H1N1 Swine Flu Could Be Back in October

As we in the western world enjoy the lazy hazy days of summer, the flu is probably the last thing on our minds – that’s a winter thing, right?

But yesterday, the American Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices began planning ahead, recommending children between six-months and nine-years-old receive not one, but two doses of H1N1 Swine Flu vaccine this fall, as the notorious killer flu continues to circulate the globe.

Every year, the three most common strains of the flu virus are placed in the seasonal flu vaccine. The World Health Organization (WHO) monitors these strains, and currently the H1N1 Swine Flu pandemic virus is still the most prevalent one around the world – which is why the American CDC is suggesting it be included in the seasonal flu vaccine.

The two shots for kids is intended for children who haven’t received an H1N1 vaccine ever, as their bodies don’t have any way to fight the dreaded H1N1 Swine Flu.

CDC estimates that about 60 million people – that’s 20 percent of the American population – were infected with H1N1 Swine Flu since the spring of 2009.

Most flu viruses attack children, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems hardest, but H1N1 Swine Flu affected children hardest, as they haven’t built up immunity from past flu vaccinations over the course of many years.

Not that adults are immune from the deadly virus, they may eventually be included in the H1N1 Swine Flu vaccination program in the fall as well – but children are still more at risk from this particular strain of flu.

Last year, from April to November, the CDC says about 830 to 1,730 children under 17-years-old died from H1N1 Swine Flu.

On June 11, 2009, WHO declared an H1N1 Swine Flu pandemic, moving their alert level to “phase 6,” marking the first global pandemic since the 1968 Hong Kong Flu. About one million people died between 1968 and 1969 from the Hong Kong Flu.

WHO’s latest update on May 30, 2010 says 214 countries and overseas territories or communities have reported laboratory confirmed cases of pandemic influenza H1N1 2009, resulting in over 18,138 deaths.

Related articles by Zemanta

• H1N1 Swine Flu Still Around, CDC Says (nlm.nih.gov)
• H1N1 swine flu still around, CDC says (reuters.com)
• Record Number of Americans Got Flu Shots, CDC Says (nlm.nih.gov)
• H1N1 Swine Flu Virus Continues to Kill (shoppingblog.com)
• Young children respond well to recommended swine flu vaccine (eurekalert.org)
• Swine flu virus not so new, study finds (reuters.com)

Spin Doctoring Swine Flu: How the Media Could Make You Sick, Or Worse -- Die

The North American media is all buzzing about the various waves of H1N1 Swine Flu crashing through our communities.

Here in Canada, medical experts say the second wave of the constantly mutating virus has almost completed its run through the country, as reported cases are dropping.

As the numbers of serious cases declines, the media is losing their once strong headline grabber to cover. So, as the media often does, they are spinning the story to keep readers, listeners and viewers buying newspapers, listening to radio reports, and watching newscasts.

The latest spin in the media is squarely asking those who haven’t been vaccinated against H1N1 Swine Flu yet whether there is any need, as the virus isn’t infecting as many people across the country.

Fear is an excellent way to capture readers, listeners and viewers -- which is why the media loves quotes from infectious control experts, medical officers of health, and others in the medical field warning of the dangers of not getting the H1N1 Swine Flu vaccine.

Then they go to the street, getting so-called “streeters” – asking people if they have been vaccinated yet against the virus. Once they find someone who hasn’t, they pounce with:

Now that the numbers of cases of H1N1 Swine Flu have gone down, is it worth getting vaccinated?

Image by Rétrofuturs (Hulk4598) / Stéphane Massa-Bidal via Flickr

That’s a leading question, which is typical of streeters. Reporters and their news directors, editors and producers are clever people. They never go to Joe Blow on the street, unless they know what they want to hear.

The question above is leading the person asked towards a “no” giving them the logical conclusion that it isn’t worth getting vaccinated, because the number of cases has gone down.

Sure, you’ll get people saying anything, but ask enough strangers on the street a leading question which hints at the answer, and it won’t be long before you get that sound bite or pull quote you’ve been longing to hear.

Some might argue that the media is just doing what they are supposed to do – be balanced and fair, by providing all sides to a story.

However, what the media is ignoring is their impact on the public good.

Whenever a pandemic has hit, medical experts after-the-fact have told us that if only we had a way of vaccinating people against the pandemic before it hit, the death toll wouldn’t be as high.

Hello?

Here we have a rare opportunity, to vaccinate entire continents from a highly contagious, constantly mutating killer virus, and the news media is asking leading questions prompting people to say they don’t think it necessary to get the vaccine?

Doesn’t that smell a wee bit foul to you – or am I the only one sniffing the stink of a news media gone awry?

Sure, writing stories about how it is important to get vaccinated are biased – but when Liberal or Conservative news outlets cover candidates during an election, do you honestly think they are any less biased in their reporting of who they want to win and who they want to lose?

But the difference here isn’t which candidate gets into office, but whether or not huge numbers of people live or die.

The bubonic plague ravaged Europe in the 1400s, virtually eliminating the human race from that continent. This plague – often called the “Black Plague” or “the Great Plague” crossed continents, spreading across North America, killing thousands globally up until being wiped out by the 1900’s.

Image via Wikipedia

Vaccines have eliminated massive deaths to virus and diseases such as the Great Plague in modern times, such as the vaccine for regular flu.

Yes, much of the hype about the H1N1 Swine Flu is just that – hype. The numbers of those getting seriously sick, or dying from H1N1 Swine Flu in most of North America aren’t really that much different from incidents of serious illness or death from the regular flu.

