Swine Flu and The Media

[Konrad]

Ok, it's a bad deal that some people (less than a hundred) world-wide have died from the Swine Flue.

I'm not posting about that.

What I AM posting about is the way media latches on to something or another, and turns it into the apocalypse.  Seriously, look at the facts about the "regular" flu:  Approximately 36,000 people die every year in the U.S. from the regular flu.  Yes, you read that right:  Thirty six thousand. 

That's a hundred people every single day.  (source:  Center for Disease Control website)

How does the Swine Flu merit such wild-eyed paranoia for less than a hundred deaths world-wide, over a one month period, yet 36,000 deaths every danged year is just 'business as usual'...??

The media is dumb.

[Oyster]

I agree. But as we have witnessed all along, the water bucket with an agenda closely relating to the master plan is actively working 24/7. The next on the plate is to tear down the healthcare system in this country since they have almost finished off the auto industry and the banks. The hysteria induced reporting fits this part to the tee. Listen to the speaches this week and they tell you that a crisis helps them also with this. YMMV.

[Greg Luckett]

Konrad, I liked your point so much that I stole it and posted it on my Facebook wall.  I did enclose it in quotations, but did not put your name on it in case you wanted to keep more private.  Your point is very well made.  Thank you for making it.

[John Weigandt]

When you lose 100 people out of the first thousand or so, that makes the WHO and other health authorities perk their ears up a bit more.

Yes the media is overblowing the story so far,  but it is also quite possible with this one that the sky IS falling.

It will be interesting to see what the death rates are in the more developed world, where we may go to the doctor sooner, have respiratory therapies, antibiotics appropriate for secondary pneumonia, IV fluids for hydration etc....

John

[Oyster]

Being directly married to the medical industry I am in total sympathy with the potentials of pandemics and what is needed to hold them in check. But I also remember the HOng Kong Flu and even about three years ago the shortages of the flu vacine that was reported and also the real underlying issues with that one. The blitz of the media outlets for almost two months totally ignoring the issues made me also realize that political gains are made by artifically creating hysteria. These days we have a very large group of people that actually think that thirty minutes of news are all right and factual and rarely take time to become truely educated each day and place a lot of stuff in context and perspective. The reasons also includes that many are hard at work tending to their own affairs unlike some of us that sit around sanding and painting boats and taking big sticks and cut them up into small sticks.

[Greg Luckett]

Ray, what is the rate of influenze deaths in a normal year in Mexico?

[Oyster]

1918 and 2009 are apples and oranges when getting medical treatment in the U.S. anyway. Consdering where this originated, could this have been a "deliberate" flu manufactured in a lab? [slipping away from the computer and back to painting]

[Greg Luckett]

I lost an aunt in the 1918 pandemic, but of course I never knew her.  That pandemic was so bad due to the effects of the World War and the mixing of populations that had not mixed previously.  We are much more diverse today and as Oyster pointed out, have access to better health care.  I am very sad about the deaths of our Mexican neighbors, but even here in the USA, that migrant population often suffers from diseases which the rest of us do not, even though we rub elbows at the stores and streets.  It sucks that so many have so little health care and it will definitely lead to mass deaths...just a matter of time.  I watched a story on the History Channel a few months ago about both the 1918 influenza pandemic and the Black Death plague.  The latter is still not for sure identified as to what caused it, and the number of deaths were not well recorded and were spread out over a long period of time (decades) as the disease spread slowly, so it is hard to accurately prove Ray's statement about that.  We do have pretty good statisics for the influenze pandemics.  I did not realize until yesterday that I had already lived through at least a couple of them.  Our parents are old and frail, which worries me about the flu now.  I think I need some warm weather and a deck under my feet and soon.

[Ken_Potts]

Well if I'm going to die of swine flu next week I guess I better go sailing this weekend.

[Craig]

Good call Ken. 

Ray there are too damned many of us here anyway so if a few die; even mine, than thats the way it is.  I can't run for the mountains every time someone on the the TV says Pandemic. You plan for the worst and hope for the best within reasonable bounds.  I've seen this kind of stuff come and go over MANY years.  Did you know I was a Polio Pioneer?  Look that up.  I'm not sure of the probability that I should be dead by now just from that.  You can't knee jerk to everything that comes along just because some expert says it COULD be bad.

Wash your hands and get back to sanding....  8) 8) 8)

[Greg Luckett]

I plan to take over the local supermarket and barricade the doors until I have eaten my fill, then sneak out with a cart or two......eh eh eh Arghh! :

Ray, you are right about being prepared.  We should always be prepared and two weeks of food stored is probably not enough.  My family thinks I am nuts because I store gallons of water in the basement, and fill the empties if things start to look dicey in the weather.  I am wondering if I should invest in some hospital isolation masks...a case should be about right for the family.  I use to work where they were manufactured but used up my supply sanding boats....

[Ken_Potts]

  Yes, i think preparedness is good also.

If Mortality continues at 7-10% of infections...

