This is just like the rapidly declining economy. everyone is totally missing it. Its been initially overreported, only big stories reported. but if its hundreds of boring small stories it wont make the news. Now its just boring old statistics to many.
you wont believe my seriousness of this flu story until it whacks you or a family member in the head and you end up being hospitalized in the middle of summer for the freaking flu.
THINK ABOUT IT FOLKS. 100,000 cases in the US when the flu SHOULD BE OVER BY now in Middle of May. Young kids and healthy young adults, gettting seriously ill when they should not be. Very healthy kids.
As this develops, ask yourself this question : are you fully prepared for this fall, for many many more deaths with a highly virulent strain taking hold? The flu strains continuously mutate and build strength if you don't whack them quickly. Same thing with many bacteria and viruses. We have not done this, even in the remotest sense. The CDC has not addressed this. Everyone was being POLITICALLY IDIOTICALLY correct so we wouldn't scare the bejesus out of anyone. Now people are saying "Pandemic" ? what Pandemic ?
U.S. health officials troubled by new flu pattern
(again, the use of the words "troubled" totally understates the freaking problem.) and as this hits the wires people will say "oh its the pig flu...blah blah blah blah blah. They are ow tried of the story won't pay attention, and wont take needed precautions, get lazy on hand washing, not wear masks where needed, and the virus will tranmutate across many states, and cities, and travelers being infected on airplanes by the hundreds of thousands. People should have been issued and wearing masks on airplanes, they should have been wearing them in subways, they shoud have been doing things to really slow this down. If the CDC is now estimating 100,000, think how quickly it went from just hundreds of cases to thousands to now 100,000. Byt the time you read this, thousands more will be exposed, and even carrying it or fighting it off and people wont know until it grows and grows and then hit its peak destruction this next fall.
Mon May 18, 2009 4:12pm EDT
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The new influenza strain circulating around most of the United States is putting a worrying number of young adults and children into the hospital and hitting more schools than usual, U.S. health officials said on Monday.
The H1N1 swine flu virus killed a vice principal at a New York City school over the weekend and has spread to 48 states. While it appears to be mild, it is affecting a disproportionate number of children, teenagers and young adults.
This includes people needing hospitalization -- now up to 200, said Dr. Anne Schuchat of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"That's very unusual, to have so many people under 20 to require hospitalization, and some of them in (intensive care units)," Schuchat told reporters in a telephone briefing.
"We are now experiencing levels of influenza-like illness that are higher than usual for this time of year," Schuchat added. "We are also seeing outbreaks in schools, which is extremely unusual for this time of year."
New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Frieden agreed with Schuchat.
"We're seeing increasing numbers of people going to emergency departments saying they have fever and flu, particularly young people in the 5 to 17 age group, " Frieden, who has been named by U.S. President Barack Obama as the new CDC director, told a news conference.
About half of all cases of influenza are being diagnosed as the new H1N1 strain, while the rest are influenza B, or the seasonal H1N1 and H3N2 strains. Flu season in the United States is usually almost over by May.
CDC officials say around 100,000 people are likely infected with the new flu strain in the United States and Schuchat said the 5,123 confirmed and probable cases and six deaths in the United States were "the tip of the iceberg."
(read that 10 times until you get it through your thick skull folks.)
MORE ILLNESS OVERALL
"We are seeing more reports of influenza-like illness from outpatient visits that we monitor than is typical for this time of year," Schuchat said.
Because doctors usually treat symptoms and only occasionally give flu tests to patients, the CDC must monitor reports of symptoms such as fever, cough and muscle aches to track flu activity. Some centers are doing actual influenza tests to confirm the patterns that are seen.
Influenza is a factor in 36,000 deaths a year in the United States and 250,000 to 500,000 deaths globally, the CDC says.
"Unlike the seasonal flu, we are seeing relatively few cases or hospitalizations in people over 65," Schuchat said. Usually flu kills the elderly and people with chronic diseases.
There is no evidence that a second, bacterial infection is worsening the H1N1 cases, Schuchat said.
When family members are questioned, it seems clear that children and teens are more prone to infection than older adults, Schuchat said. "People under 18 are more likely to have infections when another person in the family is infected," she said.
"One of our working hypotheses is that older adults may have some pre-existing protection against this virus due to their exposure long ago to some virus that may be distantly related," Schuchat said.
An alternative hypothesis is that it just has not had a chance to make its way into the older population yet.
(Editing by Julie Steenhuysen and Xavier Briand)
Edited by nimblebear, 19 May 2009 - 12:35 AM.
