I’ve read there are about 2.5M Tamiflu doses stockpiled in USA. Numbers probably much lower in Mexico, if any.
However, first world health care is likely to greatly reduce the death rate just through supportive care even in absence of an effective treatment. In extreme cases, unfortunately, this is likely to require ICU treatment and there is a strictly limited number of those beds.
If we get slammed with a major flu pandemic, things will get nasty quickly. We aren’t even close to being prepared. There is no way we will be able to provide state of the art medical treatment to all who need it, which promptly gets us into “who decides?” territory. In today’s world, this will immediately become a political and liability issue.
“If we get slammed with a major flu pandemic, things will get nasty quickly.”
Not all that long ago, we were seeing a lot of PSAs being run regarding a flu pandemic. They were produced in such a manner that they were scary to kids and the adults were wondering why the need for such drama as opposed to just stating facts in a non-dramatic way. Did anyone else see them? I haven’t seen them run lately but then again, I’ve been staying away from the television.
IT will further kill the economy as people huddle in their homes afraid to go out. The market for surgical masks will explode, though I’ve been thinking it would be smart for we in the US to be making more liberal use of them anyway. If you’re well, keeps you that way. If you’re sick, protects everybody else. Dispose of properly.