So if you know me AT ALL you already know how super excited I am this week- because what is better than an epidemiological abnormality? But is that really what we're looking at? Any person who has a familiarity with flu outbreaks/epidemics/pandemics knows that we were due for one this year! Since the deadly 1918 influenza pandemic (which would kill the equivalent population of 1.5 million Americans if it were to occur today), at 11 year intervals an almost clockwork-like flu incident of some note has occurred. The size and scope of each of these has varied, as have the original "host", if you will, but the regularity is alarming, and at the same time comforting to infectious disease junkies like me.
So recent history goes like this:
1976: Swine Flu
1987: H1N1 Swine Flu
1998: H5N1 Avian Flu
2009: H1N1 2009 Swine Flu!
For those old enough to remember the 1976 Swine Flu, an important lesson was learned that ought to be remembered in our current situation (and subsequently every 11 years or so). Gerald Ford's well intentioned flu-vaccine program turned into a fiasco with 40 million people getting vaccinated for a pandemic that never occurred. Bad enough that the pandemic never happened (all that hard work for nothing), but then there was an enormous backlash of lawsuits brought against the government and drug makers for purported cases of the neurological disorder Guillain Barre' syndrome. So that public health initiative was a big FAIL. And since then, we Americans have appeased ourselves into thinking that the flu outbreaks are "over there" in Asia- which they mostly have been- until now.
As of today things are interesting, its fun to watch it spread, especially quickly due to our global society. But its annoying that the media is talking pandemic- which this clearly (as of today anyway) is not. It is not even an epidemic- merely an outbreak at this point. Look up the definitions if you need clarification. But if you still want to obsess (like me!), you can track the spread of the flu in real time:
http://www.geek.com/articles/news/swine-flu-map-and-real-time-tracking-20090427/
Also, for a fantastic read on all types of flu and their historical effects on modern civilization try "Flu" by Gina Kolata. I owe her many facts in this post.
I leave you with a quote spoken a decade ago by a guy who knows his stuff:
"If a new virus gets identified or reappears you don't want to jump the gun and assume a pandemic is happening." - Dr. Keiji Fukuda, Head of the World Health Organization- Global Influenza Program
p.s. Wash your hands!
No comments:
Post a Comment