There has been a death here in Houston from the swine flu. I keep hearing about it, reading about it, trying not to obsess about it, etc. etc. Then the CDC comes out with this report saying that the death may indicate that it is becoming more serious in the U.S. What most of the reports are leaving out is that this U.S. death is actually a Mexican child brought here for treatment.
Think about it, and if they are giving us all the facts how the hell was there a death in a city that was, until that point, unaffected????
Don't get me wrong it is still unnerving, especially since I have a 24 month old in my home, I am scared. BUT I would appreciate is some accuracy in reporting. I'd rather hear facts instead of scare tactics.
I'm a mom, I live in fear of what might happen to my family, I don't need any one's help with that. What I do need are facts and information.
If you listen carefully to the CDC they keep saying they fully expect to see more deaths, which may or may not be a result of an increasing viral danger. It may also be the result of looking a little deeper, finding cases previously unknown. You won't hear much about the latter because, well, it isn't scary enough!
Reports out of Mexico are scant if anything. I think the cases of flu there are now hovering around 1600 with 170 deaths. BUT if you look deeper you will find that many communities there have been experiencing this illness (with high rates of recovery) for several weeks (if not months). Even their "patient zero" lives in a community where 3000 people became ill. How did they come up with 1600 again???? Oh that's right because they aren't telling us everything.
Yes this flu is scary, so is the regular old flu.
Yes this flu is serious and contagious and sometimes deadly, but so is the regular flu.
Yes most people who get this flu will recover, as they will from the regular flu.
Yes this flu responds to antivirals, just as does the regular flu.
Enough already, I'm scared, the CDC has my attention, but I refuse to rely on the media for any accuracy in their reporting. I am now (as I suggest you should) reading the reports myself, and listening to people who don't have a vested interest in scaring the crap out of me to get me to watch their prime time news shows.
I can't allow anyone (read: the news media) to feed off my fear and vulnerabilities...
This is funny if you have 5 minutes to watch...
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | M - Th 11p / 10c | |||
| Snoutbreak '09 - The Last 100 Days | ||||
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