Swine Flu

[Rouge]

So, how many of you are actually taking this seriously?

I am. I'm not being all panicky about it, but I'm not blowing it off either. Apparently, Rick Perry issued a state of emergency for the state of Texas. Joy.

So, thoughts, links, whatever. DEBATE.

[Diocletian]

Move along folks, nothing to be scared of. Only 1 of 300,000,000 people in the United States has died, and considering that hundreds in the US were infected already and are recovering rapidly, this is all the general public's gasp for relevance.

People want to be scared. They want to know that life doesn't continue at a monotonous pace, that there is something out there that can change the ballgame drastically in a minute. That's why we watch horror movies. That's why we were so concerned with avian flu. That's why we have constantly kept the terrorist-possibility level at "High" for the last eight years...

...and that's why people are making such a big deal over something so stupid like swine flu.

[Rouge]

Easy for you to say. There aren't any reported cases where you are. :P

[Mercy]

There is a possible case in my city and their school shut down - even though it hasn't been confirmed. I do think that a lot of it is over-reaction, at least for the US. I'd be worried if people in China had it though - then we're screwed. xp

[Jack]

And the fact that the current state in Mexico is a level off of a Pandemic means nothing to any of you? Hell, I'm not worried, I live in England and there's been little activity of it over here, so...

[Lykaios]

I'm not sure about it yet. There was all that big hype about bird flu and foot and mouth disease a couple years back and they didn't amount to the huge pandemic people thought they would . . .

However, a 12-year-old girl from a school less than twenty miles away from me has been confirmed as having it. Her whole school's been closed and the local news won't stop on about it. An ambulance came to my school today and everyone panicked, thinking it was swine flu (it was actually a kid with a ruptured appendix), so everything's pretty mad.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8024690.stm - Nationwide News
http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/Devon-giel-12-swine-flu/article-947125-detail/article.html - Local News

[Simmi]

Hmm... I'm trying not to get paranoid about it. Next thing you know everyone has a case of mass hysteria. The only bad thing that'll come from that is death. If we don't worry about it, then nothing dreadfully bad will happen. I mean, I'm worried about it and all, but at my school we really only joke about it. I don't want to be a paranoid freak washing my hands ever half an hour... but that's just my opinion.

[Starry]

I don't think people should just be blowing this all off, I mean it is a big deal in Mexico, but just calm down already. As long as it's detected early and you get adequate medical care, you're fine. I think the video on news channels of the areas in Mexico where people are actually wearing medical masks is kind of freaky, but it's not even affecting the vast majority of people outside of Mexico (and maybe one or two more hotspots, I haven't been paying much attention).

[eriko]

It is not actually swine flu. Since the sourse is still unkown( or the last time I heard it was) it is being called H1N1 virus. There are very less chances of it spreading in India, and I hope this remains this way. Even though you all look very cool about it, but this scares me a lot.

[Ichigo]

There's people in my town who have Swine! It's insane, I always thought of my town like the cockroach of the world; able to survive anything. But we're....infected.

[Shaun]

Everyone needs to shut the hell up about swine flu. Here's why:
The media is jumping all over it and pumping every ounce of fear into the rhetoric possible in order to scare the sh*t out of you. And it's working because a lot of people are scared and pissing themselves worrying over something that actually isn't that big a deal. Why isn't it a big deal?
Well, if you actually looked up the information about swine flu you'd realize that almost all the cases in the U.S. have been, gasp, mild. Only a handful of people went to the hospital and the only person who has died in the U.S. wasn't even from here (it was an infant from Mexico visiting with his/her family).
That and the media is largely wrong on most of the facts. If you want the true numbers, you have to go to the CDC (Center for Disease Control) and the WHO (World Health Organization), which both are only reporting the true numbers, because we don't actually know what hit all those people in Mexico (only about a tenth of the folks who have ILI (influenza-like-illness) were confirmed as swine flu cases, so it's possible that, gasp, a regular flu is running its course early).
Then there's the problem that ever news agency runs into: it never takes into account the circumstances for the death, it just reports them like a death means it's the end of the world. Why are the people in Mexico dying and not the people in the U.S or Canada or the various other countries that are reporting cases, specifically European nations? Could it have something to do with the lower standard of living, reduced access to healthcare, etc. etc. etc.? There are so many factors that could be contributing to the deaths in Mexico and nobody is sitting down and discussing it.

