swine flu being overhyped by CDC ?

[rjv]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/10/21/cbsnews_investigates/main5404829.shtml

CBS News Exclusive: Study Of State Results Finds H1N1 Not As Prevalent As Feared


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By Sharyl Attkisson

http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim//2009/10/18/Attkisson_Flu_1018_244x183.jpg (http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=5394525n) Play CBS Video (http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=5394525n) Video CDC Quiet On Swine Flu Stats (http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=5394525n) After repeated attempts made by CBS News asking the CDC to provide state-by-state data of swine flu testing before they halted individual testing and tracking, Dr. Thomas Frieden, CDC Director was asked directly at a recent news conference.






http://wwwimage.cbsnews.com/images/2009/10/21/image5404621g.jpg Photo (iStockphoto)
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http://wwwimage.cbsnews.com/images/2009/04/27/image4970830.jpg (http://www.cbsnews.com/elements/2009/04/27/health/interactivehomemenu4971279.shtml) Interactive Swine Flu's Impact (http://www.cbsnews.com/elements/2009/04/27/health/interactivehomemenu4971279.shtml) The latest numbers, photos and information to keep you safe.


Stories
CDC: H1N1 Vaccine Behind Schedule (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/10/21/health/main5404517.shtml?source=related_story)
H1N1 Flu Still a "Young Person's Disease" (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/10/20/health/main5402428.shtml?source=related_story)

(CBS) If you've been diagnosed "probable" or "presumed" 2009 H1N1 or "swine flu" (http://www.cdc.gov/H1N1flu/qa.htm)in recent months, you may be surprised to know this: odds are you didn’t have H1N1 flu.

In fact, you probably didn’t have flu at all. That's according to state-by-state test results obtained in a three-month-long CBS News investigation.

The ramifications of this finding are important. According to the Center for Disease Control, CDC, and Britain's National Health Service, once you have H1N1 flu, you're immune from future outbreaks of the same virus. Those who think they've had H1N1 flu -- but haven't -- might mistakenly presume they're immune. As a result, they might skip taking a vaccine that could help them, and expose themselves to others with H1N1 flu under the mistaken belief they won't catch it. Parents might not keep sick children home from school, mistakenly believing they've already had H1N1 flu.

Why the uncertainty about who has and who hasn't had H1N1 flu?

CBSNews.com report on H1N1 (http://www.cbsnews.com/2718-204_162-218.html)

In late July, the CDC abruptly advised states to stop testing for H1N1 flu, and stopped counting individual cases. The rationale given for the CDC guidance to forego testing and tracking individual cases was: why waste resources testing for H1N1 flu when the government has already confirmed there's an epidemic?

Some public health officials privately disagreed with the decision to stop testing and counting, telling CBS News that continued tracking of this new and possibly changing virus was important because H1N1 has a different epidemiology, affects younger people more than seasonal flu and has been shown to have a higher case fatality rate than other flu virus strains.

CBS News learned that the decision to stop counting H1N1 flu cases was made so hastily that states weren't given the opportunity to provide input. Instead, on July 24, the Council for State and Territorial Epidemiologists, CSTE, issued the following notice to state public health officials on behalf of the CDC:

"Attached are the Q&As that will be posted on the CDC website tomorrow explaining why CDC is no longer reporting case counts for novel H1N1. CDC would have liked to have run these by you for input but unfortunately there was not enough time before these needed to be posted (emphasis added)."

On Aug. 4, CBS News asked the CDC for e-mail communications to states and other documents regarding the guidance and its rationale. When CDC did not provide us with the documents, such as state-by-state numbers prior to halting testing and tracking, we filed a Freedom of Information request with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). More than two months later, the request has not been fulfilled.


Watch CBS News Videos Online (http://www.cbsnews.com/video)

Video above: A CBS News producer asks the director of the CDC, Dr. Thomas Frieden, for this information at a press conference on Sept. 19.

We asked all 50 states for their statistics on state lab-confirmed H1N1 prior to the halt of individual testing and counting in July. The results reveal a pattern that surprised a number of health care professionals we consulted. The vast majority of cases were negative for H1N1 as well as seasonal flu, despite the fact that many states were specifically testing patients deemed to be most likely to have H1N1 flu, based on symptoms and risk factors, such as travel to Mexico.


http://wwwimage.cbsnews.com/images/2009/10/21/image5404580.gif
(CBS)


It’s unknown what patients who tested negative for flu were actually afflicted with since the illness was not otherwise determined. Health experts say it’s assumed the patients had some sort of cold or upper respiratory infection that is just not influenza.

