Is this swine flu thing making anyone else mad?

My BS meter has been going off ever since this thing happened, and the more I dig the worse it gets. There is no reason whatsoever to care about this swine flu outbreak and yet schools are closing, services are buying pallets of equipment, people won't eat pork...am I the only one that thinks this is nuts. I just put an extensive rant on my blog about it with quite a few statistics that make this thing not even as bad as the regular flu. I came hear to discuss my outrage and found that there wasn't even a discussion topic about it?!?!

Who is with me on this?

Tags: flu, swine

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Permalink Reply by Dave Bloom on May 4, 2009 at 10:32pm: Dude, you really need to think about switching to decaf. You are wrong to say that no one should care about this, but I agree that everyone is going crazy over it. Let's use this as a test to see how the system works, so if something serious breaks out, we can be better prepared.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Buck Feris on May 5, 2009 at 8:51am: I never said no one should care. TB scares me. Hepatitis scares me. Meningitis scares me. When compared to these other diseases, the flu does not. I would alos point out that if the CDC wants to exercise their ability to mobilize and contain an outbreak, they should do what everyone else does...a drill. Media hype has blown this way out of proportion. And now, this is the kicker, my students are no longer allowed to due ridetime at one of our best services because of the 'state of emergency' that exists over the swine flu. So now my students aren't able to do ridetime because the media decided to have a field day with yet another outbreak of a flu virus which is something that happens constantly throughout the world every day. After this 'state of emergency' is over my students can go back to utilizing PPE to protect themselves from TB, HEP B, Meningitis, MRSA, HIV, and everything else AS USUAL.

Some school have been closed for a week. Parents are having trouble going to work because they can't find daycare for their kids who can't go to school.

When did common sense end? Really. I do not want to extend a golf clap to the WHO and the CDC for causing public panic, school closings, and hindering the education of my students. I don't need caffeine to get pissed off by this.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Will Merrins on May 5, 2009 at 12:32pm: AMEN!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Dave Bloom on May 6, 2009 at 10:48am: I'm in agreement that the media has blown this out of proportion. One kid has the sniffles, and a dozen schools shut down. It's so crazy that the Blagojevich scandal has been shoved off of the front pages in Chicago.

But seriously, when as the last time you gave a drill any serious consideration? There is no grey area between drill scenarios and another 9-11, so let them have their playtime. If the waste products hit the fan it's going to be us, the troops on the street, saving the day, not the bureaucrats.

Now have a cup of herbal tea, recite your mantra a few dozen times and chill out.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Lee on May 7, 2009 at 8:48am: Make me mad? No. Make me scratch my head in amazement? Yes. Make me laugh at the "Chicken Little Syndrome" (THE SKY IS FALLING, THE SKY IS FALLING)? Most definitely!

Statistics tell us (depending on which report one reads) anywhere from 25,000 to 45,000 people die every year in this country alone, from the "common" influenza strains. Now considering that there is some 6 billion people in the world, and there has only been a few hundred deaths, one has to wonder; SO!

Ok, I'm sure it sux if you are one of the few hundred, but really, was this really necessary. We didn't have as much hooplah back in the 50's and 60's with nuclear weapons. Except for "duck and cover" drills.

Rule #1. People die.
Rule #2. Paramedics, Doctors, and Nurses cannot change #1.

When I consider the cardiac arrest is the #1 killer of people worldwide, everything else is secondary.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Buck Feris on May 7, 2009 at 12:03pm: You know what? I have chilled out on this quite a bit. I was asked to give a lecture on this topic, so I tried to clear my head and return to the scene of my anger and try to dig to find answers. What I found was that there IS A DANGER. And it is pretty serious. But everything is WELL UNDER CONTROL and even if this new strain goes pandemic it is not going to kill anymore people than other strains do. But...like usual...the ignorant media and news outlets have just either tried to do some old fashioned fear mongering to sell papers, or they are just dumb and get it wrong. For those of you who want to know EXACTLY what is going on down to a molecular level with this stuff, I have a few fantastic links for you:

