Swine Flu facts

Posted by: ST on April 29, 2009 at 9:35 am

With news of the first confirmed death from the Swine Flu making waves, I wanted to post a fact sheet on myths and truths about what the Swine Flu is, how it’s spread, what you can do to cut down on the risk of getting it, etc.

The best thing to do, in addition to making sure you keep your hands clean (especially before touching your mouth, nose, and/or eyes) and avoiding being around people who are sick with Swine Flu-like symptons, is to stay calm, and try not to think about the fact that the Obama administration is at the wheel while we are going through this.

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9 Responses to “Swine Flu facts”

Comments

  1. richmondgirl says:

    The 23 month old who died in Houston was from Mexico. Crossed at Brownsville then moved to Houston. God knows how many people infected by this one child especially if driven from Brownsville to Houston by its family.

  2. MissJean says:

    Not all journalists are jumping on the Hype Bandwagon. Today’s frontpage headline in The Port Huron Times Herald:

    SWINE FLU NOT CAUSE FOR ALARM: Local health officials say virus is preventable

    Inside they ran an AP story on how federal officials predict that the spread of swine flu is unstoppable, but I’d chalk that up to having editorial balance.

  3. NC Cop says:

    Things like this sell newspapers, that’s all. They don’t care about panicking the population, well actually they do, because then people will buy newspapers and watch news shows to see what’s going on.

    Our MSM at their finest.

  4. Brian R. Higgins says:

    If you are reading this you are not at risk. It’s the infants and oldsters who are most at risk. Be considerate of them.

  5. Tango says:

    …I said a few days back that the media hype over the Pig Flu (in the US) was getting to the point of absurd.

    The sky ain’t falling, folks! :)>-

  6. Me says:

    I work for a large hospital group in the South. I sit on the safety committee here are a couple of true fact that were discussed this AM:

    1.) There are more cases than are currently being reported. Once the virus is diagnosed & confirmed, the CDC will not report the case for 72 hrs. As of this AM they “think” there are at least 10-15 X’s more cases than being reported.

    2.) The swine flu is very antibiotic tolerate. The reason for this is because 70%-80% of all healthy pigs are given antibiotics to prevent illness, thus making the swine flu very difficult to treat.

    3.) The mortally rate for the swine flu is about 50%-60% higher than the common “human” flu.

    4.) The CDC has this level of urgency rated at a Level 6, which is the highest possible. To my knowledge this is the first ever the CDC has posted a Level 6.

  7. Samson says:

    Actually H1N1(swine flu) has been killing perfectly young adults. Most of the deaths have been linked to previously healthy individuals who are in their 20′s, 30′s and 40′s. Typically the seasonal flu kills 36,000 a year in the U.S. However, these deaths are mostly infants and seniors, not so with this particular strain. Tamiflu has been known to treat the disease, I suggest that a person who is suspected of having H1N1 should get a hold of Tamiflu before they recieve test results, as to mitigate the spread of infection. A suspected case is defined by the CDC and WHO as a person with flu-like symptoms who has either been in direct contact with a CONFIRMED {clinically tested) case or who has traveled to an area within the last 14 days where a H1N1 case has in fact been confirmed.

  8. Carlos says:

    Typical. CRISIS! PANIC! DISASTER!

    Until His Hollowness walks calmly out in his smart suit (with optional teleprompter) and lets us all know he’s got the situation well in hand.

    “Course, if it obviously isn’t, then it’s something he inherited from GW and not his fault, but he’s doing the best he can given that it was a disaster when he got to the WH.

    And it was his own people whipping up the crisis-panic- disaster fears to begin with!

  9. We are coming out of the normal time of year when we have flu circulating in the UK so we don’t really know what size of epidemic there may be in the next couple of months.