Now, does this mean you shouldn't at least be worried enough to avoid getting it? No, of course not. You should be just as unwilling to catch the regular flu (which kills about 250,000 to 500,000 people a year, by the way, so to put things in perspective, swine flu has a hell of a long way to go). But you shouldn't be freaking out about pandemics and yadda yadda. This is not the next great killer flu. Neither was bird flu, and SARS sure as hell wasn't a super killer either. Calm the frick down. If it was a super killer, we'd know...and the CDC and WHO would be all over that like flies on a horse's behind...

And some real facts, from the CDC and WHO as of today:
109 cases in the U.S. (1 death of a non-U.S. citizen who was visiting)
97 in Mexico (7 deaths, still)
And the rest have 0 deaths: Austria (1), Canada (19), Germany (3), Israel (2), Netherlands (1), New Zealand (3), Spain (13), Switzerland (1) and the United Kingdom (8).

See? Stop freaking out. And no, you can't get this from eating pork products...in fact, if the news bastards would report it properly you'd all know that this strain of swine flu doesn't occur in pigs and hasn't occurred in people before. It's an entirely new strain that isn't doing all that much. It's, more or less, like any other flu.

[Bowie20049]

That's exactly what I told my friends. Now that that caught on at school, we just make fun of it now.

"Buh-zomg! You got swine's!"

[appleofmyeye]

I'm less worried about the swine flu than what it may develop into. We have no vacine so if there is a mutation that is extremely serious, we're screwed. Maybe I'm just panicky because were near Mexico.

[Starry]

The flu mutates constantly (like the common cold), that's how it works. So few strains are ever that dangerous that it doesn't make sense to even worry about them. "Swine flu" just got mutated when it spread to pigs into something a little bit different, but nothing near deserving all of this panic.

[Shaun]

Just so you know, we have no vaccine for any new strain of flu. And every year there is a new strain of flu...every year. Because it continuously evolves, it is never the same twice, much like the common cold (although I imagine it works rather differently). It takes roughly six months to manufacture a vaccine for any particular strain of flu. In that time, any major flu threat could kill off a hell of a lot of people.

So, in all actuality, there's nothing you can do if a super flu comes along anyway. Panic is pointless, because all it does is contribute to the problem...panicking people do stupid things.

[Crocolyle]

And no, you can't get this from eating pork products...in fact, if the news bastards would report it properly you'd all know that this strain of swine flu doesn't occur in pigs and hasn't occurred in people before. It's an entirely new strain that isn't doing all that much. It's, more or less, like any other flu.

The Washington Post isn't trying to scare everyone. Though four or five articles in the past two days in both the news and local sections were about swine flu, the one discussing its possible origins said that while a lot of people think that interaction with swine, pork products, or pork waste, the only real way to catch it, since it is a respiratory disease, is contact with infected humans; however, that being said, the Post did not fail to mention that the WHO considered the outbreak to be at level (or is it "phase"?) 5, which is one step below pandemic.

One article dealt with why it took until April 24th for the U.S. government to find out about the disease, when the Mexican government informed the WHO earlier. The article also discussed how smoothly the epidemic was being dealt with, despite its initial rough start (since the disease was being first reported in March and early April).

Another was a report on the reluctance of parents to send their children to schools in the Washington-metropolitan area where there are suspected cases (there are a total of 6 in MD, but none in D. C. or Virginia), which is a newsworthy topic.

