Every newscast I hear is about the spread of this terrible flu. Checking inbound flights, banning pork sales, wearing surgical masks, stopping travel to Mexico, etc. etc.
The truth is that there really is not that much to be alarmed about. There are 100 deaths each DAY, from various strains of regular everyday flu, and yet the whole country is in an uproar over the dreaded Swine Flu. What's your thoughts?

 

Some might be overreacting, but if you've ever had the Swine Flu you will do anything to keep from catching it again...especially for those with compromised immune systems. I had it in the mid-70's, and I wanted to die!

 

 

I think a bit of over reacting aided by the media, of course.

As Maury mentioned, many people die each year during flu season.

Obviously, I hope this outbreak does not get much worse.

 

You can't really blame the media for this one. The WHO has just upgraded the outbreak to one step below total pandemic.

 

What's the CDC had to say? I'd look but I'm lazy and I've got to start the grill in a few minutes.

 

CDC:
http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/
91 US cases, 1 death. (The Mexican child that was visiting Texas when he got sick.)

WHO:
http://www.who.int/csr/don/en/
148 confirmed cases world-wide, 8 deaths. (5.4% fatality rate.)

 

I think I'll trust the CDC on this one given those numbers.

 

I think they are going way overboard with this.

 

The WHO numbers include the US ones, BTW. They're not in conflict with the CDC numbers.

Here are the six phases of influenza pandemics:
http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influ...e/en/index.html

Phase 5 is, technically, "characterized by human-to-human spread of the virus into at least two countries in one WHO region."