Flu-season is fast approaching us and everyone now has to worry about the new Swine Flu or H1N1. With all the hype in the media every sniffle and cough will be feared and parents will be running to the pediatrician with their sneezing children in tow.
The New York Times article says that experts feared that the H1N1 influenza strain that appeared in the Spring would follow the same pattern as the flu in 1918, which ended up being the world's deadliest epidemic. So I guess people should be scared right?
Well- according to Dr. Neil O. Fishman, an infectious-disease specialist at the University of Pennsylvania, the virus has not mutated and "the swine flu that we're seeing still is a moderate disease that is behaving very much like ordinary season influenza."
Is Swine Flu really that bad? Dr. Fishman said in the article that it's like the ordinary flu, which happens to thousands of people every year. Yet, the ordinary flu can still be deadly, killing 36,000 people a year.
People under 60 are more at risk for Swine Flu since they have no immunity to it, unlike the older generation. The government has ordered 195 million doses of a H1N1 vaccine and they will be available by October 15.
I think the government has to be sure the right people get the vaccine and be sure they do not run out of doses. Hopefully I won't be proven wrong, but I don't think the H1N1 influenza is worth all the media hype and fear, but if it does turn out to be the world's next deadliest epidemic, we better be prepared. There is tons of information out there on the symptoms and treatments available so there should be no excuse.
We should protect ourselves from this possible outbreak so we don't regret it later.
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