Laurie Garrett Puts our Minds at Ease on Colbert'

In a previous post I mentioned the H5N1 virus. I noticed it referred to in a "Google" ad as the "Swine Flu". I questioned it and noted to myself I should do some research on it. I have been so busy that I didn't get a chance to before I saw the following interview with Laurie Garrett who currently has an article in "Newsweek" entitled "Fear & The Flu" and is referred to as a "Global Health Expert".

The Swine Flu "is just a really bad rotten case of flu" Laurie states. She revealed that the H5N1 is the "Avian Bird Flu" and is much more serious than the "Swine Flu" or H1N1. According to WHO, The World Health Organization and their most recent statistics, there is not 1 confirmed case in the last seven years on our North American or South American Continent as shown in the chart below, so for Heavens sake, lets not panic over "Bird Flu" either:

Cumulative Number of Confirmed Human Cases of Avian Influenza A/(H5N1) Reported to WHO

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First American death cited "with" Swine Flu

In this morning's news, was an article by Christoper Sherman, pertaining to the death of Judy Trunnell, a 33-year-old schoolteacher. In an effort to avoid panic I just want to reiterate that "according to the State health department in Texas, spokeswoman Carrie Williams said the schoolteacher had "chronic underlying health conditions" but wouldn't give any more details".

According to her Doctor., Judy had been hospitalized since April 14th and the hospital was well aware she had the flu at the time. "The area is undergoing a Type A influenza epidemic right now, and swine flu is one variety of that, he said. She was confirmed to have swine flu shortly before she died, he said".

The article also remembered "The only other swine flu death in the U.S. was that of a Mexico City toddler who also had other health problems. He died last week at a Houston children's hospital."

I don't want to downplay the tragedy of the two deaths, however keep in mind that they both had underlying conditions and as with any flu under those circumstances, can be deadly. Swine flu is just a strain of our Influenza A which is not even the most common strain of flu but comes in at close second under Influenza B.

For the entire article visit the Quad City Times

Peace
Liz

Area Lawmakers Question H1N1 Message

Its about time someone noticed! Lawmakers are questioning the panic caused by the outbreak stating "cases in Illinois have mostly mimicked the mild seasonal flu"! Just a footnote here...ITS NOT JUST ILLINOIS!

"a House panel expressed concern over what they characterized as panic when news of the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, first broke."

"Illinois Department of Public Health Director Damon Arnold told lawmakers they’re urging people not to overreact." and Arnold states that "cases in Illinois have mostly mimicked the mild seasonal flu" I think someone should inform the media of that.

Please will someone STOP the panic?

/ Quad-City Times: Quad Cities, IA/IL / News / Local News

Some Illinois lawmakers question H1N1 message

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Mike Riopell | Posted: Tuesday, May 5, 2009 7:40 pm | No Comments Posted

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SPRINGFIELD — Lawmakers mostly praised state officials Tuesday for they way they’ve handled the recent flu scare.

But some on a House panel expressed concern over what they characterized as panic when news of the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, first broke.

Illinois Department of Public Health Director Damon Arnold told lawmakers they’re urging people not to overreact. But he said officials had to first treat the H1N1 virus as potentially deadly, because they didn’t yet know whether it was.

Now that cases in Illinois have mostly mimicked the mild seasonal flu, officials are recommending people with minor symptoms not get tested, and instead take general precautions they typically would when sick.

And officials are trying not to use the moniker “swine flu.”

“If you cook the pork, you can eat the pork,” Arnold said. “I’ve had that question many times.”

Lawmakers on the panel reported health system overloads in their districts and schools that might be closing too quickly.

“The hospitals were just inundated,” said state Rep. Tim Schmitz, R-Batavia.

So far, no Illinois cases have been confirmed south of Sangamon County, and a vast majority of them have been in the Chicago area. On Tuesday, state health officials said the state was up to 122 confirmed and probable cases.

Most of the testing has been done at state labs in Springfield and Chicago. Carbondale also has a lab, but Arnold said it hasn’t been needed yet.

Even though the H1N1 flu hasn’t been serious, Arnold said officials will track it for at least three months to see if it gets worse. Arnold said more Illinois cases are inevitable, even if they never end up being very serious.

“We undoubtedly will see more cases in the coming days, weeks and months,” Arnold said.

Posted in Local, Illinois on Tuesday, May 5, 2009 7:40 pm Updated: 7:42 pm. | Tags: H1n1, Swine Flu, Illinois Department Of Public Health

Are We Done Yet?

I have so much I want to write about and so little time to do so. I'll be glad when I can stop writing about the flu. I was pleased this morning to see that one of our local newspapers, The Dispatch, did not have a single word in reference to Swine Flu, N1H1 or N5H1 or whatever they are calling it these days.

I was appalled on Sunday (May 3th, 2009)by the full page spread from "The Associated Press" on the history of the Spanish Flu that I previously mentioned. Just the manner in which the articles were presented was frightening to say the least; "In flu scare, echoes of a fearful time"..WHAT? This does not echo the flu epidemic that began in 1918 what so ever. The only reason we currently have a "scare" is due to the media blowing the "pandemic" out of proportion.

