Since the mainstream media has shoved off to cover the last moments of America's Next Top Model and the finals of the American Idol competitions, I want to bring you up to date on the Swine Flu.
First of all it is important to understand that in the USA's rush to make the naming of this virus politically correct and to protect the flagging pork industry, they settled on H1N1 virus. H1N1 is a group of viruses, influenza A(H1N1).
Viruses are not typical and change often so by using this general title for this virus, Public Health has dumbed us down. Other groups of influenza viruses are A(H3N2) and B/Yamagata and B/Victoria viruses but the list is massive and complicated. To call this virus H1N1 is like using the term car to categorize a Ferrari 612 Scaglietti. Yes it is a car but, there are many cars and among cars the 612 Scaglietti is most unique. This "swine flu" is an A(H1N1) but it is not the only A(H1N1) virus.
Since the alarms went off at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the World Health Organization, there have been 80 deaths among people who contracted this virus. It is not known how many of the 72 deaths of victims in Mexico were the result of the illness, plus complications resulting from other conditions, but the single death in Canada, the single death in Costa Rica, and the 6 deaths in the USA were suffered by people with contributing factors.
There are 40 counties in the pandemic. World wide nearly 10,000 cases of the H1N1 virus have been reported with the majority of these cases being in Mexico and the USA. According to the CDC the virus is active in 47 states and the District of Columbia and over five thousand cases are confirmed.
In a normal year we do not know at any moment how many flu cases there are and at the end of a flu season we do not know how many flu cases there were, this from the CDC concerning the 2007-2008 Flu Season:
"Exact numbers of how many people died from flu this season cannot be determined. Flu-associated deaths (which have laboratory confirmed influenza), are only a nationally notifiable condition among children; however not all pediatric influenza deaths may be detected and reported and there is no requirement to report adult deaths from influenza."
This makes anything we learn about this outbreak almost instant hysteria. The flu is still growing, it is still causing illness among us and it is in Florida. There is still reason to practice good personal hygiene and be conscious of any sick people around you. Just because this illness has lost its media sex appeal as the death toll has leveled is no reason to trust it.
Live Well
This article appears in May 20-26, 2009.