I don't own a television or listen to a radio so I can't speak for the broadcast counterparts. Also, I don't really keep up with any blogs, so I can't speak on the ill-formed opinions of uninformed hacks that think their two-cents deserve to be read by the virtue of them having keyboards. In my ill-formed, uninformed perspective, I would say that print media should cover it and covering it well. The epidemic, even if it is not deadly, is still a concern, since it has an impact on the general health of Americans and lots of people getting sick with a new disease is newsworthy. People are stupid if Fox pitches their stories one way. But I don't watch Fox. I read the biased liberal press. ;)

[Shaun]

As soon as any news agency uses the terms "epidemic," "outbreak," or "pandemic" they are creating fear and they know it. Americans are unfortunately not educated enough to be able to understand what those words mean, especially not in the context. Each of those terms is associated with something purely negative and deadly. So, while they may try to get level headed about things, such terminology pretty much negates that for those Americans who are running around freaking out over essentially nothing.

[littledreamer!]

I know what you mean! I live in the ATL and we have almost 3 cases and people are flipping out, sending letters home, using face masks! its stupid!You're probably more likely to catch the chicken pox or measles or something than swine flu!
I was listening to a radio station this morning and one of their hosts is on vacation in Mexico and they might fire her because she could be a threat! It's so ridiculous!:O

[Crocolyle]

They are using those words because there was an outbreak, it has become an epidemic in Mexico, and it has a chance of becoming a pandemic. You're calling news agencies fear mongers for using accurate words, that do in fact describe something that is purely negative (from normal perspectives... it's positive from a Darwinian and Malthusian perspective) and potentially can become deadly. While it is true that many Americans don't completely understand the implications of those words, I don't think that using accurate words is the fault of news agencies, at least the print ones. After reading the biased liberal press that I read, while I am concerned about the disease potentially turning into something like the Spanish Flu, I am not really concerned--however, print sources are more in depth than the internet, TV, and radio.

The health journalists I know and talk to--since I am a journalist student and talk to a health journalist on a regular basis--are not trying to create fear. They are trying to write informative stories about what people are interested in (and people have been interested in Swine Flu since April 24).

There is an incredible anti-journalism bias and mistrust of journalists in America, and it's just a prejudice, like any other. I mean, cry "yellow journalism" until you're blue in the face. That doesn't make it true (except in the case of FOX, el oh el). You yourself admit that the uneducated masses misinterpret facts, even when they are accurately described.

[lango]

I have mixed feelings on this subject, considering every different media source decides to give me a very different death toll.

[Shaun]

There is an incredible anti-journalism bias and mistrust of journalists in America, and it's just a prejudice, like any other. I mean, cry "yellow journalism" until you're blue in the face. That doesn't make it true (except in the case of FOX, el oh el). You yourself admit that the uneducated masses misinterpret facts, even when they are accurately described.

Responsible journalists and professionals would understand that fact and make an effort to curve panic by either defining the words they use or being more careful in how they describe what is going on. While the terms are correct ones, responsible journalists should know that the general public are not intelligent enough to understand what they actually mean and are likely to view such terms in the most negative of lights.

And there's good reason why a lot of people don't trust journalists in America: it's because it's impossible to find honest journalism anymore. Most journalists have a certain political bent. The information we get from them is often manipulated for a purpose, or information is intentionally left out, etc. The only news agency I actually trust is NPR, and that's only sometimes, because they make such an effort to be unbiased that sometime they don't give you any useful information.

Until there is legitimate accountability for news agents (whether journalists, TV hosts, or whatever), I see no reason to trust them. People don't hold liars accountable anymore in this country and it's really sad.

[Starry]

There is one suspected case with a student at a school near mine, and they shut down the school. What. The. Hell.

This is getting insane. Unless you live in Mexico, this is really no different than saying that there's a bad flu going around (which there was for us like two months ago, and it was a lot worse than this). If everyone would just shut up it would pretty much go away.