In a sub-titled segment of the article "Now and Then" it is quoted by John M. Barry the author of "The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History", that he is tired of talking about he epidemic of 1918 but because of the similarities (what similarities?) He is doing his part to make sure the same mistakes aren't made again. We do appreciate Mr. Barry's efforts but the first mistake that was made was frightening the entire World to death over the common flu.

The article also describes to us how the victims would sometimes die within hours of contracting the virus and how they suffered from "high fevers, bloody discharge, turned purple and drowned in their own fluids". Excuse me? Do you see any similarities aside from the high fever here? What we are looking at is the average flu which is dangerous yes, but only to those who are normally at risk from dying from the flu, that's why they are encouraged to get a flu shot every year.

On Monday, May 4th, 2009 The Dispatch published an article, again from the "Associated Press" in Mexico City, the headline: "Epidemic declining?" Really? When was it ever deemed an epidemic? Of course its declining, the flu season is almost over and by next fall we will have a flu shot that will cover this particular strain that caused the World to panic.

I can't help but think of the movie "Wag the Dog" and wonder "who" and "what" are we deliberately being distracted from? My friend and fellow blogger Aero of the ABNetwork has other theories on the subject, for more on the virus, visit their blog ABNETWORK: The "H1N1 Triple Flu Virus Outbreak


Peace
Liz

Swine Flu Media Frenzy

Reading this mornings paper, nearly every section contained an article in reference to Swine Flu, from discrimination against Hispanics, the historical "Spanish Flu" that I mentioned as well, charts and a series of Q&A. I'm beginning to wonder if its not the Newspapers behind the frenzy as they are losing business with the internet news now available to us, however they aren't the only ones benefiting from the frenzy.

In todays news my questions were addressed from my previous post and how this panic is going to effect the economy. In an article by Andres Oppenheimer, The Latin American correspondent for the Miami Herald, he stated that the crisis will probably "prolong the global recession", "deepen" Mexico's "economic downturn", "increase migration pressures", "complicate President Obama's plans to pass a comprehensive U.S. immigration reform" But on the upside, it will "slow Mexico's battle against drug cartel violence". Does anyone else see the political ramifications here?

How convenient for the Republican party that the "Swine Flu" is killing several birds with one stone. Wasn't it just a few weeks ago that all of this panic began, coinciding with the recent violence in Mexico and the Drug cartel? And don't the Republicans want more stringent laws agains immigration, aren't they also trying to make the President look bad in the media every chance they get?

In another related article by the Wasington Associated Press, entitled "What you need to know about the new swine flu" It was asked "Is it treatable?", the answer was a resounding "yes", with and I quote "STANDARD anti-flu drugs". Yes, that means exactly what you are thinking, this is just the standard flu. Every year our flu shots are modified accordingly to the "strain" of flu that is most prevelant. Another question is presented; "Is there a vaccine?", "No. The goverment is working to develop one and the earliest shots could roll out would be in the fall". Isn't that "normally" when our new flu shots roll out, targeting the presumed strains for the season?

Article by Elizabeth A. Hall
5/3/09

Pandemic or Dam Panic? I'm Dam Mad!

After researching and writing the update for my blog "Swine flu 'Pandemic' or 'Unnecessary Panic" I began to network to bring people to my site to inform them. The more I did, the more upset I became and have more questions than answers.

Thus far, I've learned that H1N1 is the most common form of flu. You are more likely to contract Influenza B or even win the lottery. The facts are all there for anyone to look at. I've listed them on the above mentioned blog.

These are my questions:
1. There is 1 "confirmed" reported death in the United States. Mexico holds the remaining few "confirmed" deaths. There are "confirmed" cases, though few, scattered about the rest of the world. Why are all the deaths in Mexico? Doesn't that seem strange? And there are many third world countries out there with confirmed cases and no deaths, also strange.

2. What is the panic going to do to our economy? I'll tell you. Businesses are closing, schools are closing, even the border from Mexico is closing and people are not going out except to buy useless face masks. I haven't looked yet, but I bet our stock market is down as well.

3. Why has WHO deemed it necessary to place us at level 5 risk? If you'll look back in history, a form of H1N1, otherwise known as the "Spanish Flu" killed between 40 million and 100 million people from 1918 to 1920 and was said to be a level 5 pandemic. I'm sorry but this doesn't hold a candle to that bit of history at all. There are fewer reports of the H1N1 in recent months than when flu season began and more reports of Influenza B overall.

4. Is someone trying to sabotage the progress of our economy? Is someone or some organization trying to terrorize the people? Is someone just trying to make our President look bad? So in te future they can look back and say "look how bad the economy turned during Obamas first 100 days" and completely forget the reason behind it?

President Obama had it right, he advised us to wash our hands and cover our mouths when we cough! As we would during any flu season. People are so trusting of our media. Where are the fact checkers? Someone should be fired!

I'm angry as you should be too, to be a "puppet on a string", being terrorized by our own media? And for what reason?

