H1N1: The New Spanish Flu?
Thursday October 29th, 2009 // Written by Odum
I haven’t been able to post on here for a while since I’ve been busy with school and also with a new project that is just about ready, but I wanted to post and let everyone know that I’ve really been enjoying reading the different points of view from everyone around the world on this blog and on twitter.
But I wanted to take a couple minutes and quickly bring up a topic that seems to be getting quite a bit of talk lately, and that is the H1N1 influenza virus.
There is no question about the dangers in contracting any influenza virus as they can all be fatal, but the H1N1 seems to be getting a lot more attention, likely because of its ability to hit younger, healthier individuals by inducing a cytokine storm. So invariably my question is should we be worrying more about this new strain of influenza over the normal seasonal strain we see every flu season?
According to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control there have been 5938 worldwide deaths linked to the H1N1 virus this year as of October 28th, 2009. Now I’ve tried to get some up-to-date statistics on the worldwide number of deaths caused by plain old everyday flu but I couldn’t find any. However, what I did find was that as of April 30th, 2009 seasonal flu has caused over 13,000 deaths in the United States alone.
Now I’m not much of a mathematician, but the numbers tell me that the regular flu has killed more than twice the amount of people in half the amount of time and only in the United States which is about 4.5% of the entire global population. In case you were wondering, regular flu is responsible for somewhere between 250,000 to 500,000 worldwide deaths a year according to the World Health Organization.
Translation: for every 100 people to die from the flu, 2-4 of those deaths are attributed to the H1N1 virus.
Without a doubt, any flu virus has the potential to be dangerous, but given these numbers alone it would seem that the media might be covering this issue too much and creating more fear than they should be.
So are you going out to your local H1N1 dealer to get the vaccine? Please tell me why you are or why won’t you?
What do you think about the H1N1 influenza virus?
- It will be the just as bad as the Spanish flu (0%, 0 Votes)
- Pretty worried, I'm getting my shot soon (20%, 2 Votes)
- Not too worried, but I'll keep up to date on the news (30%, 3 Votes)
- Media is blowing this way out of proportion (50%, 5 Votes)
Total Voters: 10
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6 comments in the discussion so far...
What do you have to say about it? Don't be shy, join the converstation, we'd love to hear what you think.
I had already thought the same statistically.
I will NOT take the shot, even though my Drs have offered it to me because of my asthma.
I have been working hard on myself (and my family) to boost my overall fitness and health.
I have already been able to cut my asthma meds down (with the blessing of my asthma nurse) and feel great, the only cold I have had since last winter was so mind as to hardly register, I used to get HORRENDOUS cold sores (nearly every month) and these too have almost disappeared. I also managed to side step a mild stomach bug the rest of my family had (brought back from school ..boo!)
Yes H1N1 MAY affect healthy people as well as those wil health problems, but I see no point in bombarding your body with the vaccine ( and all the nasties in it!) and LOWERING your general immune system!
I aim to take my chances.
This doesn’t mean I am blase about the whole thing though.
)
I am avoiding close crowded places like cinemas and commuter trains and probably won’t go into the city until next year (wouldn;t have anyway
Forewarned is forearmed but doesn;t mean you should throw yourself at the mercy of the government.
In most cases I think basic health and hygiene should see you through.
Besides biking Kelly what else are you guys doing? Sounds like its working!
For me, for the kids the risks of the vax outweigh the benefits. But like you I’m going to use some good old fashioned common sense and take a few more precautions with the kids. Not taking them to play centres, to the library etc. Being really diligent about hygiene with them.
What I find interesting is that there are naturopathic and homeopathic options to protect yourself and I haven’t really heard anything about those options.
Ah ..but the govermnet want you “safely” in the hands of traditional medincine son’t they
Its been interesting this term at school. Last year the kids were on school lunches and picked up EVERY bug and cold going. I had never seen them so ill. (I think I have posted aboutthis before so I won’t go into the ins and outs)
THIS year I have sent them in with packed lunches, healthy, balanced (ok some muffins or cookies, but homemade ones!
)
and so far *knock on wood* they have been hail a hearty while others have taken days off school already through colds and stomach bugs.
One very mild stomach bug a couple of weeks ago…and even then it was only being sick once and then fine!
I also fine the whole fitness thing amuseing, we cycled the other week into town 7-8 mile round trip..who did we pass but two of middle sons (6yr old)classmates, cycling….round and round the little square in the village…I know Owen had a good puff that day
So yeah..avoid crowded places…keep healthy..eat organic and well…what more can we do?
I’ve read that H1N1 flu has displaced regular flu in all of the America’s. If this is the case then you’re statistic about 13,000 causes by regular flu is no longer valid. Please identify your source for the 13k death by regular flu.
Also:
Why worry, seasonal flu kills 36,000 people
No, it doesn’t.
The CDC uses indirect modelling methods to estimate the number of deaths associated with influenza. Thus the much publicised figure of 36,000 is not an estimate of yearly flu deaths, as widely reported in both the lay and scientific press, but an estimate – generated by a model – of flu-associated death. From another website. T or F? Unverified, but if T then I got my shot already!
@dabid Please point me to a study or report where you read about H1N1 displacing seasonal flu. If this in fact is the case then why aren’t we hearing about it in the news? I bet the media would be quite ready and willing to scare us even more.
As for my source about 13K they are all clear within the post (but it was reported from the CDC).
Seasonal flu kills about an order of magnitude more than 36,000 people. This isn’t based on any modeling but rather counting the number of deaths caused by influenza.
All that being said my point is not to discredit the danger of H1N1, but rather to point out that many people (not everyone) are fearing something that maybe isn’t all that bad (in terms of percentages).
I for one am WAY more concerned about getting drunk and texting/cell phone drivers off the road.
I can no longer find the exact article regarding displacement of seasonal, but look at the U.S. Virologic Surveillance section.
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/index.htm
Please read this about the actual number of deaths from season flu.
http://blog.binomial.com/2009/10/why-worry-seasonal-flu-kills-36000.html