Flu Spreads to All 50 States

Fox News ^ | 12/11/2003

[Born Conservative]

People are in a panic over the flu, and the major media outlets are not helping the situation at all. On Good Morning America today, they started out the broadcast announcing that another child died of flu (I promptly changed channels at that point).

I work in a large pediatric clinic (100+ patients/day), and we are bombarded with people asking for flu shots; we are down to our last 4-5 vials, so we will run out probably by tomorrow (we did 60+ flu shots yesterday alone). We all just wonder where these people that are asking for the flu shot were 2 months ago when we started to give the vaccine; obviously, media influence is a big factor here.

The reason I posted this is to illustrate the amount of panic that can be generated by the media. Every year, there is a flu outbreak, and every year there are deaths from flu. Granted, this flu season may be more widespread, but most of us survived previous flu seasons, and most of us will survive this season and future flu outbreaks.

[b4its2late]

The reason I posted this is to illustrate the amount of panic that can be generated by the media.

Exactly. And who do you think is going to tap into this "resource" to cause panic next?

[b4its2late]

Well, other than the democrats that is....... an it might not be next, but sometime in the near future....

[Sender]

OK, I'm putting on my tinfoil for a moment...if a 'normal' flu season has 36,000 deaths, and this flu season looks to be much worse and much earlier than usual...just as al Qaeda claims they expect 100,000 deaths and we will be 'amazed how they did it'...it kinda makes one wonder, could this be an 'engineered' virus?

/tinfoil off

[maestro]

France's bio-tech vaccine monopoly?..........Flu Spreads to All 50 States .......

naw....

at least it won't affect Texas in any way!

/sarscasm

[gdani]

The reason I posted this is to illustrate the amount of panic that can be generated by the media

I think some intensive research needs to be done into what kind of role those darn sharks from 2 summers ago & those child abductors from last summer have in this latest flu stuff.....

[riri]

but 24 states have already been hit hard and at least 11 people have died in the outbreak....Nearly a dozen children in Colorado have died from the flu

Does anybody edit this stuff? Come on...

[TBall]

I'm sorry, but the shark thing was unusual. One day a fatal attack in Va. Beach and then the next day a fatal attack NC. What are the odds?

[riri]

The reason I posted this is to illustrate the amount of panic that can be generated by the media. Every year, there is a flu outbreak, and every year there are deaths from flu

well, it looks like this year we have started counting them, all 35,000 plus, one by one by one...

[Labyrinthos]

The reason I posted this is to illustrate the amount of panic that can be generated by the media. Every year, there is a flu outbreak, and every year there are deaths from flu. Granted, this flu season may be more widespread, but most of us survived previous flu seasons, and most of us will survive this season and future flu outbreaks.

The media also hyped SARS as the next great plague even though it effected and killed far fewer people than the common flu in even a mild flu season.

BTW, Little Chuckie Schummer wants the Feds to regulate and take over the distribution of flu shoots. Although the private sector seems to have miscalculated the number of doses needed this year, does anyone know the supply/demand ratio in past years?

[Severa]

I got my flu shot from the nearby branch medical clinic the week it became available...fat lot of good it did me. I can't remember the last time the flu hit me this hard. My oldest son (6 yrs old) is almost completely over it but my youngest son (4 yrs old) is still miserable like me.

[Born Conservative]

Conspiracy I suppose is a possibility, but not very likely. Every so often, we hit upon a "bad" flu season, which is usually defined by the strain that is most prevalent (type a is worse than type b) and how widepsread the virus is. This very well could be one of those years (although we won't know this until we are well into the flu season).

I've theorized that maybe West Nile Virus is a result of terrorism (since it is not a virus previously found in the US), but we'll never know for sure.

[cpst12]

I don't see the need for a panic....if in a normal year 36000 people die from the flu, and lets assume flu season is six months (I bet its shorter than that), 200+ people would need to die every day just to have an "average" year...so far 11 have died, sad indeed anytime anyone dies prematurely (especially children), but why is the prpjected to be worse than usual?

[DBrow]

I agree with you, B C. The flu this year is not noticably worse than in other years, and the actual average mortality is quite a bit higher than the 36,000 mantra.

The media will gleefully report each influenza death, with a bio of the victim and deep analysis of "what went wrong" with our antiquated, privately run vaccine setup in the US.

As we approach and exceed the 36,000 number, the pitch may increase. Last year we were closer to 50,000 deaths and the year before was about 60,000.

I see no evil intent on the media's part, this is how they get and keep media share.

On the other hand, this mentality is exactly how a "dirty bomb" becomes a terror weapon. If a reporter states that a couple of acres have been contaminated to "about the level of six gas lantern mantles", it is different from panicy reports of "unprecedented contamination of the soil, about 36 disintegrations per minute per square meter, cleanup could take millions of dollars. Some of the contamination is believed to be (shudder) alpha rays..."

[anymouse]

I'm shocked that during the cold, damp Winter time that at least one person in every state has caught the flu. Anyone that has flown in an airliner knows that one careless sick person can give their case of the flu to the bulk of the other passengers and crew. Every state has an airport that connects with another state. It is not surprising that the flu is spread widely. What is surprising is that it isn't spread faster.

[Born Conservative]

Also, how many of those who died also had chronic underlying conditions? People usually don't die from the flu; death usually occurs with a secondary bacterial pneumonia, which often spreads to the blood, causing sepsis, and then death.

[DBrow]

Although the private sector seems to have miscalculated the number of doses needed this year,

A slightly different take is that the media is forcing a shortage by creating an unusual demand. Then they can analyze the shortage, and when FedGov steps in to "save" us we will sigh with relief.

The Clintons tried to federalize vaccine production and distribution- it came up more than once. Now they can do it to save the children.

[Timesink]

Note the media BS:

Some experts predict this flu season's death toll could easily surpass the average annual 36,000 deaths from the virus.

Okay. Divide 36,000 by 365. That's 98.6 (heh heh) deaths per day.

...at least 11 people have died in the outbreak...

Hmm. Eleven people in the entire outbreak, when in a "normal" year we should already have had hundreds. Why the major discrepancy?

Someone's spinning hyperbole to scare people. Wanna bet it's the news media?

[Revolting cat!]

Does anybody edit this stuff? Come on...

Haven't you heard? Jayson Blair has got a new job!

[Born Conservative]

the media is forcing a shortage by creating an unusual demand.

BINGO!!! We had PLENTY of flu vaccine 2-3 weeks ago, but ever since Good Morning America started hyping this, that is when people started to panic and get the vaccine.