Are There People Actually Panicking Over The Flu?

[mudesi]

Really? Again?

Because this happens every 5 to 6 years or so. Some new virus kills a few hundred people somewhere, perhaps a few thousand depending on the population density and rate of infection/death, the mass media goes apeshit with fear mongering, people start losing their shit, a few weeks pass, and nothing more happens.

Like SARS. Like the west nile virus. Like that Flesh Eating thing from way back. It's like a scratched record skipping over and over and over again.

Relax. They're on top of it. It'll peter out in a couple of weeks. Maybe a month. Why does everybody have to be such a fraidy cat?

[ShortnFiery]

1. When the unwashed masses are afraid (of anything) they are much easier to control.

Must keep us in FEAR of something. At least it MAY not be an M$M summer OBSESSING ON "lost Caucasian girls/women." :(

[mike_c]

2. tell it to the families of the dead....

No worries. They just choked to death on their own fluids. Everybody dies sooner or later.

on edit in case the snark wasn't apparent enough: Pandemic influenza is a dire killer. Sure, it comes and goes, and most victims survive-- and most folks don't even get the disease-- but that doesn't change the circumstance that many, many will die.

We've been through a national freakout over 3000 or so dead people since 2001. That's a minor blip on the radar compared to pandemic flu.

[GCP]

5. +1

Well said.

[Avalux]

3. Oh for goodness sake. No one is panicking.

It's really not helpful to start a thread calling people names.

[seemslikeadream]

4. I certainly am not, I guess some people may be but who's fault is that?

THE MESSAGE OR THE MESSENGER?

[stray cat]

6. The liklihood of dying from it is low - but that doesn't matter to ones who died

The key thing about percentages is not the number but what side of the line your find youself.

[seemslikeadream]

7. I hope you are not accusing me of panicing anyone

[marshall]

8. I think it's the youth of the deaths that alarms people

One expects the old or the very young to succumb, but not young healthy.

It seems to be under control in the US, but it's an epidemic south of the border.

[Warren Stupidity]

9. The CDC and the WHO seem to be the primary sources of 'concern' here.

But what would they know?

This is a very infectious and fairly lethal virus that is rapidly spreading worldwide. Concern, even if you characterize it as panic, is warranted.

You have no idea if this is 'like sars', or 'like west nile virus', and your ignorance of the incredibly serious problem posed by MRSA, which is not even a virus, is manifest.

I can google that for you: http://tinyurl.com/cr3j9m

[liberalmuse]

10. We're programmed to fear everything since birth.

Especially in the US (watch TV for just a few minutes and you'll see the fear-based advertising or television and news programs). And then you have the 'end times' meme coming out of almost every religion, which includes devastating plagues. Not to mention all those scary books and movies about pandemics that wipe out most of the human race. Of course, panic never actually works in all these scenarios.

That being said, it never hurts to be cautious. My cube neighbor at work has whooping cough, and I'd rather he just stayed home than spread his infection to those of us who really can't afford to miss work.

[MADem]

11. May-yah Bloomberg was just on my tee vee, speaking Spanish with

entirely accurate grammar but easily the worst--not one of the worst, the WORST--accent I have ever heard on an American citizen speaking that language. It was charming in its own odd way. At least he was trying!

He was telling the citizenry to not freak out, to not go to the hospital unless they were REALLY sick, to rest and drink fluids.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

12. No, but the initial caps are causing me some distress. (n/t)

[luvspeas]

13. Stats about regular human flu

In the United States, about 5% to 20% of the population become infected with the flu virus annually. Of people who get the flu, more than 200,000 are hospitalized, and about 36,000 die from complications caused by the flu each year.

If the US population is 303,824,640

Then 15-60 million people get regular flu every year. 18% of those who go to the hospital die, or about .001-.006% of the people who get the flu die.

Considering most of the cases that the CDC will become aware of will be those who require hospitalization, it's logical that at the beginning of an event, there will appear to be more death. I'm note sure about the health care system in Mexico, but assuming it is expensive, most people who get the flu would not seek healthcare. It appears to be a late season flu, but there is little to suggest at this juncture that it's more lethal than any other. They are just watching it. I think the CDC and WHO are just testing out their early warning systems because they can track such an unusual strain. And it has some remarkable characteristics, but lethality does not appear to be one so far.

Panic...I'd say so.

[sam sarrha]

15. if there was immunity provided in the last flu shot it is gone by now,, so this could be much much

worse than usual, in 1918

http://www.cnn.com/books/beginnings/9911/flu/
How many became ill? More than 25 percent of the U.S. population.
What about servicemen, the very young and healthy who were the virus's favorite targets? The Navy said that 40 percent of its members got the flu in 1918. The Army estimated that about 36 percent of its members were stricken.

so do the math.. insert the variables of a much older population, the AIDS patients that will be wiped out, there are even more people with HepC than AIDS.. what will this cost, hospitals are closing..

will this be the tipping point for an economy on life support

[sam sarrha]

14. my wife with a serious respiratory condition is concerned, .. it could easily kill her. cynicism

about other peoples suffering isn't pretty.

we have been way over due for a pandemic for decades, the shut down of the worlds economy will have far reaching consequences beyond your myopic view. do you have food reserves for weeks or months.. one like the last one will shut down travel='s no trucks.. empty shelves.. you'll have to stand in line with sick people to get food..

people in the 1918 pandemic lived in homes with multi-generation families and tight church support, we aren't set up like anymore, few people know their neighbors or live next to family.

grandmother said that they heard about the flu.. then heard it was in NY.. then Boston then FL etc etc then they heard it was in town.. they went to a relatives house..no one was on the street, town stores/streets were empty..because everybody had the flu, groups of people were going house to house, breaking in if they got no answer, making sure sick people had water near them.. many deaths were due to dehydration because they were too sick to get out of bed or off the floor. they marked the homes with dead, and went to the next home..

Christopher Columbus not only brought Syphilis
http://www.amazon.com/Pox-Genius-Madness-Mysteries-Syphilis/dp/0465028829/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240761796&sr=8-1

to the old world..a pandemic lasting over 400 years, in victorian times in england about 50% of all adult males had syphilis.. but what he and later explorers brought to the new world killed up to 80% of some indigenous cultures

the problem is not knowing what will happen.. and having Little to do about it when it does

will this be the tipping point for an economy on life support

i suggest that you find a positive way to deal with your cynicism.. it is ugly and serves what purpose other than giving your ego a hard-on.. and everybody knows that..