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Swine flu breaks out at PAX

Started by Funky Cold Adina, Sep 11 2009 10:04 AM

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#1 Funky Cold Adina

The funky cold one

The Staff
3,898 posts

Posted 11 September 2009 - 10:04 AM

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.f

Although the information and recommendations in this post are presented in good faith and believed to be correct, creator of this post takes no responsibility as to the completeness or accuracy of aforementioned information. This post is supplied upon the condition that the persons receiving it will make their own determination as to its suitability for their purposes prior to use. In no event will the poster be responsible for damages or feelings of any nature whatsoever resulting from the reading of the above post. The poster makes no commitment to update or correct any information that appears on the Internet or on this World-Wide Web server.

The poster also makes no commitment to give a shit about your opinions or feelings. Suck it up or get off the net.

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#2 Sandy is my wizard

The Walrus

The Staff
11,667 posts

Posted 11 September 2009 - 03:17 PM

That's comedy gold.

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#3 Funky Cold Adina

The funky cold one

The Staff
3,898 posts

Posted 11 September 2009 - 04:26 PM

My brother was supposed to be there, but had to miss it due to a trip to the hospital.

Although the information and recommendations in this post are presented in good faith and believed to be correct, creator of this post takes no responsibility as to the completeness or accuracy of aforementioned information. This post is supplied upon the condition that the persons receiving it will make their own determination as to its suitability for their purposes prior to use. In no event will the poster be responsible for damages or feelings of any nature whatsoever resulting from the reading of the above post. The poster makes no commitment to update or correct any information that appears on the Internet or on this World-Wide Web server.

The poster also makes no commitment to give a shit about your opinions or feelings. Suck it up or get off the net.