It appears that H1N1 has become particularly acute in the Ukraine. Some of the tinfoil-hatted are blaming drug companies -- which seems ludicrous, considering what's at stake -- while others suspect the illness has been misidentified.
Me, I don't know. It's a long way away and I don't speak the lingo, let alone understand the culture well enough to judge the veracity of a news source from the country. As a species, we're overdue for a plague or pandemic; but as a species, we make a habit of beating the odds. I do know that the simplest, oldest methods of preventing infection are highly effective, starting with washing your hands often and not touching your face unless you have just washed 'em. That's true for any cold and flu season, no matter how much or how little governments and news organizations hype the threat du jour.
250,000 cases in the Ukraine. 70 deaths. So .028% of those who contracted H1N1 so far have died (or 1 in 3,571 cases).
ReplyDeleteAccording to the Wikipedia entry, 10-20% of those who contracted the Spanish Flu of 1918 died.
We're nowhere near that range of fatalities. We're barely in the same galaxy.
Precautions are in order. Panic is not.
Yep. I made that same point last week.
ReplyDeleteFriend of mine lectures at American University in D.C., he just got their update of number of faculty, staff, and students with flu of all kinds. He ran the numbers.
ReplyDelete0.0014% have some kind of flu.