Though, I must say, I think it's totally hilarious that you can't call it "swine flu" anymore, because people are literally slaughtering pigs to attempt to control this. Egypt, shut up. You don't even have swine flu! This entire panic is just backing up my belief that people are stupid.

[Shaun]

People are stupid, which is why the Republican Party has literally gone insane since Obama became president. Look it up. Republicans are actually insane.

[rampru]

It hasn't hit my city yet but I have been taking it seriously. Some people have been taking it to seriously though I've heard some people say that they think that it's the beginning of a zombie apocolypse and those people are taking it to seriously.

[Fiction]

I saw someone walking down the street with a mask on. Scary.

[Quietus]

I saw someone walking down the street with a mask on. Scary.

That is just ridiculous.
I can't wait for this thing to blow over and for everyone to realise just how stupid they are.

BTW; my opinion is basically that of Shaun's

[Fiction]

Are you calling me stupid, Quietus?

[Jaywing]

I think that we shouldn't worry too much, though we shouldn't just forget about the whole thing. We should just be careful and not start panicking.

[Crocolyle]

Responsible journalists and professionals would understand that fact and make an effort to curve panic by either defining the words they use or being more careful in how they describe what is going on. While the terms are correct ones, responsible journalists should know that the general public are not intelligent enough to understand what they actually mean and are likely to view such terms in the most negative of lights.

Even the word "disease" will cause panic. Definition of epidemic: A widespread disease. Articles can say the disease is not deadly, and do (see quote), but even by defining the words/jargon and saying, people will panic. Maybe the newspapers should just print (well, printing is an extra step... cut out the middle man...) blank sheets. If any actual printing is done, it will be footnotes and disclaimers on the bottom of the page saying that the reporting, or lack there of, is not entirely accurate.

And there's good reason why a lot of people don't trust journalists in America: it's because it's impossible to find honest journalism anymore. Most journalists have a certain political bent. The information we get from them is often manipulated for a purpose, or information is intentionally left out, etc. The only news agency I actually trust is NPR, and that's only sometimes, because they make such an effort to be unbiased that sometime they don't give you any useful information.

"Anymore." You do realize that modern day Journalism is much more accurate than the journalism of the 1920s. Aside from opinion articles and columns, the bias in the mainstream press is largely imagined by the audience and injected subconsciously on the part of reporters (they don't think "how am I going to impart my view to my readership." The journalists I know--and I know a lot--make balance and objectivity huge priorities, even if they have their own personal beliefs). As someone who does reporting for classes and as someone who reads the newspaper regularly, so much of articles are derived from sources, usually witnesses, or in the case of medical news, experts in the field. Reporters are not supposed to assume anything, and usually you will see in articles, the source cited somewhere in the paragraph. Reporters also are not supposed to use jargon--though "outbreak" definitely isn't jargon, and the articles that I've read make a point to say the virus is not deadly.

Mexican scientists said the contagiousness of the swine flu is no greater than that of the seasonal flu that circulates every year. And a preliminary genetic analysis hasn't turned up any of the markers that scientists associate with the virulence of the 1918 "Spanish" influenza virus, said Nancy Cox, head of the flu lab of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Until there is legitimate accountability for news agents (whether journalists, TV hosts, or whatever), I see no reason to trust them. People don't hold liars accountable anymore in this country and it's really sad.

I can't speak for television, as I have said, but newspapers are usually very accurate. No reporting done by people can be 100% balanced, but fabrication, lies, and intentional bias in mainstream printed press are rare.

[Shaun]

Even the word "disease" will cause panic. Definition of epidemic: A widespread disease. Articles can say the disease is not deadly, and do (see quote), but even by defining the words/jargon and saying, people will panic. Maybe the newspapers should just print (well, printing is an extra step... cut out the middle man...) blank sheets. If any actual printing is done, it will be footnotes and disclaimers on the bottom of the page saying that the reporting, or lack there of, is not entirely accurate.

