UPDATE: Swine flu causing more panic than pandemic

Reprinted from Caribbean Net News
caribbeannetnews.com

Published on Friday, May 1, 2009
By Anthony L. Hall

On Tuesday, I published a commentary entitled Swine flu is causing more panic than pandemic – in which I asserted that we have far more to fear from the hysteria being spread by government officials and news reporters than from the spread of this virus.

(US Vice President Joe Biden vindicated my assertion during an interview on NBC yesterday morning, when sheer hysteria (and ignorance) led him to warn people to avoid traveling on planes, trains and automobiles.)

But I became so dismayed when an historic tribute to Sojourner Truth on Tuesday went virtually unreported that I began my own homage to her on Wednesday as follows:

There’s no denying that the only reason the media are doing all they can to turn a few cases of the flu into a pandemic is that scaring people generates super ratings.  Unfortunately, the 24/7 coverage being dedicated to this open conspiracy means that truly important stories are being ignored.

[Tribute to Sojourner Truth, The iPINIONS Journal, April 29, 2009]

However, I’ve received enough e-mails chastising me for my cynicism in this respect to appreciate that I may not be the most credible person to advocate calm.  Therefore, I was heartened yesterday afternoon when a friend informed me that Jack Cafferty of CNN had just “said some S#*+ on TV that sounds like it was lifted straight from your blog.”

In fact, Cafferty read a commentary entitled Has swine flu story been overblown? – in which he expressed his cynicism in flattering verisimilitude. More to the point, what he said constitutes a timely public service announcement; especially given how exposed we in the Caribbean are to the swine-flu hysteria being spread all over the United States.

Accordingly, here, in part, is what he said:

When the World Health Organization raised its pandemic alert to the second highest level – of 5 – yesterday, the media couldn’t get enough of it. After all, this stuff sells newspapers and gets ratings…

The WHO has confirmed 257 cases of swine flu worldwide. 97 cases in Mexico, with seven deaths… 109 confirmed cases [in the US] with 1 death. Out of a population of more than 300 million people, that hardly seems to be cause for alarm…  In fact, some [scientists] suggest that the current form of the swine flu virus may not even do as much damage as the regular flu.

More than 13,000 people in the U.S. have died of complications from seasonal flu since January; and it’s expected to continue killing hundreds of people a week. In total, about 36,000 people a year die from the flu in this country; and worldwide, the annual death toll is somewhere between 250,000 and 500,000.

But let me hasten to clarify that Jack and I are not rejecting the notion of taking precautions.  It’s just that the data indicate that there’s no need for any greater precaution than we normally take during flu season.  Here, for instance, is what I wrote in the commentary referenced in the opening paragraph above:

[T]he only prudent prescription to follow is the grandmotherly advice of washing your hands regularly and, if a fever develops, staying at home and eating lots of chicken soup.

But whatever you do, don’t bother wearing one of those silly surgical masks that have people in Mexico looking like a bunch of Michael-Jackson groupies.  Because, despite Dr. Sanjay Gupta of CNN wearing one to play the role of a daring reporter on TV, epidemiologists insist they do nothing to protect you from this virus.

Incidentally, if the WHO were only trying to admonish government officials and health organizations to prepare for the worst – as is now being suggested, why did they call an international press conference, which was broadcast worldwide, to do so?

Meanwhile, Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emmanuel, has become infamous for advising the president to treat every crisis as an opportunity because “you never want a serious crisis to go to waste.” I shall refrain from ascribing opportunistic motivations to the way anyone is reacting to this crisis. But it is instructive to note that the pharmaceutical companies that produce vaccines, as well as the makers of surgical masks and other flu paraphernalia appear to be heeding his advice.

All the same, in a more salutary vain, regional leaders might want to use this crisis to procure stockpiles of free Tamiflu and other antivirals from the WHO to have on hand for when the real flu pandemic hits….

Related commentaries:
Swine flu causing more panic than pandemic
Tribute to Sojourner Truth

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