Oink Oink
The Swine Flu Pandemic
Sarah Bouchard
Issue date: 5/30/09 Section: Opinion
A person is a very smart organism. They are able to reason and think for themselves. A person can cope with the most stressful and scary of circumstances with minimal scarring. But people as a society are scared, dumb animals that follow what the media lets out. The pack mentality comes out when there is any threat to our way of life. The media loves to prey on disaster, destruction and death. This is why news reporters tend to focus on things such as this swine flu "pandemic."
The swine flu outbreak of 2009 is a mixture of three different strains of the Influenza A virus subtype H1N1. The main symptoms of this "new flu" are - surprise, surprise - the same as the regular flu. You throw up, get dizzy, and sleep it off. There are 93 laboratory confirmed cases of swine flu in the United States, with one confirmed death, that death was a Mexican toddler who had come over to Texas for medical treatment.
People are taking this whole thing out of proportion. They seem to believe that this flu is a killer. And yes, it has killed a total of eight people (confirmed), but it's not because this strain is very horrible and particularly deadly. Seven of the deaths come from Mexico and from very rural areas where fresh water is hard to come by. Not only is the water the not good to drink, but the hospital systems over there are not anywhere near what we have over here in the United States.
People in the United States are blowing this whole thing out of proportion. They think the world is going to explode if they get the swine flu. This is not the end of the world. Health officials are saying all you need to do if you get the swine flu is rest and drink lots of water. Is that any different from when you get the normal flu? No, it's not. If you take the same precautions you do when its flu season, you should be A-OK.
Not only is it the United States population that is getting a little crazy with this, the World Health Organization (WHO) is also getting jumpy. As of April 29, WHO has pushed the pandemic alert to Phase 5. Phase 5 means that the identified virus has caused sustained community level outbreaks in two or more countries, suggesting that a pandemic is imminent. What I find imminent is mass hysteria from such a simple little thing such as a virus that we will survive.
True, the flu shot that they have in stock does not protect against this flu. Suck it up. Seriously? We as a species have survived for millenniums before the flu shot was created and we will survive this outbreak too. Besides, it's things like the flu shot that create super bugs such as MRSA (Multiple-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus).
The take home message I'm trying to convey is that you shouldn't get so worked up about such a small thing. If you take the necessary precautions like washing your hands, taking Tylenol flu and staying hydrated, then you should be fine. By the way, there is no way you can get the flu by eating pork, so enjoy your ham and bacon worry free.
The swine flu outbreak of 2009 is a mixture of three different strains of the Influenza A virus subtype H1N1. The main symptoms of this "new flu" are - surprise, surprise - the same as the regular flu. You throw up, get dizzy, and sleep it off. There are 93 laboratory confirmed cases of swine flu in the United States, with one confirmed death, that death was a Mexican toddler who had come over to Texas for medical treatment.
People are taking this whole thing out of proportion. They seem to believe that this flu is a killer. And yes, it has killed a total of eight people (confirmed), but it's not because this strain is very horrible and particularly deadly. Seven of the deaths come from Mexico and from very rural areas where fresh water is hard to come by. Not only is the water the not good to drink, but the hospital systems over there are not anywhere near what we have over here in the United States.
People in the United States are blowing this whole thing out of proportion. They think the world is going to explode if they get the swine flu. This is not the end of the world. Health officials are saying all you need to do if you get the swine flu is rest and drink lots of water. Is that any different from when you get the normal flu? No, it's not. If you take the same precautions you do when its flu season, you should be A-OK.
Not only is it the United States population that is getting a little crazy with this, the World Health Organization (WHO) is also getting jumpy. As of April 29, WHO has pushed the pandemic alert to Phase 5. Phase 5 means that the identified virus has caused sustained community level outbreaks in two or more countries, suggesting that a pandemic is imminent. What I find imminent is mass hysteria from such a simple little thing such as a virus that we will survive.
True, the flu shot that they have in stock does not protect against this flu. Suck it up. Seriously? We as a species have survived for millenniums before the flu shot was created and we will survive this outbreak too. Besides, it's things like the flu shot that create super bugs such as MRSA (Multiple-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus).
The take home message I'm trying to convey is that you shouldn't get so worked up about such a small thing. If you take the necessary precautions like washing your hands, taking Tylenol flu and staying hydrated, then you should be fine. By the way, there is no way you can get the flu by eating pork, so enjoy your ham and bacon worry free.
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