It might help if the news attempted to define what everything means and put it into perspective. The problem here is that it's irrelevant if print places are producing accurate information because most newspapers are going out of business. More people watch television or read online than they do read a newspaper.

"Anymore." You do realize that modern day Journalism is much more accurate than the journalism of the 1920s. Aside from opinion articles and columns, the bias in the mainstream press is largely imagined by the audience and injected subconsciously on the part of reporters (they don't think "how am I going to impart my view to my readership." The journalists I know--and I know a lot--make balance and objectivity huge priorities, even if they have their own personal beliefs). As someone who does reporting for classes and as someone who reads the newspaper regularly, so much of articles are derived from sources, usually witnesses, or in the case of medical news, experts in the field. Reporters are not supposed to assume anything, and usually you will see in articles, the source cited somewhere in the paragraph. Reporters also are not supposed to use jargon--though "outbreak" definitely isn't jargon, and the articles that I've read make a point to say the virus is not deadly.

I haven't read a newspaper in a long time because I got tired of the politicized nonsense. Maybe you happen to read papers I've never seen before, but I've yet to read a paper that was purely unbiased. Even unbiased, information gets left out that is crucial to anyone forming a logical opinion. And people are unfortunately too stupid to look things up on their own.

I can't speak for television, as I have said, but newspapers are usually very accurate. No reporting done by people can be 100% balanced, but fabrication, lies, and intentional bias in mainstream printed press are rare.

And again, even if there are balanced newspapers and other printed options, not enough people read them to make it matter. People watch television, which largely misinforms people as often as they possibly can. Fox is the worst offender of this, but even the ones that are supposed to be fair screw things up all the time. And people constantly give attention to folks who probably shouldn't be sharing their opinions with the world (like Michele Bachman, who probably hasn't passed a history exam in her life)...

[Carraka]

I'll vouch for the Washington Post also! But then again these days all I read is the op-ed column, and the op-ed column contains gems like Charles Krauthammer.

And again, even if there are balanced newspapers and other printed options, not enough people read them to make it matter. People watch television, which largely misinforms people as often as they possibly can. Fox is the worst offender of this, but even the ones that are supposed to be fair screw things up all the time. And people constantly give attention to folks who probably shouldn't be sharing their opinions with the world (like Michele Bachman, who probably hasn't passed a history exam in her life)...Shaun, what's your opinion on public television? I ask because I get most of my news from the News Hour w/ Jim Lehrer (only Jim seems to have been absent a lot recently).

[Shaun]

I don't watch TV, Carr, primarily because I hate commercials. When I did watch TV I never watched the news stations primarily because I don't trust them to give me accurate information. The Swine Flu thing has been a great example, with them doing too much to spread panic across the country when panic wasn't necessary. If you want to see how to handle this situation properly, watch President Obama's address for May 2nd (on YouTube it's posted by whitehouse). Calm, collected, and reasonable. He doesn't say anything with the intention to spread alarm, but makes clear that while the virus hasn't proved deadly, that doesn't mean we shouldn't be careful. That's the correct approach to this.

[Carraka]

I don't watch TV, Carr, primarily because I hate commercials. When I did watch TV I never watched the news stations primarily because I don't trust them to give me accurate information. The Swine Flu thing has been a great example, with them doing too much to spread panic across the country when panic wasn't necessary. If you want to see how to handle this situation properly, watch President Obama's address for May 2nd (on YouTube it's posted by whitehouse). Calm, collected, and reasonable. He doesn't say anything with the intention to spread alarm, but makes clear that while the virus hasn't proved deadly, that doesn't mean we shouldn't be careful. That's the correct approach to this.

Public television ... doesn't have commercials.

Okay, you could say that the stuff in between programs counts, but most of those commercials are much subtler. I actually miss the commercials, really, because we learned to analyze them in school and now I love picking them apart. But meh. The point I'm trying to make is that as long as you know what time to tune in, with public television you can sit down and watch an entire hour of in-depth, dispassionate, intelligent analysis without seeing a single commercial, from start to finish. (Safely under the impression that you have not watched The News Hour, I am now free to claim that it is in-depth, dispassionate, and intelligent.)

