Swine Flu – Are We Overreacting?

Dear YW editor,

I don’t know why you even wrote the article on the NY Post, but from the medical standpoint V.P. Biden isn’t wrong. If you decrease your exposure to public places which include -planes, trains, subways, busses and other places, you decrease your potential exposure to the virus. BTW, if our Pres. and VP cared about the safety of US citizens, they would have closed the US- Mexican border. This line about closing the stable door after the horse has left is nonsense! The more people infected in this country with the disease- the more of a chance to spread it to more people. This is Epidmieology 101!

Shazam is right in posting what he did. Do not think for a moment that big business is partially responsible for this issue.

If they treated car accidents like the flu – we would have been walking for 80 years! In fact medical/hospital accidents claim 100,000 deaths a year – shall we ban the doctors too?

Let me ask you about this piece of logic – health officials always say, “If you don’t get vaccinated – your putting others at risk” Well, if they are vaccinated what risk is there?

Go back and look at the Swine Flu of 1976 – I think 1 person died from it and something like 50 died and hundreds developed neurological disorders from the vaccine.

Sound like it is safer to go without.

Just months ago there was a “mix-up” in the lab where toxic virus’ were mixed with vaccination and sent to Europe. What kind of “mix-up” is that?

I am very suspicious – and I think there is a good reason to me.

Ya know what Jax? I actually took up your suggestion last night. Was totally awesome thanx…

aussieboy, most people who survived the flu epidemic in 1918 are no longer alive (acquired immunities aren’t inherited, you know). Also, although swine flu may be similar to the Spanish flu of 1918, it isn’t identical, because the flu virus mutates constantly. That’s why the CDC recommends people who are vulnerable to the flu (those under 5 or over 65, or those whose immune systems are compromised) to be immunized every year.

What is really scary is that our gov. doesn’t take any transmittable disease seriously-

when AIDS first came out there were only a few hundred people who had it. They could have easily quarantined them and any of their contacts. The rest of the world would have followed suit. If they would have done this, AIDS would either not exist or we would have a lot fewer cases- not the epidemic we have now. Remember Typhoid Mary! The reason I mentioned the similarity to the Spanish flu is to warn people that this might not be the big bust like we had with the swine flu of the 70’s. The Spanish flu mutated from a regular H1N1 flu to become a killer in the fall. One particular difference this flu did was to attack people with robust immune systems more than others. The elderly seemed to survive this flu better than young people, which isn’t the case with the flu usually. There are two theories as to why this happened, but I won’t go into it here. That was the purpose of my original post -that don’t believe the gov.-media complex- they may be correct, but there is no way of knowing for sure.

A funny swine flu joke:

How could we have predicted swine flu?

A black man would only become president of the US when pigs fly – shortly after Barack Obama was sworn in, SWINE FLU.

The CDC reported that the two people who died in the US from swine flu had other chronic health problems. The 22-month old baby, who became ill while traveling in Mexico, had an autoimmune disease, a heart defect, and chronic hypoxia. The 33-year-old pregnant woman from Texas had asthma & rheumatoid arthritis. So both belonged to groups particularly vulnerable to the “regular” flu.

My point is this: when the first reports came in of so many young people in the US becoming ill with swine flu (like the students in NYC), people worried that this would be like the 1918 flu, which struck & killed mostly healthy young people. However, these kids recovered quickly. The two people who did die had chronic underlying conditions; one was an infant & the other a pregnant woman, both groups which are vulnerable to the “regular flu”. Most of those hospitalized also have chronic conditions. This pattern of infection indicates that the swine flu here is similar to the regular flu, which mostly kills the very young, old, and those with other health issues. (That’s why the CDC recommends that people in those groups be immunized–and yes, they reommend that pregnant women be immunized too).

Although any death is unfortunate, it is reassuring that this flu is not so different from the flu that we are already used to.

squeak, the reason I posted the similarities between swine flu & the “regular” flu is because most people don’t worry about the latter at all. Although some of the concern about swine flu was because so many in Mexico became infected, & a significant percentage of those became seriously ill or died (including young healthy people). That is not the case in this country, perhaps because of cultural differences or differences in the health care system. I agree that b”h the swine flu here had been less damaging than the “regular flu” usually is.

ames, what do you mean by this, “While no one is looking, the country will turn socialist”? The media hypes up health crises for ratings, and this is true regardless of political leanings.

goody, and it’s spreading.

i think these skools are closing because they are more afraid of being sued then the actual flu

they also don’t want to be blamed for not doing anything