There seems to be a lot of concern among some health officials about this virus. The headline in today's Buenos Aires Herald is "BA, other areas declare emergency," and school classes have been suspended, people are being asked to stay at home if possible, and from what I am gathering some apartment brothels have been given protocols they should or must follow. I doubt Argentina is alone in its concern.

On the other hand, in the U.S. alone there are approximately (on average) 35,000 deaths from the flu or flu-related causes a year. Argentina presently has its collective panties in a bunch because 26 deaths in that country have been attributed to H1N1 (and didn't I recently read around 1 million people in the U.S. have already had the H1N1 flu?) So the question is why the concern: hysteria or something more reasonable?

On the more reasonable end of things, at least initially most of the deaths in Mexico were young people, suggesting the problem was something more than the usual elderly person with compromised immune systems dies from the flu. Also, at least during the early stages of H1N1 (and maybe this continues today) there was a fear it would somehow combine with bird flu to create an extremely dangerous hybrid. But with more data in, I am not sure whether these initial concerns were so reasonable ("I am not sure" reflects a state of ignorance on this, not that I believe one way or the other).

But today, as I sit in Buenos Aires, I am wondering whether to hit a casa (and potentially compromise my rigorous travel schedule over the course of the next month should I then come down with something serious), or, instead, amuse myself by staying in my room and among other diversions writing posts for Club Hombre.

Anyone have an informative perspective on this H1N1 thing they could share, particularly as it relates to our hobby?

(Message edited by LAguy on July 01, 2009)

Actually, the common flu has killed far more people than H1N1. People are treating this like the plague that killed 1/3 of Europe. It's silly.

Do I want to get it? No. But there are more risks with our hobby that Swine Flu...

Well, since I received no guidance to the contrary from anyone on the board, I decided yesterday, in direct violation of the recommendations of the Argentinean government health officials, to visit a casa. Although the casa is stocked primarily with Paraguayans who speak both Spanish and Portuguese, and therefore qualify as quasi-Brasileiras, I had the misfortune of unknowingly picking a girl who was Argentinean. More on that in another report.

Anyway, I am happy to report I survived the encounter without any ill effects. I am beginning to believe this H1N1 thing is overblown, and I again want to express my gratitude to the many members of this board who refrained from joining the hysteria to advise me against the casa visit. And I must say . . . hey I'm feeling a bit faint so if this doesn't make sense please . . . . arrrrrrrghbluuuuuuh, damn that's the first time I vomited in years . . . I hope the hotel maid doesn't mind . . . is that a white tunnel I'm seeing . . . whooosh . . . Michael, dug your music, just didn't go for the behavior . . . I thought you were dead . . . is it me or is it getting really really hot in here???

I've found that, after fucking over 1,200 women, some of whom I did not use a condom, I don't really worry about things like H1N1.

Cat: Is it okay if I put that in a medical journal?

Laguy,

there's a perfectly good reason why I did not respond.......[damn, he's ok]

Now we know why over 1200 women have been to the health clinic requesting any and all available anti-botics! [And this doesen't take into account the possibility of a random Ladyboy or two]

Nope, all women between the ages of 18 and 33 at the time of said fucking. The only one that I know of that isn't up and walking around is one of my ex's from high school who died in a car wreck about 18 years ago. Otherwise, hey, they were health the last time I saw them.

But no need for concern at all, yesterday was blood draw day at 4x4, so all the girls will have their full results back in a week or so. If all the girls I know are still there in a couple of weeks, then everything's A-OK with me too.

Cat,

interesting, that's the most nondescript way of getting an STD test I have ever heard of.

CFK

I wonder whether Cat can get a health certificate out of it.

I think this H1N1 is a bunch of bullshit....it is a a type of flu. Catching H1N1, the cold, or whatever, is certainly multiplied with extended exposure to people. Making out with putas certainly increases the chance of catching the flu, cold, H1N1 or whatever, but I still think the chances are small and not enough to warrant concern.

If you are OVERLY worried about catching something, this certainly is the wrong hobby for you. Otherwise continue business as usual.

Probably my biggest fear presently is catching the thing and not getting into one of the six countries I'm scheduled to visit the next six weeks. Some countries are taking the temperatures of everyone before you can get to immigration, and have doctors checking as you come off the plane. Depending on how this thing develops, we may also see more quarantines of passengers who either have H1N1 or were on a plane with someone who does, or is suspected of having it.

So some concern is warranted among those of us who travel a lot, but the appropriate level of concern really depends on how widely this thing is apt to spread and what types of actions the various governments take (or don't take) that might affect travelers.

Just to be safe I have been using condoms any time I fuck a barn yard swine these days.

Actually, this is the type of information I was looking for:

Study: New flu inefficient in attacking people

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090702/ap_on_he_me/us_med_swine_flu_research_4

Hopefully, it won't mutate in such a way as to change the conclusion of the above study.

World's oldest condom

The oldest surviving condom in the world has gone on display in an Austrian museum.



The reusable condom dates back to 1640 and is completely intact, as is its orginal users' manual, written in Latin.

The manual suggests that users immerse the condom in warm milk prior to its use to avoid diseases.

The antique, found in Lund in Sweden, is made of pig intestine and is one of 250 ancient objects related to sex on display at the Tirolean County Museum in Austria this summer. Anyone care to test drive this baby, it obviously has a few stories to tell, and more importantly WORKS!

But turning back to the topic of this thread, the relevance is that because it was made of pig intestines it could give you swine flu?

Or are you suggesting in an ironic twist that IAS should use a condom made of pig intestines when he does a program with a swine?

And Hemp always said they didn't have condoms back when he was in his teens. I guess he was wrong.

Yeah Cat I guess they did? Kind of looks familiar now but you know how the memory (among other things) goes when you get old. - Hemp

Hemp,

You don't remember the first time you had sex... you kept the receipt!