WHO raises swine flu alert to 'pandemic level 5'

[+Anarkii Subscriber²]

The media has gone waaaaaay overboard with this in my opinion. Sure its a killer flu, but really is it any worse than any other strains of flu out there?! There is treatment for this flu, just like any other flu. Wash your hands, cover your mouth when you cough and if you have a runny nose, don't go out in public to pass it on to people.

Thats the suggestions of the WHO, but isn't it common knowledge since the 1900's to do all that stuff anyway when you have a cold or get the flu?

The flu flu kills 10,000 Aussies every year, this is tiny in comparison. Shouldn't the WHO raise the level in that case for the common cold to 6? Dunno bout you guys but yeh, the media is just turning something incredibly small and turning it into a 'global catastrophe'. I would hate to see the media during the time of a real global catastrophe if thats the case.

[deletedxyz]

WHO's serious issue of this threat is undermined here in the US because our media loves to use sensationalist, substance less garbage to keep viewers from tuning away from their channel and promote people to be narrow minded conspiracy nuts.

[John S. Veteran]

Scientists see this flu strain as relatively mild

Genetic data indicate this outbreak won't be as deadly as that of 1918, or even the average winter.

As the World Health Organization raised its infectious disease alert level Wednesday and health officials confirmed the first death linked to swine flu inside U.S. borders, scientists studying the virus are coming to the consensus that this hybrid strain of influenza -- at least in its current form -- isn't shaping up to be as fatal as the strains that caused some previous pandemics.

In fact, the current outbreak of the H1N1 virus, which emerged in San Diego and southern Mexico late last month, may not even do as much damage as the run-of-the-mill flu outbreaks that occur each winter without much fanfare.

"This virus doesn't have anywhere near the capacity to kill like the 1918 virus," which claimed an estimated 50 million victims worldwide, said Richard Webby, a leading influenza virologist at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.

"We expect to see more cases, more hospitalizations, and, unfortunately, we are likely to see more deaths from the outbreak," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told reporters Wednesday on her first day at work.

But certainly nothing that would dwarf a typical flu season. In the U.S., between 5% and 20% of the population becomes ill and 36,000 people die -- a mortality rate of between 0.24% and 0.96%.

full story

[Popcorned1]

And relax.

[Draken]

that man have a daughter, :rolleyes: go ahead laugh, ha ha ha you're a genius

[techbeck]

This whole swine flue fear mongering is ridiculous. I was sick today, threw up, and was checking my work email. My bosses have decided while I was gone to limit support visits to our offices because they dont want to have over exposure. That just ****es me off big time. This is stupid media driven fear.

And no, I am not worried that I have the flu or anything and no I am not going to rush to the hospital and be one of those paranoid asses in line thinking htey have the swine flu.