With most cases diagnosed solely on symptoms and risk factors, the H1N1 flu epidemic may seem worse than it is. For example, on Sept. 22, this alarming headline came from Georgetown University in Washington D.C.: "H1N1 Flu Infects Over 250 Georgetown Students." (http://blog.georgetownvoice.com/2009/09/22/H1N1-flu-infects-over-250-georgetown-students/)

H1N1 flu can be deadly and an outbreak of 250 students would be an especially troubling cluster. However, the number of sick students came not from lab-confirmed tests but from "estimates" made by counting "students who went to the Student Health Center with flu symptoms, students who called the H1N1 hotline or the Health Center's doctor-on-call, and students who went to the hospital's emergency room."

Without lab testing, it's impossible to know how many of the students actually had H1N1 flu. But the statistical trend indicates it was likely much fewer than 250.

CDC continues to monitor flu in general and H1N1 through "sentinels," which basically act as spot-checks to detect trends around the nation. But at least one state, California, has found value in tracking H1N1 flu in greater detail.

"What we are doing is much more detailed and expensive than what CDC wants," said Dr. Bela Matyas, California's Acting Chief of Emergency Preparedness and Response. "We're gathering data better to answer how severe is the illness. With CDC's fallback position, there are so many uncertainties with who's being counted, it's hard to know how much we're seeing is due to H1N1 flu rather than a mix of influenza diseases generally. We can tell that apart but they can't."

After our conversation with Dr. Matyas, public affairs officials with the California Department of Public Health emphasized to CBS News that they support CDC policy to stop counting individual cases, maintaining that the state has the resources to gather more specific testing data than the CDC.

Because of the uncertainties, the CDC advises even those who were told they had H1N1 to get vaccinated unless they had lab confirmation. "Persons who are uncertain about how they were diagnosed should get the 2009 H1N1 vaccine."

That's unwelcome news for a Marietta, Georgia mom whose two children were diagnosed with "probable" H1N1 flu over the summer. She hoped that would mean they wouldn't need the hastily developed H1N1 flu vaccine. However, since their cases were never confirmed with lab tests, the CDC advises they get the vaccine. "I wish they had tested and that I knew for sure whether they had it. I'm not anxious to give them an experimental vaccine if they don't need it."

Speaking to CBS' "60 Minutes," CDC Director Dr. Frieden said (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/10/16/60minutes/main5390519_page4.shtml?tag=contentMain;contentBod y)he has confidence that the vaccine will be safe and effective: "We're confident it will be effective we have every reason to believe that it will be safe."

However, the CDC recommendation for those who had "probable" or "presumed" H1N1 flu to go ahead and get vaccinated anyway means the relatively small proportion of those who actually did have H1N1 flu will be getting the vaccine unnecessarily. This exposes them to rare but significant side effects, such as paralysis from Guillain-Barre syndrome. (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/08/17/earlyshow/health/main5246940.shtml?tag=featuredPostArea)

It also uses up vaccine, which is said to be in short supply. The CDC was hoping to have shipped 40 million doses by the end of October, but only about 30 million doses will be available this month. (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/10/16/eveningnews/main5390834.shtml)

The CDC did not response to questions from CBS News for this report.

[Wild Cobra]

I don't know. I think I draw the like when one of my favorite animals gets it:

Ferret gets swine flu from its owner, a first (http://www.oregonlive.com/pets/index.ssf/2009/10/ferret_gets_swine_flu_from_its.html)

[rjv]

the today show had their "medical expert" on this morning and she was spewing numbers out like they were tied into some sort of factual evidence and i thought "here we go again" with the media's irresonsibility about such matters. but the media is not alone in this as the CDC seems to be a willing abettor this time.

[sabar]

This hyping up needs to stop. When the real epidemic happens no one is going to listen after 6 years of endless "killer diseases" on the front pages that did nothing.

[Wild Cobra]

This hyping up needs to stop. When the real epidemic happens no one is going to listen after 6 years of endless "killer diseases" on the front pages that did nothing.
I agree.

I wonder which of Obama's friends make a profit making the immunization?

[rjv]

This hyping up needs to stop. When the real epidemic happens no one is going to listen after 6 years of endless "killer diseases" on the front pages that did nothing.

not just that..it makes me wonder how the CDC will react when there is actually a real "epidemic" .

of course this is the same CDC that started up the notion of a "gay flu" when the AIDS epidemic first arrived on the scene.

[Wild Cobra]

not just that..it makes me wonder how the CDC will react when there is actually a real "epidemic" .

of course this is the same CDC that started up the notion of a "gay flu" when the AIDS epidemic first arrived on the scene.
Well, ever since they removed the competition from vaccine suppliers, we have had a shortage. Good question, what will happen if we do ever have a real pandemic?

[JudynTX]

I'm not buying what they are selling.

[Winehole23]

Well, ever since they removed the competition from vaccine suppliers, we have had a shortage. "They"?

[ChumpDumper]

I agree.

I wonder which of Obama's friends make a profit making the immunization?Are you going to backup your claim here, or are you just content with libel?

[lefty]

I've never believed in swine flu.
I'm sure it's regular flu.

