climb of Cotopaxi, the 19,000 foot volcano, a trip to the Galapagos (my evolution, marine biology buff girlfriend is very excited), a trip around the Quilotoa Loop, a trip to a rural open air market, and possibly mountain biking in the Andes in the itinerary. It should be a stellar trip as well as a much deserved chance to scrub those grad school blues from my head, and of course put off the whole getting a job thing for a while. We will be returning to civilized society late August, and we'll keep you posted on our trials, tribulations and jubilant excursions till then. To all, be well and enjoy yourselves. Let me know if you need anything from the other side of the equator.

motorcycle trials followed by man camp

Just got back from a trip to Bremerton with a truck full of our possessions, then a motorcycle ride back. After riding over a thousand miles in four days I've discovered why bikers always seem so rough. It's because they've just spent however many hours getting beat to shit by 75 mph wind. In Sausalito, a mere few hours from being home, I couldn't go on. It was 10:30pm the wind was blowing the fine mist of the bay area straight into my spine and I would fall asleep if I wasn't shivering so much. I stopped at the first restaurant I saw, an Outback, and after eating asked the nearest soul if I could borrow his phone to make a call, since mine had gone dead the previous day. That's when a pretty startling coincidence happened. I gave him the number to put in to his phone for me. To his surprise when he put in the number the name Tim jumped up on his screen. Because he knew my friend, in fact had been speaking to him earlier that day. Turns out he was walking my friends parents dogs while they were out of the country, and knew not only the person I was calling, but where I was going, could describe how to get there, and even knew the code to get in the gate. As random as it is to go from the city of San Fransisco to Sausalito to have drinks, and even then to go to of all place the Outback Steak House? I thought it was pretty cool.
After having a few drinks with Tim that night I was in Santa Cruz at a resonable hour the next day. Mancamp was happening that weekend and I took a few hours to gather some things and was driving towards Ukiah in short time. Ironicly enough at about the same time the day before I was near Ukiah wishing I was in Santa Cruz, and here I was driving again towards Ukiah. Mancamp was the perfect recipe for my health after that endurance race of motorcycle pain. Man camp was a blistering haze of sun dappling through madrona onto the poison oak below. Long days of cribbage were punctuated by dips in the river and games of horse shoes. Yesterday I returned to santa cruz finally and found a recent swell was here waiting for me to return. This life after school stuff is great.