Interestingly enough I haven't yet bothered to see any of his YouTube addresses. I just watch the press conferences. Does he really say anything he didn't cover in his conference on Wednesday?

EDIT: I went ahead and watched it, and it was pretty much as expected. A pity the camera cuts were necessary ...

[senseiseth]

Seriously, I think the only thing we've need to is basically wash our hands more and cover our noses and mouths when we sneeze and cough. And we've been needing to that for a while. And another thing, we should probably not leave a toilet without flushing because that is truly disgusting.

[GeorgeMichael]

our school just got closed down for the rest of next week and will not be opened until, at the earliest, May 12... I don't know what to make of this. On one hand WOOHOO, AP exams are postponed and almost two weeks off... but on the other hand... I don't know... don't get to see some people...

[Starry]

What exactly happens to AP exams if schools are closed? I mean, I would be so pissed off if I had done all of that studying (it's 1:45am and I'm up studying) only to find out that I wasn't allowed to take the exam anymore. I know AP is a bit more lenient about rescheduling than IB though (IB you can only do make-ups in November apparently).

[S. Peppercorns]

I dont know about where you all live, but i have a friend and she heard about a school in Canada that was shut down because one student has it. So far, it is not a big problem for those in Canada and the USA, because it is fairly curable. It is only a flu, after all, but a bit worse. Although, I know children who got violently deathly ill, and they just satyed home from school, so they didnt need to close the school. I can understand if there wa half the staff ill, but why are they closing the schools for one ill student? Clearly, there are two possiblitlities: they are completely overreacting, or there is something they arent teing us. I dont know about you, but I am taking hand sanitizer to school.

[Starry]

http://doihaveswineflu.org epic.

[Rouge]

http://doihaveswineflu.org epic.

That made me rofl.

[Shaun]

I dont know about where you all live, but i have a friend and she heard about a school in Canada that was shut down because one student has it. So far, it is not a big problem for those in Canada and the USA, because it is fairly curable. It is only a flu, after all, but a bit worse. Although, I know children who got violently deathly ill, and they just satyed home from school, so they didnt need to close the school. I can understand if there wa half the staff ill, but why are they closing the schools for one ill student? Clearly, there are two possiblitlities: they are completely overreacting, or there is something they arent teing us. I dont know about you, but I am taking hand sanitizer to school.

This is just what happens when people get freaked out when they shouldn't. People are stupid. That's why America elected George Bush twice. Too many stupid people...who probably shouldn't be breeding...

[Jack]

I live in Bristol, England, and a school not to far away was evacuated for a few days because some kid over there got swine flu. It has been reopened and is running as usual no, because it really sin't that bad. I think it's ridiculous how much fuss there making about it. A kid in my school got back from Mexico over the weekend and now, rumour has it, he's 'quarantined'. It really is stupid and it is working up a massive fuss for something that really isn't that big a deal.

I don't watch TV, Carr, primarily because I hate commercials.

And that's the BBC rocks!

[Shaun]

The problem is that most people don't understand why people are dying in Mexico and not elsewhere. As soon as folks realize that a lot of it has to do with the relatively low standard of living conditions there, along with access to adequate medical supplies, etc., then perhaps it'll be a bit more clear why it's not killing people in places considered to be the "first world." This isn't to say that Mexico is just bad, it's just to show that there is a difference between the conditions there and the conditions in the U.S. or Canada or the U.K. I have no doubt that some people in first world nations will die, but that will be more to do with relative bad health as a precursor rather than swine flu actually killing them. The reality is that swine flu is, more or less, like any other flu...it just has a different genetic makeup.

