I keep getting forwarded memos from the state about the Swine Flu, or H1N1 virus, due to my position as an educator.
These are my thoughts on the swine flu:
I do not want at all to diminish the seriousness of A H1N1, and I know that as a public institution we need to be aware of public health issues, however I believe that there are other contagious diseases just as serious that we never get memos about, yet they occur all year long. Typically schools are not shut down until a certain percentage of the population is known to have been infected.
Upon examining the CDC site, for example, I looked at just one week, week 14, of pneumonia and influenza season in the U.S.: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/weeklyarchives2008-2009/weekly14.htm
in which it was reported that:
During week 14, 7.8% of all deaths reported through the 122-Cities Mortality Reporting System were due to P&I. This percentage is equal to the epidemic threshold of 7.8% for week 14.
I have not taken the time to investigate the weeks prior to this, however the CDC reports that an average of 36,000 people die EACH YEAR from influenza:
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/disease/us_flu-related_deaths.htm
Perhaps it is the relative number of incidents that is causing alarm?
My son was having flu like symptoms yesterday and today. He tried to call in sick, but his employer told him he had to come to work and that being "sick" wasn’t an excuse for missing. So he went to the doctor. At the doctor’s office, everyone, including patients in the waiting room ,was wearing masks. The doctor concluded that my son has a general virus and nothing to worry about at this time, but tested him for swine flu anyway. He reported to work as commanded by his supervisor. Once there, he reported the outcome of his visit to the doctor and when he mentioned that he had been tested for swine flu, he was ordered to go home immediately.
So it wasn’t good enough that my son had a virus that could infect everyone, but the thought of possibly having the swine flu virus was enough to make him go home.
So really, what is the "epidemic" here?
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Influenza A H1N1 (Swine Flu)
Utah Public Health Situation Report
5/1/2009
UDOH operations center (801) 535-0113 (0800-1700 hours)
Call 211 after hours
Note: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have
updated the name of the virus to Influenza A H1N1 (Swine Flu)
Status summary as of Friday, May 1: Continue reading
Deanna Dee-Dee Taylor 