  Ray are you sure that this statement is correct?  Are you sure it's not 7-10% of known infections?  If you're looking at medical statistics from a poor rural population the numbers may be particularly misleading.  If they are only counting the people who are hospitalized because they're deathly ill (who else would go to the hospital) then a 7-10% mortality rate is a bad thing but it is much less bad than 7-10% of the total number of infected people.  There could be any number of people (tens? hundreds? thousands?) who got the sniffles and kept going to work without complaining about the symptoms.  That changes the mortality rate quite a lot. 

  There are any number of flu strains that we have no immunity to.  No immunity doesn't mean you'll necessarily get seriously ill, you may just get a little sick, maybe even not enough to notice.

  I have a good friend - An intelligent, reasonable man, who was talking seriously about seling the house and moving into the woods when he read the statistics on bird flu.  I'm not comparing your reaction to his, I just hate to see people (him, not you) get worked up unnecessarily.  Bird flu was a bad thing, and of course it can still come back and whup us good but the bird flu armageddon that I was hearing about a couple of years ago hasn't materialized yet.

  This isn't the first swine flu scare in my memory and I'm sure it won't be the last.

[Oyster]

If you want another opinion from me, I think its way to early to get a read on dead or alive and percentages. The numbers are really useless and the severity of this is still unknown. In our state alone, reports yesterday said we had about 15 cases. Today's report has it that there are zero confirmed Swine flu as of five pm.

Ken remember the good die young and the bad live forever. All the rest will die from something. some may be old to you and some maybe young to me. Hope this helps you out with future estate planning to leave nothing undone.

[Ken_Potts]

Oyster - I'm going to hope I'm good (and thus will die young).  In light of that I'm going to go sailing this weekend and kiss a pretty woman at the first opportunity.  ;D

The one thing I know absolutely for sure about life is that it is invariably fatal.

Ray - I share your hope that this will not be more serious than a seasonal flu and I'm glad to know you're being proactive and taking steps to protect yourself and your loved ones.  And thank you for sharing the facts about the best way to avoid contracting the virus by minimizing exposure and keeping hands washed etc.  That's the advice I've gotten from my doctor in the past too.

[Konrad]

Ray,  I always respect your points of view.  And as usual, your position is backed by decent research.  (Although your posts are hard to read because you double space them.)

But after all of what you said, my point is still this:  Regular flu -->  36,000 deaths every year.  A hudred per day.  EVERY day.  EVERY year.    And no media coverage.  In other words, what I'm doing is taking a shot at the media and their selective nature.

Oh, and another thing about the water storage discussion:  Don't forget that you've already got a built-in 50 gallon water reservior with your water heater.  Everyone forgets that.

[Frank Hagan]

Seasonal flue has the highest Mortality for elderly and young children.

The scariest thing about the 1918 Pandemic is most of the deaths were 20-40.

The deaths in Mexico have also included young, healthy people in the 20 - 40 year old range, which is why the health officials are scared of this one.  This Washington Post story tonight says Mexico has had 49 confirmed cases of the flu with 7 deaths (and another 1300 people hospitalized with what they think might be the swine flu ... and 159 "probable" deaths from it).  The spread to US cities has been from people vacationing there, but so far, the only death in the US comes from a Mexican infant visiting the US.

Its a serious issue, and we don't know why more Americans are not dying from the virus.  The differences in medical care don't account for it because there's nothing you can do to halt the virus or minimize its impact, but there may be something about our level of vaccination for other flu viruses that has helped (speculation I heard today on the radio, at least).  We can only hope the isolation efforts in Mexico City, with businesses closed and more restrictions to come, can contain it.

[Bruce Kershaw]

"Swine Flu is no laughing matter!"

                       Ned Beatty

(Sorry)

Stay healthy everybody.

[Hirilonde]

I have sort of been following this debate.  I say sort of because what is being argued about is silly if you ask me.  You aren't debating different sides of a coin, but 2 entirely different coins.

Is the media blowing this up?  Of course they are, that is how they sell their product.  They will continue to do so until it doesn't sell or something else bigger comes up.  That is how it is done, and this will continue so long as the public continues to buy the media  and its hype.

Is the new Swine Flu more deadly than common strains.  It most certainly is.  Common flus kill many thousands world wide because they are wide spread and kill the weak and/or those with poor hygiene or health care.  This new Swine Flu kills even the healthy and those with access to the best of medicine because no one knows how to combat it yet.  Should it become wide spread before it is understood and we are able to combat it many will die, including the healthy.  It is surely something to fear. 

What I don't understand is the debate part.

[Oyster]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124096777126666585.html

Mexico said late Tuesday that the toll had risen to 159 deaths suspected from swine flu. It revised down its count of deaths confirmed from the virus to seven, and said 26 cases had been confirmed among 2,498 people treated for severe pneumonia since the outbreak began. Some 1,311 are hospitalized.

I have a skeptic look at this but will forgo that portion and to say, yes I am concerned with this but sit back and await for more information before I personally cut my head off and run around in the middle of the barn yard.  Of course thats just me which comes with living with numerous potential health issues such as dormant MRSA which many healthcare providers also carry with them these days. such as the ones thats been in the business for almost thirty years.

[Greg Luckett]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124096777126666585.html

I have a skeptic look at this but will forgo that portion and to say, yes I am concerned with this but sit back and await for more information before I personally cut my head off and run around in the middle of the barn yard.  ...

And this is different how?....just kidding. ;D