The swine flu is susceptible to four drugs licensed in the United States, amantadine, rimantadine, oseltamivir and zanamivir.
If it acts like the regular flu and can be treated with these drugs, why are people acting like it's the resurrection of the Bubonic Plague?
Just curious for thoughts and facts.
7 comments:
My husband and I were having this discussion last night. The media is sooooo annoying.
That's my question too: if it's just the flu, why is everyone freaking out?
Everyone is freaking out because it comes from some crazy, third-world country (gasp!) like...MEXICO!
If this started in Fort Wayne, IN -- NO ONE would care. I repeat: NO ONE would CARE.
Since it started in Mexico and because Mexico has had increasingly volatile relations with the U.S. because of the borders and um... OIL... the U.S. decided to play hardball yet again by blowing this whole thing COMPLETELY out of proportion.
Remember just a month or so ago when the U.S. decided to scare the be-jesus out of everyone thinking of spring breaking ANYWHERE in Mexico? There were NO PROBLEMS in Cabo at all, yet still the U.S. warned against traveling here and silly Americans believed. Tourism has decreased.
The U.S. and it's media wield a powerful if not completely inaccurate and sensationalizing gun. Unfortunately, Mexico is continuously the target.
This will fall by the wayside in the same way that SARS, the avian flu, anthrax and Y2K did.
There's nothing to be fearful about. Just WASH your hands.
Besides, the folks in mainland Mexico who have perished because of the flu do not have the ACCESS to the resources necessary to cure them. If you're making less than $50 a month, chances are you can't afford fabulous medical care.
Oh, and EACH year in the U.S. 30,000 - 50,000 people die as a result of influenza - thus far a pandemic wave of 14 deaths is...um...mildly acceptable.
(http://www.globalsecurity.org/security/ops/hsc-scen-3_flu-pandemic-deaths.htm)
EVERYONE who has been found with the swine flu in the States early enough has been treated and lived.
If we need to blame someone, I prefer to blame the Canadians.
(Sorry that was so long.)
If it's good enough for South Park, it's good enough for me:
Blame Canada! Blame Canada!
I was home Monday watching the news on a lot of this stuff and I have to agree that the media is doing nothing to "help" the situation. They are just encouraging panic and fear. And Ky, that makes sense.
i blame the media. they have gone CRAZY with this. it's sick, really. people are freaking out (case in point: on wednesday of last week my mother wanted to leave disney world because she thought we were all going to get the swine flu...because the media said it was unsafe to travel). ugh. stupid media.
Post a Comment