But for years humanity has had vaccines for the regular flu – not so for the newer H1N1 Swine Flu, which first surfaced in Mexico earlier this year.

The media does the responsible thing during flu season, and promote the benefits of getting the annual flu shot for the regular flu. There’s no question about it – the more people vaccinated, the low

Image by ghinson via Flickr

er the number of infections. This has been proven time and time again since governments worldwide have been making the regular flu vaccine available to their citizens.

H1N1 Swine Flu isn’t that much different from the regular flu – it just caught us off guard, and prompted the scientific alarm bells to scream “pandemic” as they should.

When the deadly virus was first discovered, scientists didn’t know about it, so they hadn’t any way to prevent it from killing off the human race.
But now, thanks to many of those same scientists, we now have a way to save ourselves, and in so doing, our race.

But our news media, more interested in their bottom lines than the greater good, is still hyping H1N1 Swine Flu as the next great plague, causing hysteria, confusion and worse in some cases – inaction.

By confusing people as to the real nature of H1N1 Swine Flu, the media is clouding the issues, causing people to delay or even to abstain from getting the latest flu-type vaccine.

And that could prove to be more harmful for humanity, as those who do not get vaccinated, put themselves – and those around them – at grave risk.

Related articles by Zemanta

• H1N1 Swine Flu Infections Rising in North America (jordansdaily.blogspot.com)
• Canadian flu shot study unlikely to change policy: WHO (cbc.ca)
• H1N1 linked to rise in bacterial pneumonia cases (cnn.com)
• Deaths not linked to H1N1 vaccines: WHO (nationalpost.com)
• Greater Use of Anti-Infection Vaccine Is Urged in Flu Fight (nytimes.com)
• PCs question Liberals' H1N1 vaccine rollout (cbc.ca)
• Montrealers urged to get flu shot (cbc.ca)
• Swine Flu Vaccine Delivery Falls Short; Less Than Half Of Expected Doses Have Been Delivered (huffingtonpost.com)

Canada Mangles H1N1 Swine Flu Vaccinations – Threatens World Order

How are you battling the spread of the common flu and the ever feared H1N1 Swine flu?

Chances are, you’ll be able to get an H1N1 Swine Flu shot and (in most cases) a regular flu shot if you live in an industrialized country such as Canada or the United States of America.

For most in these industrialized countries, they have already received their flu vaccinations – not so if you live here in Canada.

The Canadian government mis-managed testing and distribution of the

Image via Wikipedia

H1N1 Swine Flu vaccine – so much so, it has delayed it well beyond what most medical experts consider the safe window of opportunity.

Usually here in Canada, provincial governments freely vaccinate residents starting in early October for the common flu virus. Thanks to Canada’s federal health agency taking its time with the testing of the H1N1 Swine Flu vaccine, the common flu vaccine may not be available until well into the flu season – which could create a major national outbreak of the nasty bug.

Or far worse, the killer H1N1 Swine Flu could spread across Canada faster than ants to honey, creating a very devastating and possibly dangerous pandemic. Just last week, a 15-year-old boy in northern Ontario, Canada died from the H1N1 Swine Flu.

There have been numerous infections of the H1N1 Swine Flu in Canada, though for the most part, they haven’t been fatal.

Though scientists are predicting the now quiet pandemic in North America will see a rocket-like rise in cases late in December and January, partly due to the increased amount of travel caused by the seasonal holidays.

But will Canadians be ready to fight both flu bugs when they hit their peak? Will we see people wearing surgical masks, and covering their face with tissues (which doesn’t work) to prevent catching these bugs, as they did in some major city centers during the Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak years ago?

Will people be civil despite the monster line-ups expected for the free flu vaccination clinics? In the past, you could go to your doctor to get your free flu shot, and you still can. But to get the new H1N1 Swine Flu shot, you have to go to a government-run clinic – these are only available from the government.

Confused?

That’s another part of the constantly compounding problem – all three l

Image via Wikipedia

evels of government have managed to work together to bring us our flu shots, but they haven’t done a very good job of communicating these combined efforts to the public.

Most don’t know that this year, instead of getting just one flu shot, you need at least two – maybe three depending on your age and overall health.

Generally, Canadians will be eligible for two free flu shots – one for the common flu, the other for the H1N1 Swine flu. For children, the elderly and people with certain medical conditions, you may need a third shot, a booster H1N1 Swine Flu shot.

The common flu shot is still available through most family doctors, but the H1N1 Swine Flu shot is generally only available from government-run H1N1 flu clinics.

In some provinces, the federal government will be running these government-run flu vaccination clinics, in others the provincial health ministry will run the show, while in others it will be the local municipal government’s health department.

This makes the whole ordeal just that – and it doesn’t end there.

Because old habits die hard, and most of us are used to getting our annual flu shot by now, the late start to these vaccination clinics is expected to drive people in great numbers to these government-run clinics. Meaning the line-ups will not only be long, but possibly uncivil.

Imagine being taken to the hospital, because a riot breaks out during a flu vaccination session at one of these clinics?

Well, at least the hospital will be able to give you your shots, while they repair the damage caused at the mis-managed government-run H1N1 Swine Flu vaccination clinic.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Doctor Wants Flu Shot Priority for Team Canada (nytimes.com)
• Drug makers can't meet flu vaccine demand: WHO (nationalpost.com)
• H1N1 vaccine safe, top health officials stress (cbc.ca)
• One ready, Canada's H1N1 vaccine supply to move quickly (ctv.ca)
• Swine flu vaccine not mandatory, McGuinty says (cbc.ca)