The Swine

This guy has a point.  I have to admit, when I saw the “national emergency” thing, I was a little skeptical – I mean, come on.  How often do people get the actual “normal” flu, and it doesn’t turn into a national emergency!! 

According to the CDC (as reported here), an estimated 20,000 people die each year from the seasonal flu (non-pork variety).  However, this current “national emergency” has a confirmed death toll of fewer than 100 people so far.  The Wall Street Journal’s report from May 2009 notes,

“According to the CDC’s own numbers, influenza was listed as the underlying cause on just 849 death certificates in 2006, the most recent year available — half as many as hernias and a quarter the number killed by peptic ulcers. This number has been flat in recent decades even as the CDC’s much larger estimates of annual flu deaths have been increasing.”

So, a) the CDC’s numbers are inaccurate, b) the swine flu is less deadly than other varieties of the flu (let alone other medical conditions), and c) we’re calling this a “national emergency.”  Hm.  Okaaayyyyy. 

What to do?  Another report notes, “90 percent of the fatalities he looked at had some condition that would predispose them to serious disease. … Nearly half — 46 percent — were obese, many had fatty liver disease, 27 percent had heart disease and 22 percent had asthma…”  So, for those patient populations, definitely take extra precautions.  For the rest of us, a “return” to good hand-washing and hygiene (in case we’ve become a little lax), but I’m sorry, this is not a “national emergency.” 

Dr Marc Lipsitch, infectious disease expert at Harvard University, says that the swine flu outbreak is comparable to a “moderate year of seasonal influenza.”  He has characterized this flu outbreak as “very mild.” 

So, what does the administration have to gain by promoting this as a “national emergency” and, essentially, spreading panic? 

Think about that……