Futures in Biotech 42: Sneezing Pandaemic
Futures in Biotech 40: Virus Reborn
This Week in Virology 30: H1N1
NOVA scienceNOW: 1918 Flu
NOVA scienceNOW: Pandemic Flu; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Kevin Collopy on May 9, 2009 at 12:01pm: The concern over H1N1 is not really its current state of infection/symptoms. The traditional influenza virus kills almsot 36,000 people annually alone. What has people concerned is the visual display of how a virus can begin in one part of the world, and infilatrate the world so rapidly. It shows how easily a truly deadly virus or disease, or biological weapon could be spread globally. The pandemic alert is really over this rate of spread more than the symptoms of illness itself. This virus went from one town to multiple nations quite rapidly. Consider if ebola did that...; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Cricket on May 9, 2009 at 9:44pm: I have heard many medical personnel to include nurses, doctors, emts and paramedics complain about this so called pandemic. They all have the same gripe. " Everyone is in panic mode and the hospitals are overcrowded and the rescues are being used for unnecessary calls due to the swine flu" However, you have to remember #1 this is what we do.. no matter the reason, the cause or the thought process that goes on in a patient's head when they head to an ER or call 911 at 3am for a sneeze.. this is what we have CHOSEN to do. And we need to do it with compassion. #2 Our healthcare system is horrible. We have children that don't have insurance, so a mom of three kids, listens to the news, hears about the swin flu and measures the symptoms on TV to her kids flu symptoms. She gets scared.. she runs to the nearest hospital thinking that her beloved children are going to be the next victims. I heard a nurse the other day say that a family in the ER "Was incredibly stupid thinking that their family had the swine flu just because they had fevers & aches" I could not belive that the nurse didn't realize that what may seem trivial to us can be sheer panic to a mom when her children are involved even if it is just the sniffles. We in the medical field know that 36,000 people a year die of the "normal" flu, but they don't broadcast THAT piece of info on the news. No, the media is all for sensationalism. That is where we can also come in.. EDUCATE our audience. Strike up a conversation with someone in the line at the store, tell them your facts, then they will pass it on and so forth. Regardless, I am just not seeing enough psychological first aid anymore. Fix the head, the ass will follow..... Have a great day and men don't forget to call your mothers tomorrow ~♥~; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Rotormedic on May 14, 2009 at 10:48am: Its funny that most ppl in the EMS community agree. I came back from vegas last weekend and see everyone walking around in the airport with the surgical masks on. I got so frustrated and walked up to someone and asked them why they are wearing the mask, and asked them is it because their breath stinks, because thats all those masks are for.

36,000 ppl die of the flu in the US each year and so far 3 ppl have died from the swine flu. someone thinks its a media hype to drive up ratings. God i hate uneducated people; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by anna m mills on June 5, 2009 at 9:44am: oh man i thought i was the only one with my meter on over load. this flu is not even as strong as the flu that we get every year wtf. more people get killed driving there car whats next? not driving? we just cant find anything thing else to try and scare everyone with. but the problem is if only we use our BRAINS we be ok.
we got a freaky war going on and we are worried about a flu that is so weak. i too dont get it. i just dont understand how people just dont use their brains and see for themselves. ill run around the sky is falling the sky is falling and i bet someone will believe me cause thats all they do. look stuff up see for your self. ugh im lossing it. but dude thanks i cant take this anymore!!! hang in there!!!!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by anna m mills on June 5, 2009 at 9:54am: cricket
that was a great post i truly see how the nurses mind and mouths work. they chose that prof too and they need to be a little more compassion with the mom and her kids. i totally get the mom being scared due to the news scaring her but there is no room for the nurse and her mouth and attitude. i have been on both sides and the nurses have poo poo me so much that the next time i went in i had a heart rate of 20 and their pucker factor was through the roof. why? because they knew they screwed up 3 days ago when i came in and said i couldnt breath. now im in icu and they fly me to a diff hosp because they couldnt handle my case. whoa we need to figure something out some of my nurses were a god sent. its just one or two that give the rest a bad name but im in the ems field and know what one bad apple can do. so i will never hold the one against the rest id be lost with out them nurses they were great! but the one or two if you dont want to be there or hate your job find a diff proff.; ▶ Reply to This