Peace
Liz

(to give credit where credit is due, Jon Stewart saw the anogram in Pandemic to be Dam Panic)

UPDATE 5/1/09 Swine Flu "Pandemic" or "Unnecessary Panic"

UPDATE 5/1/09

I decided to do my own research in reference to the "unnecessary panic" which I believe is being instigated by WHO and I'll tell you why. According to the CDC's Weekly Influenza Report in which they reported the statistics for five different strains of virus in the United States this flu season, accumulatively there have been 25,925 confirmed cases of influenza. Of the 25,925 cases, only 6,223 were the H1N1 strain (identified as AH1). That leaves 19,702 confirmed cases of other strains of influenza, the highest being Influenza B with a reported 8686 confirmed cases. The CDC reports that there have been 15 cases confirmed in week 15 of their flu season. Influenza B reports 77 just this week. WHO's statistics were slightly higher than that of the CDC and Wikipedia.

The CDC had this to say about the 2008-09 season:

influenza A (H1), A (H3), and B viruses have co-circulated in the United States. Influenza A (H1) viruses have predominated during the season overall, however, the most commonly reported influenza virus has varied by week. From week 40 through week 10 (September 28, 2008 – March 14, 2009) influenza A (H1) viruses were more frequently reported and from weeks 11 through 13 (March 15 – April 4, 2009) more influenza B than influenza A viruses were reported. Since week 14, small numbers of positive influenza specimens have been reported; approximately half of influenza viruses reported nationally have been influenza A viruses and half have been influenza B viruses, but there continues to be variation in the predominant influenza type by region. During week 15, five of the nine surveillance regions reported more influenza A than influenza B viruses.

In actuality, going by the numbers, Influenza B is more than half and in recent weeks only small numbers of positive influenza has been reported indicating that, overall, the influenza "pandemic" is fizzling out. The CDC goes into some detail specifically related to the "swine version" with only a handful of confirmed cases in isolated areas with no deaths reported.

Wikipedia is kind enough to provide us with a chart compiled of statistics of mortality involving twelve countries in an article entitled 2009 Swine Flu Outbreak The overall statistics make the "swine flu" look harder to contract than winning the lottery. Of twelve countries there have only been 521 "laboratory confirmed" cases "World Wide" thus far this year. Suspected or Probable cases reach 4033 (referenced by who? WHO!) There were only thirteen (13) "confirmed" deaths and one-hundred-sixty-eight (168)"suspected" deaths, all but one of those confirmed deaths occurred in Mexico, the other one (1) was here in the United States. In a foot note it is stated "Suspected and probable cases have not been confirmed as being due to this strain of influenza by laboratory tests, although some other strains may have been ruled out".

I don't know why and can't even fathom why "WHO" would cause such a panic (no pun intended). Historically, Wikipedia associates the H1N1 virus with the "Spanish Flu" of 1918 to 1920, noting it was responsible for 40 to 100 million deaths. At that time it was a (5) in the severity index. Wikipedia also has this to say about H1N1:

Influenza A virus subtype H1N1, also known as A(H1N1), is a subtype of influenza virus A and the most common cause of influenza (flu) in humans. Some strains of H1N1 are endemic in humans, including the strain(s) responsible for the 1918 flu pandemic which killed 50–100 million people worldwide. Less virulent H1N1 strains still exist in the wild today, worldwide, causing a small fraction of all influenza-like illness and a large fraction of all seasonal influenza. H1N1 strains caused roughly half of all flu infections in 2006.[1] Other strains of H1N1 are endemic in pigs and in birds.

We are at level 5 now?!? Have we had anywhere near that number of deaths for the H1N1? NO! So why all the hype? Relax people, we just have an outbreak of the flu! And what do they tell us about the flu, get a flu shot, especially the elderly and those with weakened immune systems.

by Elizabeth A. Hall
5/1/2009

Information in this article were obtained by the following sources:
http://www.who.int/csr/don/2009_05_01/en/index.html
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_swine_flu_outbreak_by_country
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_swine_flu_outbreak_by_country#References

Swine Flu "Pandemic" or "Unnecessary Panic"?

I was watching "Hardball" with Chris Matthews last night and the UN Health Officials, having placed the threat on a level 4 out of 6, are saying that the virus "cannot be contained" yet there are only about 40 to 50 cases in the U.S. and only one hospitalization according to Robert Bazell, the MSNBC Health correspondent. President Obama is stating that there is no need for panic and I agree with him. There are also "two" vaccinations in our country, possibly used in unison they can kill the virus.

As for Mexico, it was stated that we don't know for sure how many of those deaths are really caused by the flu and since it has been going on for some time now, it could be out of millions that contracted it. In the bigger picture, that sounds containable to me and someone is just unnecessarily causing panic as those statistics probably aren't far off from our normal flu strains that tend to kill the elderly and those with a weakened immune system.

For Further Information and controversy surrounding the Virus visit the ABNetwork

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Finally, someone has a grasp on Reality! Watch the video below from "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" and his interview with Dr. Roy Gulick. And thank you Keith and Dr. Gulick for seeing beyond the panic.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy