With the constant media coverage of Swine flu a.k.a "H1N1" (I'm pretty sure the only difference in terminology is whether or not you reside at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave) it would be easy to assume that the hospitals in the US were filled with the dead or dying, but as Shane pointed out in a previous post, that is far from the truth. Swine flu is, at this stage, far less of a concern than the regular-old run of the mill seasonal flu. So why all the coverage? I certainly don't remember seeing news crews set up outside of hospitals waiting to get word that a patient has come down with a serious flu and may potentially die, but now it seems everything has changed. We have been bombarded with scare tactics that, if you only occasionally tune into the news, would frighten most Americans into running to the doctors at the slightest cough (or the E.R. for illegals). Though this is cause for concern among the elderly, those with weak immune systems or breathing problems, so is every flu that comes along in a regular season.
It it important to remember, that we have been through the pandemic scare not to long ago with the Avian flu. Who could forget the coverage of people in Asian cities looking like they were coming out of the O.R. post-op while walking through the streets? There was wide spread coverage of the possibility of a pandemic back then, a global killer that could spread anywhere, anytime, threatening society as we knew it. Avian Influenza A/(H5N1) Cumulative Number of Confirmed Human Cases As of September 24, 2009? Drum roll please...442! WOW! That is certainly enough to keep me from traveling and enjoying myself as I normally do!
All jokes aside, the Swine flu could mutate into something horrific, such as in the 1918–1919 strand, which caused ≈50 million deaths worldwide... but then again, we could be hit by a meteor, we could see California sink into the Ocean, or perhaps the sky itself may fall on us as we sail off the edge of the Atlantic, plummeting into the abyss of nothingness...........
The "Summer of the Shark" was kicked off by a bull shark biting off the arm of an 8-year-old boy on a Florida beach July 6, 2001. The Media feeding frenzy that ensued included news helicopters flying offshore to catch video of schools of sharks hunting prey... in the ocean. Huh, who would have thought? I figured the came onto shore when we weren't looking, to take advantage of the open late drive up window at Taco Bell, guess was mistaken. In some cases, reporters with news cameras were on the scene of shark bites before paramedics. The people of this country were paralysed with fear, staying out of the water, or canceling beach vacations all-together, running for the hills in case the evil finned creatures suddenly mutated and learned to walk on dry land! The TRUTH about the "Summer of the Shark"? I found an article on CNN.com of all places (it's from 2003 when they were marginally more respectable:
Scientists say people are more likely to be hurt by a hamster than by a shark...
Lost in the hoopla was the fact that in 2001 there were 13 fewer attacks worldwide than the year before, Burgess said. The same year, four human deaths were linked to shark bites compared with 13 in 2000...
"The public's fearful fascination with sharks is matched only by the media's google-eyed gullibility," Miami Herald columnist Carl Hiaasen wrote. "Hype [was] the inevitable result."
I think we stand to learn volumes from the ridiculous coverage of summer of 2001 and the Avian flu. These situations could be a reality, but without TRUE investigative journalism we are led to believe the ambulance chasers of the world. Though there is one thing that is far more treacherous regarding the coverage of the Swine flu, this time, the media seems to be following the lead of the Government. In following the governments word blindly, they have completely abandoned their role as watchdog and now that the fear has been put into the general public, Obama and company have declared a State of Emergency without much doubt that it is a necessity. The true motivations behind this have yet to be seen, but don't worry, in the coming weeks I will be applying my time tested method of following the money and considering the angle to get to the bottom of it.
8 comments:
What's interesting is, in this state of emergency, our dear leader has chosen to forego his own advice and not vaccinate his children. I say, what's good for the goose...
HM... that is interesting. I say that Obama should be hooked to an I.V. drip of the vaccine, then see how he feels...
PS.. don't mind the missing comment lol
The critical nature of H1N1 is not necessarily the number of deaths (HxNx is the scientific nomenclature for an influenza virus where H refers to the type of Hemagluttinin protein and N refers to the type of Neuraminidase protein. Influenza is passed to people through pigs and horses as well as other animals. Calling something swine flu doesn't narrow down which type of flu it is). Certainly this is a concern, however, there is a high degree of morbidity associated with this virus as well. The crucial point to the attention paid to this virus is that the majority of our nation (and the world in general) is that we have not been exposed to this type of influenza virus before. That means that we have no immunity from previous exposure, whether virus or vaccine. That taken with the fact that the peak incidence is likely to happen before the public is vaccinated causes great concern. With seasonal flu, peak occurs generally in December, long after target populations and those willing to get the vaccine have been vaccinated. With H1N1, the vaccine may not get here in time for most of us since it is predicted to peak in early November and the general public won't be able to get the vaccine until Nov-Dec (it takes 10-14 days for full protection from the H1N1 vaccine). Yes, seasonal flu is a major killer, between 30000 and 40000 americans die each year from complications with flu and should never be taken lightly. However, these deaths are mostly elderly, very young, or those with pre-existing health issues. H1N1 is targeting healthy young adults and kids with or without pre-existing conditions. Our elderly population has seen this type of virus before and has a natural protection to it. In addition, H1N1 is also targeting pregnant women regardless of the stage of their pregnancy (30% of death, only 5% of infections) whereas seasonal flu generally only seriously affects women in the third trimester.
Besides the morbidity/mortality associated (or predicted) for H1N1, there is a great concern for resources. Vaccine is limited, anti-virals are limited, hospitals and doctors offices are being flooded. If you think only illegal immigrants are going to the ER, think again. There are millions of legal americans without health insurance and thus no primary care physician. In addition, thanks to this economy, there are even more americans out of work and without insurance that now have no where else to go. It's not uncommon for the local ED to have a 24-48 hour waiting period just to be seen by a doctor because of the influx of patients. Some local hospitals are contracting with nearby hotels to use for overflow because there isn't enough room to treat patients coming in.
Some of this overwhelming response may in fact be due to the media scare. To that I say, have some common sense. If you are lucky enough to have a doctor, call first. If you have classic symptoms and a fever over 100, call your doctor first, don't put the rest of the public at risk if your doctor can simply phone in a prescription for you. If you are sick, STAY HOME. Cough into your elbow, PLEASE! Wash your hands repeatedly throughout the day.
Has the media and the CDC gone overboard. I think it's too early to tell. However, keep in mind, just because 100,000 Americans didn't die this year from H1N1 doesn't mean it wasn't a real threat. It may just mean that all the information available, all the media hype, all the attention given to it actually worked! At the end of the day, we want to prevent morbidity/mortality from H1N1, not see how bad it can get. Personally, I'm glad the government has paid this much attention to it. How awful would it be if we treated H1N1 like we did Katrina. I'll take the response of this president over the last any day.
I agree that it is something that the American people should be aware of, but putting the country into a "State of Emergency" I think is a bit excessive. There is a difference between being aware and full on obsession, which is what the media has inflated it to be.
there will always be the next big illness, paranoia will always be used to push the next big prevention. it is arguable that the "antibac" hysteria birthed supergerms and viruses mutate to survive. we'll never beat death with science ever and the government needs to back off and let the private sector turn to doctors they trust-whatever their reasons-instead of nannying us so much.
The very nature of viruses, especially RNA-viruses such as influenza is that they mutate. Even with out drugs, outside influence, etc. they would mutate. Yes, the overuse of anti-bacterials (when unnecessary, stop getting antibiotics when you have a viral infection people!) has led to drug resistant strains of bacteria. However, bacteria mutate far less frequently than viruses do and allow for scientists to stay on top of them (for the most part). Viruses will always mutate. We will always have a new virus, drug-resistant bacterial to worry about, however, it is public education that will allow us to prevail. If you think this is too much hype about H1N1, then why do we still have so many deaths from seasonal flu? There's no hype there and still plenty of death. Hmm. People still go to work with regular flu and infect every one else around them. If all the people at risk got the seasonal flu vaccine and were more aware of the risk they pose to others and were more careful how they conduct themselves (I cannot stand how many people sneeze and cough into the open air around me, especially on planes!), maybe seasonal flu rates would decrease as well. Very few people in this county get Bordetella pertusis infections anymore (whooping cough) because of the vaccination schedule given and better vaccines. If you think back through our country's history, parasites used to be a major cause for concern. However, through education, government measures, and public health officials, we no longer have a parasite problem in this country.
***update, the NYT said today that the WH changed their stance and that the girls have been vaccinated within the past week.
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