Who is freaked out by swine flu? I know I'm raising my hand. Anything that states pandemic has visions of movies such as The Andromeda Strain, Children of Men or Blindness running thru my head. But I try to keep my freakout at bay, which is not easy...especially since we were so recently in Mexico....I don't want to not live my life because of being afraid, it's not fair to myself or my family. Just like when I heard about SARS or bird flu, and everything else the media blows out of proportion. What is a life lived scared? We know that things are going to get worse before they get better anyways...so we just be prepared in every way we can, right?
Which is why I had to laugh when I read this article, specifically this part:
The swine flu outbreak that has alarmed the world for a week now appears less ominous, with the virus showing little staying power in the hardest-hit cities and scientists suggesting it lacks the genetic fortitude of past killer bugs.
President Barack Obama even voiced hope Friday that it may turn out to be no more harmful than the average seasonal flu.
A flu expert said he sees no reason to believe the virus is particularly lethal. And a federal scientist said the germ's genetic makeup lacks some traits seen in the deadly 1918 flu pandemic strain and the more recent killer bird flu.
Towards the end of the article, it's brought up that the average number of people who die from the regular seasonal flu is 30, 000 in the US. That's the REGULAR flu...not even a super-killer pig flu (did you know there is also a canine flu out there, too....haha).
I think the media has been watching too many scary movies. Or they are bored. Or they think people in surgical masks are hot.
And for the record...our little fam is just fine...no sickies, not even a cough! Hoping to keep it that way. Ü
14 comments:
Vivir con miedo es vivir a medias...Strictly Ballroom!
Haha! I love that movie...but ummm, what is thaT? Long live the something about the media? ;)
I have just been thinking that we have more ways to treat it and are more advanced and that's why Mexico had so many deaths. At least that's what I hope;) But if they are treating it with tamiflu which is what we use for the regular flu, I'm sure it will be alright. I was watching the 'doctors' yesterday and that's what they said. They are just treating it exactly the same as the regular flu. What worries me is our knowledge that it's going to eventually get worse so I always wonder in the back of my head....is this it??? You know? But I'm glad it is settling down now and I'm glad you are all healthy. We are too....(knock on wood;)
On a side note...which book are you reading by Sparks? I just read "The Choice" and I thought it was good and not depressing;-)
I just finished reading Dear John...and the ending just wasn't as happy as I like it...but I guess everything can't be perfect. It was a good book, like all his books. I read it in 2 days...couldnt put it down...thats probably why I was depressed, cause I wanted it to work out for the characters! ;)
I think we all need to be smart and be sure to keep people home when they are sick...but like you I think the media does blow things up to get everyone in a panic!
In the very beginning, when they first brought it up, I was a little freaked. But as it wore on, I just kinda felt okay about, especially after they were saying 200-something people had it WORLDWIDE. That's A LOT of people that DON'T have it.
Okay, WHAT? 30,000 people in the UNITED FREAKING STATES OF AMERICA die of the flu every year? Who are these people??
Ok- I'm sorry, but it's the flu! Go to bed and get over it in a week or so. Those 30,000 people had seriously compromised immune systems and would have died from a mere cold. Way over dramatization on this swine flu thing. I'm so not worried.
Bird flu? Bit more.
The media has indeed blown this WAY out of proportion. The "regular" flu as we know it can kill those who are immunocompromised - i.e. the elderly and very young, those already in poor health (same goes with bird flu). There's been 226 cases in the U.S. Out of a population of over 300 million, that's something like 0.0000007%. Needs to be higher than that before I'm going to rush to the ED for a headache (which people are doing here!) :)
Even the flu shot every year is a bit of a gamble. There's so many strains of influenza that the vaccine is developed each year towards the most prevalent one seen that year...which means you could still get the flu despite having the vaccine.
More cases of swine flu in Mexico because that is still largely an underdeveloped country where people's overall health is poor and they don't have the immune systems to fight off illness.
MariSa...you rock. I love that you are a nurse!
No, I mean I have a hard time believing that many people die every year from the flu! It seemed like a seriously inflated number. I DEFINITELY wasn't saying "Shame on you, Sarah! There are so many people dying of the flu!"
It just seemed like a very high number. But I guess when you consider that there's 300 million people in the USA, it's less than .01%
Don't you hate the way that voice inflection doesn't come thru over the internet?
No worries, Jenny-sweets...it came across perfectly! Mine was the one that didn't ;). Hugs!
Don't ya just love how it was practically mass hysteria before and now it's no longer a big deal? Punk media!
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