Swine Flu: Why You Can Ignore the Hype 42 comments
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The new media hysteria is swine flu. Despite the fact that nobody in the U.S. is seriously ill so far, the media are already making this a much bigger story than it needs to be. This will be in the headlines for the next couple of weeks even though it (like all these other flu things around the world) never turns out to be the disaster the media makes many fear.
The fact is, the regular annual flu has some stats that would make people freak out. Consider this from the Center for Disease Control website:
Each flu season is unique, but it is estimated that, on average, approximately 5% to 20% of U.S. residents get the flu, and more than 200,000 persons are hospitalized for flu-related complications each year. About 36,000 Americans die on average per year from the complications of flu.
I can almost guarantee you this swine flu will be a tiny fraction of what the real flu does each year. The media storm will pass just as fast as it popped up this weekend.
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This article has 42 comments:
i agree. but without news stories such as these how will we get our National Inquirer fix?
Prepare for the worst.
Anything to get the Obama administration's $1.8 trillion deficit off page one. That is what people in a free society should be debating.
"I can almost guarantee you this swine flu will be a tiny fraction of what the real flu does each year."
You seem to think this "swine flu" is not "real flu", which merely illustrates your ignorance. I would suggest the editors remove this article entirely.
On Apr 27 10:48 AM User 400774 wrote:
> are you an infectious disease doctor, epidemiologist or public health
> representative? if not, then you have no purpose making these statements
> that have zero credibility. There is not nearly enough information
> about this illness to say either way that this could or could not
> become a disaster. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. Don't
> waste space on this website with your meaningless predictions.
If swine flu is anything close to that, or command a fear factor close to that, we're doomed.
Most likely the hype is overblown (I hope!!!), but anytime a flu crosses a species boundary, it usually has unlimited growth potential in the new species (in this case, human); because there's no built in immunity to that virus. So the danger is real.
This disease has already killed 16 people in Mexico and has showed up in Texas, California, and New York so far.
You're not Nostradamus. No one knows whether this will turn out to be a false alarm or a major pandemic.
The chances of a major event are slim, but if it happened, the consequences would be devastating.
Ignore the little boy crying wolf all you want. Just be aware that sometimes there really is a wolf.
You are being gravely irresponsible by writing this off when no one has enough information to estimate its magnitude.
We won't know until a few months later, when either actual reports of diseased people come in, or when WHO makes an actual judgment on the virulence and death rate of the virus.
Should have been "If you're going to write off a potential pandemic as a non-event ..."
(Anything to get the Obama administration's $1.8 trillion deficit off page one. That is what people in a free society should be debating. )
Correction to my previous comment: it's killed 80 in Mexico, not 16.
Absolutely, positively nothing.
This administration, on the other hand, has already declared a emergency after only a few days on the case.
Sit down and shut up. The "adults" are in charge now....
Would you have panicked?
Zach
www.greedreviews.com Letting investors rank, review and evaluate investment information sources
It is wrong and illogical to say that this is a hype because "About 36,000 Americans die on average per year from the complications of flu."
Do you know how many of the 36,000 Americans who die every day from flu are from the same town or county?
The Swine flu has the potential to be a pandemic because it is not your normal flu strain, and the deaths in Mexico are all from the same area and the flu virus is spreading outwards from Mexico.
Do you know if the 36,000 Americans were infected at about the same time or randomly all year round?
Again, the Swine flu infected a huge number of people at the same time.
Do you know if the 36,000 Americans include a high percentage of healthy young adults?
"Most of the those who died (from Swine flue) were between 20 and 50 years of age, an ominous sign because a hallmark of past pandemics has been the high rate of fatalities among healthy young adults." - from Reuters
Irresponsible. Who are you to say that this is a hype? And it is stupid to compare this with the 36,000 Americans who die every year from complications of flu. It could be a false alarm or it could be real. The fact is nobody knows.
www.recovery.gov/
The deficit was on its way up long before Obama got into office smartguy. And was really accelerated by GW. Don't get me started...you're a brainwashed moron. Read a book and shut up.
As for the swine flu...sure, there's hype...there always is - of course. Here's a great article explaining why all the raised alerts & such. arstechnica.com/scienc...
Yes, it's a concerning matter due to the species leap factor, but as with any other flu virus, it's manageable and treatable. Why people have supposedly died in Mexico? Who knows at this point...may / may not be directly related to this flu strain.
On Apr 27 10:44 AM Tranquilmeditation wrote:
> Thank you for a view well taken.
>
> Anything to get the Obama administration's $1.8 trillion deficit
> off page one. That is what people in a free society should be debating.
You still don't get it.
Whether you are right or wrong about the Swine flu going away in 6 weeks isn't important. You could well be right.
