Not to be Mr. Skeptic, but can somebody explain why this is considered more of a public health concern than other kinds of flu? Are we going to be receiving nonstop notices of every positive test of swine flu in the next month? Is there any reason to think that the Mexicans who died have contracted a more deadly strain that could hit here? If so, why do we care about the less deadly version that has seemed to appear in the U.S. ? I can see reporting on a more deadly strain, but this doesn’t appear to be it. If somebody has a good explanation, I’m all ears.
Yes. Because Obama needs this crisis to push healthcare and distract from GM and other economic debacles.
And it is FR's function to maintain the fervor and panic on the right side to help Obama attain his goals.
Because it’s not just another swine flu. This flu has swine, bird and human influenza genetic components and markers in it.
I’m curious about that as well, they haven’t said hardly anything about the symptoms, is it just like the regular ol’ flu? If so, are we panicking over nothing here, supposedly there are 2000 in hospitals in Mexico with pneumonia but they’re not reporting that here, nor are they reporting what, if any treatment, they are giving those in the US who have this so called “swine flu”.
2009 H1N1 - Wiki Wikipedia ... but it's science so not as much of an agenda
Money quote : The new strain is an apparent reassortment of several strains of influenza A virus subtype H1N1, including a strain endemic in humans and two strains endemic in pigs, as well as an avian influenza.
Australian news article on it.
The experts with the CDC's WHO Collaborating Centre who identified the full genome sequence of the newly identified flu claim the virus is a mix of swine, human and avian strains of H1N1 influenza.
I think the US ‘version’ is only less-deadly because of better public hygene and health facilities. Once/if the health facilities become over-loaded we’re essentially in the same boat as Mexico. The bright side is it likely won’t be as widespread in the US due to lower population densities.
This one has everyone freaked because it seems to be killing young adults. Young adults do not usually die from flu or complications from flu. The one major exception to that was the Spanish Flu epidemic in 1918. That flu killed young adults disproportionately and had a high mortality rate overall.
Right now, since the data we are getting is primarily from Mexico, it is difficult to tell how good the data is. We may be seeing observational bias. It is also possible that this flu may be a killer in the third world, but survivable with prompt first world medical treatment. The US had no mortality from SARS because people received prompt effective treatment.
Good question. This one could go the way of the avian flu scare years ago that never materialized to the extent the MSM predicted.
I believe it’s because the mortality rate in Mexico is around 10%. That’s pretty high for a flu - so it’s a more virulent strain then a common ordinary flu. And somebody already mentioned that it’s something like 3 strains in 1.
“but can somebody explain why this is considered more of a public health concern than other kinds of flu?”
Well the mortality rate in Mexico is about 6%.
The Spanish Flu of 1918 (the worst on record), to contrast, killed 1%.
remember that mosquito-born fluy that had them spraying neighborhoods and such? It was the big deal for a while, hardly gets mentioned lately. I am sure it’ll be next for a big come back in the media.
Fear is the DemocRATS best weapon in their war to turn this country towards a socialist state.
Because we don’t know whether the US strain is less virulent or not. It may be that we just haven’t seen enough cases yet to see any mortality, or because those who have been infected here, because they have generally been youngsters or teenagers, are not part of the most vulnerable groups. It may also be that this strain has yet to mutate, as the Spanish flu did, and emerge even more deadly than before. It could also easily become resistant to the antivirals being used. Because this flu does not follow the mortality pattern of common flu, but more closely looks like Spanish flu patterns, people are nervous. I don’t blame them. There is no reason to panic, but there is much to be cautious about.