That's not to say that we shouldn't be cautious and avoid spreading it, nor should we not start putting together vaccine stores and what not. All these things are necessary, particularly because this could come back with a punch during flu season. But we need not freak out and start shutting down schools, etc. A lot of the news agencies are backtracking now as the reality sets in that this is not really that big of a deal...I'm sure some feel embarrassed about being moronic...

[Silverwolf]

Yeah good point, though i wouldn't mind them cloesing my school.

[Crocolyle]

The problem is that most people don't understand why people are dying in Mexico and not elsewhere. As soon as folks realize that a lot of it has to do with the relatively low standard of living conditions there, along with access to adequate medical supplies, etc., then perhaps it'll be a bit more clear why it's not killing people in places considered to be the "first world." This isn't to say that Mexico is just bad, it's just to show that there is a difference between the conditions there and the conditions in the U.S. or Canada or the U.K. I have no doubt that some people in first world nations will die, but that will be more to do with relative bad health as a precursor rather than swine flu actually killing them. The reality is that swine flu is, more or less, like any other flu...it just has a different genetic makeup.

That's not to say that we shouldn't be cautious and avoid spreading it, nor should we not start putting together vaccine stores and what not. All these things are necessary, particularly because this could come back with a punch during flu season. But we need not freak out and start shutting down schools, etc. A lot of the news agencies are backtracking now as the reality sets in that this is not really that big of a deal...I'm sure some feel embarrassed about being moronic...

Washington Post:
"In Mexico, we are very unaccustomed to going to the hospital. Here, if someone has a cold or anything else, they buy something in the pharmacy, or they leave it be," Flores said. "This is why Mexicans are dying. Because we are very indecisive about going to a hospital until it's too late."

Several theories have emerged as to why all but one of the confirmed deaths from swine flu have occurred in Mexico. Much of it is speculation -- that Mexico City's 7,300-foot elevation exacerbates respiratory illnesses, that there may be a slight variation between the viral strain prevalent in Mexico and swine flu elsewhere, that Mexico is further along in disease transmission and other countries will eventually see severe cases.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/04/AR2009050403755.html

[Shaun]

The one that died in the U.S. was from Mexico, and it was an infant. So, technically speaking, the U.S. has experience no deaths.

I would also question whether Mexicans continue to work when sick, because it seems from what you posted there that they are likely to be unaccustomed to ceasing work over a seemingly minor illness, which is a great way to exacerbate an illness.

[Shaun]

"The Texas Department of State Health Services announced this afternoon that a woman from Cameron County, the southernmost county in the state, died earlier this week after contracting swine flu. It said she had "chronic underlying health conditions" but did not elaborate or provide any other details on the woman.

The department said the fatality was "the first death of a Texas resident with H1N1 flu." A toddler from Mexico, who also had underlying health problems, died from the illness last week in a Houston hospital. He is listed as the first fatality in the United States from the current swine flu outbreak."

That's from here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/05/AR2009050501905.html

So, correction, we have two deaths: one from Mexico, and one actually from the U.S., and both supposedly had underlying health conditions, which I'm thinking to mean something severe enough in a baby to make a flu worse and something severe enough in an adult as well.

[GeorgeMichael]

Yeah, people down here are going crazy about that (I live in Cameron County) and when they heard that the woman died in Harlingen a lot of people's parents got worried. Me and my friends don't really think it's that big of a deal so we're still going through with all our plans his weekend to go out and party with a lot of people and maybe go to the movies but we're just hoping that people don't overreact and push back school again because then we'd get our AP scores much later because of the test and worse of all our prom might be cancelled so that would suck. But yeah, it makes me sad that someone so young died from this, but I agree with Shaun in that the reason was most likely because of her "underlying health conditions".

[Shaun]

Swine Flu will probably kill just as many people as the regular flu. Which is a lot of people, yes, but the thing is, we're freaking out over a flu that as of yet has killed maybe 50 people worldwide. The regular flu kills an average of 250,000-500,000 people a year. So, if we're going to freak out about swine flu, we might want to just freak out about flu in general.