The issue here is your reasons for saying that this Swine flu will away soon. Comparing the number of deaths in Mexico all happening near the same place and same time with the 36,000 deaths from flu complications in US happening randomly across the country all year round. And ignoring the fact that "Most of the those who died from Swine flu were between 20 and 50 years of age, an ominous sign because a hallmark of past pandemics has been the high rate of fatalities among healthy young adults" - whereas the 36,000 Americans who die every year from flu complications are probably the elderly, weak or children. And the fact that the Swine flu is showing up in countries all over the world now - something which does not happen with your normal run-out-of-the-mill flu. Yes, we can take comfort in the fact the most of the infections outside Mexico are mild and there are not fatalities outside Mexico yet. But that doesn't negate the fact that this isn't your normal flu.
What is in question here is your creditability.
On Apr 28 01:35 AM Jeff Farley wrote:
> I will admit I under estimated the swine flu in 6 weeks if it is
> still a huge enough issue to be the lead story on every newscast
> and newspaper like it was today...and those of you who are believing
> the media hype now will admit your were wrong if it has totally blown
> over.
No we have O asking Congress for $1.5 billion for swine flu...I still think it will be a dead story in a few weeks. I am sure more than 60 kids were diagnosed with autism in last 4 days...why not put $1.5 bill towards that?
On Apr 28 02:13 PM ron_paulite wrote:
> Hi Jeff
>
> You still don't get it.
> Whether you are right or wrong about the Swine flu going away in
> 6 weeks isn't important. You could well be right.
>
> The issue here is your reasons for saying that this Swine flu will
> away soon. Comparing the number of deaths in Mexico all happening
> near the same place and same time with the 36,000 deaths from flu
> complications in US happening randomly across the country all year
> round. And ignoring the fact that "Most of the those who died from
> Swine flu were between 20 and 50 years of age, an ominous sign because
> a hallmark of past pandemics has been the high rate of fatalities
> among healthy young adults" - whereas the 36,000 Americans who die
> every year from flu complications are probably the elderly, weak
> or children. And the fact that the Swine flu is showing up in countries
> all over the world now - something which does not happen with your
> normal run-out-of-the-mill flu. Yes, we can take comfort in the fact
> the most of the infections outside Mexico are mild and there are
> not fatalities outside Mexico yet. But that doesn't negate the fact
> that this isn't your normal flu.
>
> What is in question here is your creditability.
According to the records, 47 died in the SARS event in Taiwan. I don't really know how serious this is. But it shows the SARS can be contained.
I don't know how long this swine flu can last, but it should be able to be contained with the current technology.
Btw, our government just shows the tamiflu acquired in 2003 in its warehouse, and a special vehicle that's used to transport highly infectious people, that's also acquired in 2003.
Fiscal Budget Deficit 2008 - 2009 /Bush: (- $462 Billion)
Fiscal Budget Deficit 2009 - 2010 /Obama: (- $1.8 Trillion)
Facts are inconvenient things when you are political cheerleader. I don't pimp for Democrats or Republicans.
Bush and Obama are both reckless. It is just that Obama is significantly more reckless by a factor of 400%
Obama's $1.8 trillion deficit is horribly irresponsible. Trillions of hard earned taxpayer dollars thrown away on useless, wasteful and unproductive spending. Attempting to artificially sustain a bubble economy by running massive deficits (the largest in the history of man) is hoodoo economics.
The original post is SPOT ON and he will be proven 100% correct within a month. ALL HYPE.
On Apr 28 12:22 AM ron_paulite wrote:
>
> It is wrong and illogical to say that this is a hype because "About
> 36,000 Americans die on average per year from the complications of
> flu."
>
> Do you know how many of the 36,000 Americans who die every day from
> flu are from the same town or county?
> The Swine flu has the potential to be a pandemic because it is not
> your normal flu strain, and the deaths in Mexico are all from the
> same area and the flu virus is spreading outwards from Mexico.<br/>
>
> Do you know if the 36,000 Americans were infected at about the same
> time or randomly all year round?
> Again, the Swine flu infected a huge number of people at the same
> time.
>
> Do you know if the 36,000 Americans include a high percentage of
> healthy young adults?
> "Most of the those who died (from Swine flue) were between 20 and
> 50 years of age, an ominous sign because a hallmark of past pandemics
> has been the high rate of fatalities among healthy young adults."
> - from Reuters
>
>
> Irresponsible. Who are you to say that this is a hype? And it
> is stupid to compare this with the 36,000 Americans who die every
> year from complications of flu. It could be a false alarm or it
> could be real. The fact is nobody knows.
>
On Apr 27 10:48 AM devinw. wrote:
> are you an infectious disease doctor, epidemiologist or public health
> representative? if not, then you have no purpose making these statements
> that have zero credibility. There is not nearly enough information
> about this illness to say either way that this could or could not
> become a disaster. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. Don't
> waste space on this website with your meaningless predictions.
Just like bird flu, just like everything else that's the story of the week, it's all engineered media GARBAGE.
On Apr 28 01:35 AM Jeff Farley wrote:
> I will admit I under estimated the swine flu in 6 weeks if it is
> still a huge enough issue to be the lead story on every newscast
> and newspaper like it was today...and those of you who are believing
> the media hype now will admit your were wrong if it has totally blown
> over.