Friday, May 01, 2009

Swine Flu Hype

Yep… hype.

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.

In New York City, which has the most confirmed swine flu cases in the U.S. with 49, swine flu has not spread far beyond cases linked to one Catholic school. In Mexico, the epicenter of the outbreak, very few relatives of flu victims seem to have caught it.

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.

(6) Comments
Posted by Owen at 2303 hrs
Off-Duty

  1. Well I’m glad B.O. err’ed on the side of caution and threw 1.5 BILLION at the problem….

    ...before it was even a problem. 

    Good grief.  My how quickly we’ve adjusted to the “billion” denomination as the smallest possible unit of measure our government blows in a single breath.

    Seriously… 1.5 BILLION????  just like that Barack> WTF my brotha?

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on May 02, 2009 at 0105 hrs


  2. Panic? Hype?

    Two words.

    Duct tape.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on May 02, 2009 at 1059 hrs


  3. As far as I’m concerned, the government moved swiftly and appropriately.  If you stop and think for a minute, the initial reports from Mexico were 152 deaths against 1,614 suspected cases of the swine flu.  THAT’S ALMOST A TEN PERCENT MORTALITY RATE!!!  The WHO and the CDC were concerned about a pandemic and rightfully so, based upon the information at the time; now the numbers seem to have been adjusted downward substantially.  Appropriate measures were taken.  President Bush took the same appropriate action a few years back with the Bird flu scare.
     
    This has nothing to with recent government spending.  Yes, if President Obama spent $1.5 BILLION (?) it was money well spent; imagine the outrage if the administration had taken no action?!?  Just because there have been relatively few outbreaks recently does not mean this outbreak of flu is controlled; we’ve merely been given a brief respite to develop a vaccine before the flu season hits in earnest.  I prefer the administration erring on the side of caution.

    As for the hype, I blame the media and knee jerk reactions from local as well as foreign governments. 

    Duct tape.  LOL!

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on May 02, 2009 at 1157 hrs


  4. As usual pilot, you veer off course. He is asking the 1.5 billion be SET ASIDE just in case.

    Better than your favorite president numbnutz who did nothing. Isn’t it nice that we someone who is proactive?

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on May 02, 2009 at 1815 hrs


  5. We are seeing the power of information deal well with a global health challenge. Silicon beats virus. Wash your hands, damnit - we’ve got cameras everywhere and the brass bayes to use them. I write this ironically from Hartford hospital. Good net - thumbs up, Aurora. But I digress.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on May 02, 2009 at 2224 hrs


  6. Fewer than 800 confirmed cases worldwide.  I’m throwing the media-induced-panic flag.  We’ve been hearing “pandemic” for about 10 years now.  How many times are we gonna hear “wolf”?

    Posted by Steve on May 03, 2009 at 0610 hrs


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