According to numbers posted online the US/Mexican suspected fatalities and suspected cases works out to about a 5.5% mortality rate.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_swine_flu_outbreak
This is well within the normal range of the typical “seasonal” flu.
“About 5-10% of hospitalizations for influenza lead to fatal outcome in adults” - http://www.globalsecurity.org/security/ops/hsc-scen-3_flu-pandemic-deaths.htm
Of course early numbers in a case like this are probably worthless given what we have seen with poor reporting during outbreaks of SARS, Marburg, ebola etc.
Thanks for the info. A bit reassuring.
Checkin out for the night. See you all tomorrow. Headed to the store to stock up just in case.
If the 5.5% rate for fatalities in this flu is for those who get the sickness, it does not compare to the rate among those HOSPITALIZED with seasonal flu, since most folks with the flu do not get hospitalized.
Not to mention the fact that I’m not sure I completely trust diagnoses made in Mexican hospitals. Definitely not in the middle of a panic like this. A lot of diseases have flu-like symptoms, after all, so I suspect there’s potential for misdiagnoses going both ways.