Swine Flu or Is it H1N1?
If swine flu weren’t such a serious problem, I would have found it humorous when pork companies began demanding that we change the name of the virus to H1N1. People without a vested interest in pork might also consider that a good idea from the point of view of decreasing fear (pigs are slimy ugly creatures that make loud scary noises), until they discover that H1N1 was also the designation of the 1918 Spanish flu that killed over 50 million people worldwide.
Speaking of flu fears fed by the specter of 1918, have a look at my oped in Monday’s NY Post. I also want to provide you some with some flu-prevention tips:
- Wash your hands often and don’t cough or sneeze on people or wipe your hands on common surfaces — not because of swine flu, but to prevent the spread of any respiratory virus.
- If you are suffering from lethargy, high fever, muscle aches, headache, sore throat or nausea, call your physician. He or she can help you determine if you need to be tested for flu. Do not go to your local emergency room with mild or moderate symptoms because our ERs are already becoming clogged with patients with colds and allergies.
- If you are one of the rare people who have had contact with an actual case or possible case of swine flu, also contact your physician.
- Listen to public health announcements coming from our federal, state, and local officials, but consider that they may also see their role as describing the worst case scenario. Learn to diffuse the language of fear. Risk assessment needs to be rational. Be reassured that this appears to be a weak virus, that it is not spreading rapidly, and mostly that it doesn’t seem to be very deadly.
- Isolating sick people and their contacts is the best way to contain an emerging virus, not to quarantine entire regions. It is doubtful that travel restrictions will help at this point, and closing the border may be counterproductive, as panicked sick people will likely try to escape (as has occurred historically).
Dr. Marc Siegel is an internist and associate professor of medicine at the NYU School of Medicine. He is a FOX News medical contributor and writes a health column for LA Times, where he examines TV and movies for medical accuracy. Dr. Siegel is the author of “False Alarm: The Truth About the Epidemic of Fear
Tags: H1, pigs, pork, pork products, Spanish Flu, Swine Flu, virus
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I’ve been following the media reports regarding this new flu virus since last Fri. I am amazed that I have not heard ANYONE mention a word that was the first thing that came to my mind: bio-terrorism. It seems that since this virus is a new combination of various viruses from around the world, that it is probably man-made. It’s just strange to me that at least one member of the media has not jumped on this idea. Also, I believe, as many around here do, that it is mainly being spread from Mexico via the drug traders. Just had to put in my two cents!
The CoughCover is an anti-viral respiratory hygiene patch that is used to cough or sneeze onto. It captures, contains and destroys cold and flu viruses. It is available through the website and I am presently setting up amazon and ebay accounts. The CoughCover is not a treatment for the flu but it can be very effective to help prevent the spread of the flu virus when used in combination with good respiratory hygiene practices as described by the CDC. More information about the CoughCover can be found at foxnews.com, search coughcover from 02/02/2009.
It seems that most of the people that have died are Hispanic maybe thats why the US is not being affected like Mexico. I had a friend who produced a wood product for the inside of cars, he said that the only people that could work with this wood were Hispanic, he said caucaisians could not even work in the area with out getting a rash or sick.
ImmuneRegen’s (http://www.ImmuneRegen.com) compound Homspera is a strong candidate as a therapeutic and / or adjuvant to pandemic influenza including swine flu. The compound has demonstrated greater effectiveness than Tamiflu. Why isn’t the government expediting the development of candidates like these?
Reported on WLS radio – the government CDC website shows 55 American children died of another flu in one week in April 2009.
This is a great way to bone up the hype for a billion and a half dollars to pump into the granted institutions and Congress’ favorite constituency – the large dollared with our taxes campaign donors.
I guess not even the news can check the government websites we’ve all paid for they host and maintain by law – so they can’t pull a fast one on all of us.
Check the CDC – then comprehend the hype.
Since outbreaks are usually named after the place where they originated i.e Asian Flu, Spanish Flu(1918), why are we not calling this flu the mexican flu? We had no problem calling the bird flu Asian flu, what gives? Our elected administration is so worried about PR that we will keep the borders open, throw 1.5 billion dollars in the air, and pray that we don’t get sick…… It isn’t rocket science here people, every other country is taking strides to mitigate this “Almost pandemic”, your country is doing absolutely nothing…..What a great idea
I’m a farmer’s daughter and a farm wife. The swine flu has become a scary problem for many people and precautions should definitely be taken. However avoiding pork products is crazy!! How many people don’t eat poultry when they get chicken pox????
Concerning the spread of swine flu in America…Why doesn’t the White House consult Asia (Japan, Singapore, South Korea) who have dealt with these diseases. They use temperature monitors as people walk off the plane or before they fly onto a plane. A hand held temperature monitor checks each person as they pass, checking for rise in body temperature. As a missionary traveling in Eastern Europe and through out Europe, we went through many stages of being free of hoof and mouth disease. They had floor mats we had to walk across to sanitize our shoes. There was a check off sheet asking specifically where you were.
Did you have contact with farm animals?
At each entry point of Europe they required strict measures to keep it from spreading.
So the same with Asia and those nasty contagious diseases…
PHAUX NEWS IS PHONY. The sooner you know, the better off you will be.