Swine Flu: Imminent Pandemic
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/05/01/navarrette.biden.flu/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/04/30/swine.flu.outbreak/index.html
The World Health Organization raised their alert status to Phase 5, suggesting that a pandemic is imminent.
And close to home: several patients in the Columbus metropolitan area are suspected ot have come down with mild cases of the swine flu, including an employee at the Ohio State University Medical Center.
Danger, Danger Will Robinson!
I can feel a cough coming on right now. Yeah, I am not going in to work tomorrow.
The world is coming to an end. Time to stick your head between your knees, kiss your butt bu-bye!!!
All right. Everyone calm down.
This whole thing is getting out of control…and I don’t mean the flu. I mean the media reaction to the flu. Not to mention Joe Biden, who today told people to stay off planes, trains, and subways. What a buffoon. Even the White House had trouble defending the comments, and the VP’s office put out a statement trying to backtrack. Of course, now there are reports that someone on the White House team that went to Mexico has Swine flu. That isn’t going to help matters at all. Obviously one of the planes Biden was talking about was Air Force One.
So a little education. First..pandemic. From Webster’s:
pandemic: occurring over a wide geographic area and affecting an exceptionally high proportion of the population
Epidemic, on the other hand…
epidemic: affecting or tending to affect a disproportionately large number of individuals within a population, community, or region at the same time
In other words, the term pandemic does not imply anything about the severity of the disease…only its geographical distribution. And if the disease is epidemic anywhere, it is Mexico…and even that is questionable at this point in time. We are not even sure how virulent this virus is. Some doctors feel this is less virulent than the common influenza virus. So again, take a deep breath.
Again, people, simple precautions. If you feel bodyaches, headaches, fevers, etc. see your doctor. Take Tamiflu. Take some rest. Enjoy the weather.
Everyone, take a deep breath and relax…
The Swine/Mexican/H1N1 flu has appeared to be a bust for the moment but what is this had been a bio attack on this country. Can we expect the same mismanaged, politically correct, and tepid response if the threat is real? I look upon this as a bio-drill. A training exercise for the Feds. Imagine something really nasty and what do we get; excuses for not closing the border or examining immigrants. Lots of nice words and blaming the previous administration (Sebelius is already earning her paycheck). The action that I see is coming from state and local authorities. Is that what we can expect in the future?