Did you know that this week 100,000 people in the UK contracted the H1N1 flu virus (the Swine Flu)? Well, it’s true. These are confirmed cases of the swine flu. Last week, there were 55,000 cases. The craziest thing is that the flu season doesn’t typically begin in England until December or January. What’s going to happen when flu season actually hits? Here are some of the bullet points for the current UK flu scare:
New cases of swine flu double in seven days
840 people ‘seriously ill’ in hospital, 63 in intensive care
Majority of cases are people aged 16-64
Thankfully, the United States has purchased 195 million doses of the H1N1 vaccine. That’s good, right? Well, maybe not. There are over 300 million people in the United States. Hopefully this flu virus doesn’t attack everyone. But if it does, our government also purchased 120 million doses of adjvant:
The U.S. government has bought 195 million doses of H1N1 swine flu vaccine for a possible autumn vaccination campaign, a U.S. federal official said Thursday.
The U.S. Health and Human Services Department has also contracted for 120 million doses of adjuvant, a compound to stretch the number of doses of vaccine needed, the department’s Dr. Robin Robinson told a meeting of Food and Drug Administration advisers.
Autumn vaccination campaign? I know there is currently a pretty strong flu vaccination campaign every Autumn. But many people ignore it. If the US government wants everyone to get vaccinated, they will need to scare the crap out of people. Maybe with TV ads, newspaper ads, search campaigns, websites, etc… But that is really a doomsday scenario. I hope it doesn’t get to that point. I guess the point is: If you can get a flu vaccine this year, get one.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there have been 94,512 cases of H1N1 flu virus worldwide, and 429 of those cases have resulted in death. Many people thought the swine flu had just gone away after everyone pretty much laughed at the way our US health officials ‘overreacted’ to the threat of this new flu virus. But make no mistake, the swine flu has not gone away. In fact, last month the WHO declared a Phase 6 Influenza Pandemic. Furthermore, the US is one of the most affected nations. Out of the 94,512 reported worldwide over the past few months, more than 33,000 of them have been in the United States, resulting in 170 deaths from the H1N1 flu virus in the U.S. Here are the current stats for the United States:
94,512 cases of H1N1 virus worldwide
429 deaths from H1N1 virus worldwide
33,902 cases in the United States (36% of all cases have been in the US)
170 deaths in the United States (40% of all deaths have been in the US)
Those stats are very alarming, considering the fact that we are not currently in flu season here in the US. That’s why this story is so crazy. Just imagine what those numbers could be when flu season hits.
Here is a map of the worldwide distribution of the H1N1 flu virus as reported by the World Health Organization:
Global Map of H1N1 Flu Virus Cases (July 2009)
According to an article at Reuters, the WHO has declared the H1N1 virus to be ‘unstoppable’. Furthermore, the World Health Organization has given drug manufacturers a green light to produce vaccines against the current pandemic H1N1 strain of the influenza virus. Dr. Marie-Paule Kieny, WHO director of the Initiative for Vaccine Research said, “The committee recognized that the H1N1 pandemic … is unstoppable and therefore that all countries need access to vaccine.” The WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization, or SAGE, recommends that all nations provide a vaccine to their health workers – nurses, doctors and technicians. Then, each nation must create a priority list for vaccinations. Uh oh. I wonder where bloggers will be on the list.
Apparently, the elderly have an advantage over this flu virus:
The elderly seem to have some extra immunity to this new H1N1, which is a mixture of two swine viruses, one of which also contains genetic material from birds and humans. It is a very distant cousin of the H1N1 virus that caused the 1918 pandemic that killed 50 million to 100 million people.
Recently, the UK has seen a rise in H1N1 flu virus cases, and they are very alarming because a few healthy people have died from the virus. Most notably, a healthy 6-year-old girl contracted the virus. She got a sore throat, and then 2 days later she was dead. A healthy doctor also died from the virus in the UK:
The deaths of Chloe Buckley, six, and Dr. Michael Day mean three people with no previous health problems have now died of the illness out of a total of 17 deaths across Britain.
Sorry about the doom and gloom Tuesday. Whatever you do, don’t laugh at the H1N1 swine flu. It’s a very distant cousin of the influenza virus of 1918, which killed an estimated 50-100 million people while infecting upwards of 500 million people. Please take this virus seriously. If you can get a vaccination, please do.
Update (7-16-2009):
World Health Organization: H1N1 pandemic spreading too fast to count (Reuters)
“The 2009 influenza pandemic has spread internationally with unprecedented speed. In past pandemics, influenza viruses have needed more than six months to spread as widely as the new H1N1 virus has spread in less than six weeks.”
CDC officials say around 100,000 people are likely infected with the new flu strain in the United States
Wow. That’s shocking. The H1N1 flu virus, also known as the Swine Flu or Pig Flu, has long been forgotten about by most Americans. In fact, I have heard a number of TV anchors and radio personalities making fun of just how overblown the Swine Flu hysteria was. And we’re on to other things now anyways. America is once again talking steroids in sports and the commencement address of President Obama at Notre Dame’s graduation ceremony. In our world of up-to-the-minute coverage of everything, the Swine Flu is yesterday’s news. Or is it?
Don’t look now, but the Swine Flu is back in the news, and the CDC believes there will be a summer influenza. That’s right. Rather than hitting in the normal flu season, a summer flu may strike. And don’t look now part two: the strain is virtually everywhere:
The influenza, officially known as H1N1, sickened at least 125 in Japan as the number of infections worldwide topped 8,800 in 40 countries. Health officials of more than 190 nations began a meeting today of the World Health Assembly in Geneva to debate whether swine flu is spreading widely enough to upgrade the threat to level 6, the highest, and declare it the first pandemic since 1968.
But wait! There’s more bad news, especially if you are younger. The H1N1 flu virus may be a mild in nature, but it is disproportionately affecting children, teenagers and young adults. And even though it’s symptoms are mild for most, it has hospitalized up to 200 of the younger demographic. Some people believe that young people are at higher risk of this flu because they are more social and have more contact with other people. And some believe that many older people have had a similar variant to this strain a long time ago, making them mostly immune to the H1N1 virus.
Well, I’m going to file this post under the Doom & Gloom category. Maybe not. But seriously, I hope that none of you get this flu virus. Drink lots of water and don’t be social, especially with kids.
