Flu season approaches…everyone panic!

 Posted by on 28 August 2009  Modern Life
Aug 282009
 

We live in alarmist times.  The slightest hint that anything MIGHT go wrong sends the media (apologies to Grant and Matt who are sure to comment), the government and the public into hysterics. 

With flu season approaching, it seems the entire world is collapsing in fear that the swine flu – or H1N1, if you prefer — will sweep the globe killing us all.  Think I’m overstating the case?  Here’s a sample of some headlines and stories:

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the total number of deaths worldwide attributed to H1N1 was 1,799 as of August 21.  Since these numbers were collected from this particular strain of flu’s emergence in April, we can currently calculate the number of deaths caused by H1N1 on an annual basis to be somewhere in the area of 4,500.  Let’s be generous and say 5,000 deaths/year (at current count) are caused by H1N1.

Again, according to the WHO, the annual numbers of deaths due to influenza is between 250,000 and 500,000.  Why the focus on H1N1, when there are other strains that are apparently far more deadly? 

In 2004, a study of deaths worldwide found (not a complete list):

  • Coronary health disease – 7.2 million deaths worldwide
  • Stroke and other cerebrovascular diseases – 5.71 million deaths
  • Diarrhoeal diseases – 2.16 million deaths
  • HIV/AIDS – 2.04 million deaths
  • Road traffic accidents – 1.27 million deaths

Comparitively, 5,000 deaths seems low.  Where’s the worldwide mobilization regarding HIV?  Road safety?  Improving physical fitness levels?

Vaccination programs, in and of themselves, are not what I am opposed to.   However, using untested (or undertested) vaccines is a bit scary:  In 1976, a strain of the H1N1 virus appeared, eventually hospitalizing 13 and killing 1 individual.  The vaccine introduced to fight it had side effects that killed 25.  The side effects were given a name — Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS).

Already a GBS montoring system is being put into place and the vaccination program has barely begun.

This flu season, make your own decision regarding vaccinations.  However, make sure it is an informed decision.

I will not be getting the flu shot.

T. Keith Edmunds

  • http://www.absurdintellectual.com/ Grant Hamilton

    Why yes, I will comment, thank-you!

    But just to point out that “the media” is far from being a faceless cabal. Instead, it is a collection of individuals, each pursuing their own agendas and interests. In fact, I’d wager that you can find plenty of articles pointing out that the H1N1 hype is overblown. Here’s one: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/swine-flu-panic-overblown-medical-officer/article1251307/

    Unfortunately, it is human nature to focus on the new and the unusual. It’s not the fault of “the media” that they fall prey to the same human foibles as everyone else. In fact, I wonder if “the media” drives the pandemic panic, or if “the media” is simply following “the public’s” lead.

    That said, I completely agree that the current focus on swine/H1N1 flu is a wrong priority. I will also not be getting a flu shot this year.

    (PS. So long as people don’t tune it out thanks to “crying wolf”, I think this faux-pandemic is a pretty good opportunity to tune up for a real disease.)

    • http://pennywise-books.blogspot.com/ T. Keith Edmunds

      You can’t win with the chicken-and-egg argument of who started it – media or public. The point is that the media feeds public fears regardless of where the panic begins.

      Case study: The Great Koro Epidemic of 1967.

      In Singapore in 1967, men suddenly began fearing that their penises were shrinking away to nothing. The media picked up on this and the panic spread. The government finally had to intervene with an awareness campaign and a media blackout. Yes, the media was reacting to a public “issue,” but to what ends?

      (I love baiting you with “the media.”)

  • http://www.absurdintellectual.com/ Grant Hamilton

    For better or for worse (and I’d argue it’s for better), “the media” is nothing more than a reflection of “the public.”

    I simply don’t think you can blame “the media” for all that you want to hang on it. Specific articles, sure, or even certain publications. You could even say “most media outlets” if you want to.

    But “the media” is not a homogeneous whole, and it’s disingenuous to argue that it is.

  • MPot

    Much as I enjoy blaming the faceless Media, beholden to the dark interests of the Illuminati . . .

    Flu shot (influenza shot) is a good idea, flu shot (H1N1), I’m not yet sold.

    You know, the CDC issued a statement of caution regarding H1N1 hype just yesterday or the day before, and so far I’ve seen few sites reporting it. My local paper had three panicky articles about the coming H1N1 apocalypse today, and not a word about the wise skeptical advice coming from the bloody Centres for Disease Control. Yeah, who cares what they have to say about it?

    WHO has a long, sordid history of blowing things out of promotion that sometimes overshadows the great work they’ve done on a variety of fronts. There’s too much money and power in an H1N1 apocalypse for them to admit to hasty forecasting now.