Saturday, November 28, 2009

Thoughts on the "Swine Flu Pandemic"

We have been hearing for months about this "worldwide pandemic" outbreak of the H1N1 swine flu virus. You can find out for sure if you have swine flu here.

I am not exactly sure what is going on, but for anyone who actually stops and LOOKS RATIONALLY at the information, what is going on is actually an "outbreak" NOT a "Pandemic". The dictionary defines a pandemic as "Epidemic over a wide geographic area and affecting a large proportion of the population: pandemic influenza. Widespread; general. from Gk. pandemos "pertaining to all people," from pan- "all" + demos "people".


An example of a true Pandemic is the Influenza Epidemic of 1918, where it has been estimated that there were about 20,000,000 cases of influenza and pneumonia in the United States in 1918-19, with approximately 850,000 deaths. The US population was 103,268,000, which means that almost 1 in 5 people were sick, and 1 in 125 died. Eighty percent of the deaths in 1918 occurred in the last 4 months of the year. Most Influenza varieties have a few fatalities, which are usually the very young, and the very old. There has never been another strain of influenza that killed such a high percentage of people, or that killed so many otherwise healthy young people.

So, how many people are dying from this "Swineflu Pandemic?"

WELL...according to the CDC,each year approximately 56,326 die from "reglar" Influenza and Pneumonia, in the UNITED STATES. So far, IN THE ENTIRE WORLD, 11918 people have died. That's right...

56,326 versus
11,918

NOT A PANDEMIC!


I am not sure where all the hype and excitement is coming from, but I would place a fairly large bet on the old saying "follow the money"...and according to ABC news, "Drug companies have sold $1.5 billion worth of swine flu shots, in addition to the $1 billion for seasonal flu they booked earlier this year. These inoculations are part of a much wider and rapidly growing $20 billion global vaccine market."


Make up your own mind, but do some real research first, and don't just panic because somebody told you you should!

2 comments:

  1. I am so with you. After listening to the CBS news reporter last week, I have begun to doubt the numbers put out. The CDC is not requiring tests to diagnose the type of flu.
    Thanks for the post.
    Frances

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  2. Ali showed this too me and we had a good laugh. You are so right. Thanks for the post... And the very appropriate picture!!
    Aaron

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