The pharmaceutical industry is manipulating us to make more $$$$$$

[Wild Cobra]

"They"?
Yes, the government. Before added regulations and laws. I don't remember all the facts, but for years now, we have had shortages because of the government control.

[101A]

This hyping up needs to stop. When the real epidemic happens no one is going to listen after 6 years of endless "killer diseases" on the front pages that did nothing.

Hey, don't make this a global warming thread!

[Wild Cobra]

Hey, don't make this a global warming thread!
LOL... Why not?

Isn't Global Warming over-hyped also?

[Winehole23]

I don't remember all the facts, but for years now, we have had shortages because of the government control.Excessive demand due to government/media hype might be related to the shortage of this year's vaccine.

BTW, if you ever find occasion to refresh your memory, a link would be much appreciated.

As stated, your post is hearsay.

[balli]

I believe h1n1 is or will be moderately prevalent. True, most will be fine, but plenty of people are going to die. Getting vaccinated isn't a big deal. People shouldn't be weirdos; there's no secret agenda behind flu shots.

[Wild Cobra]

Excessive demand due to government/media hype might be related to the shortage of this year's vaccine.

BTW, if you ever find occasion to refresh your memory, a link would be much appreciated.

As stated, your post is hearsay.
In this case it is easily considered hearsay, but remember, I volunteered that. I do not intentionally mislead, but on a rare exception. If you recall, I PM'd you on a topic that deviated slightly from what I said to see how others would react. I did the same with LnGrrrR recently. My integrity is important to me, so I try to state facts and opinions as such. I do recall some interesting reports on the topic years back when we had our first flue shot shortage. It's not important enough for me to look up. My memory has been known to be wrong at times. I don't know about you, but I'm only human. If you have a better answer, then go for it.

[Winehole23]

...

[Winehole23]

My integrity is important to me, so I try to state facts and opinions as such. I do recall some interesting reports on the topic years back when we had our first flue shot shortage. It's not important enough for me to look up.Maybe in the future you'll be more understanding of posters who don't bother to back up what they say.

[Winehole23]

Nah.

[Winehole23]

Worldwide, about a dozen or so companies make flu vaccine. Only two make flu shots for the United States: Aventis and Chiron. A third, MedImmune, makes FluMist, a nasal-spray vaccine that is licensed only for healthy people ages 5 to 49. About 3 million doses of FluMist will be produced this yearhttp://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2004-12-13-flu-vaccine-cover_x.htm

[Winehole23]

Flu vaccine makers produce only as much as they think they can sell. If they sold out every year, they'd build more plants and make more vaccine. But so far that hasn't happened. Even though more vaccine is produced every year and more people are immunized, fewer than half of those for whom flu shots are recommended get them. Only 36% of health care workers — the first line of defense in an outbreak — are immunized each year.



This year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that 100 million doses of vaccine would be available. In October, when the British government suspended Chiron's license because of contamination at its plant in England, the expected supply was reduced by about 48 million doses.



Aventis Pasteur planned to produce nearly 55 million doses and says it will be able to squeeze out 2.6 million more by mid-January, but that is all it can do. The plant is going full steam, and because flu vaccine is made by growing virus in chicken eggs, it takes about six months to produce each year.


Every year, millions of doses of vaccine are discarded. Last year, flu struck early in many parts of the country, sparking a run on vaccine and causing flu-shot makers to sell out, but MedImmune still wound up tossing about 4 million doses of FluMist, the nasal-spray vaccine.


"On average, we destroy 15% of the vaccine we make every year," says Len Lavenda of Aventis. "We have to make a decision about how much vaccine to produce long before we know how much vaccine will be administered."

[Winehole23]

One of the biggest customers for flu vaccine is the government's Vaccines for Children program, which negotiates lower prices because of its buying power. This year, about 5 million doses were bought for the program. A shot might cost a doctor $8.50, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pays $6.80 for the same dose.



This is both good and bad, says Mark Pauly, chair of the Health Care Systems Department at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. "They did what we want them to do. They bargained hard and got a discount. But the consequence is that this is a product that manufacturers are not particularly interested in supplying," Pauly says. "It's possible to pay too little for a pharmaceutical product, as well as too much."

[Winehole23]

Klaus Stohr of the World Health Organization says experts at a recent conference agreed that a single international licensing standard would allow companies to make vaccines for all countries and allow easier importation of vaccines in times of need. The WHO has formed a working group involving the FDA and others to discuss a uniform regulatory approach.



Other options to entice vaccine makers include tax credits for building or enlarging factories, liability protection and government subsidies that would pay a bonus to companies for every flu shot that finds its way to a citizen. That would encourage companies to market vaccines, something they don't now do.



Another suggestion being heard more often is the idea of guaranteeing the purchase of vaccine so companies can make extra doses without having to absorb the cost of what they still have in inventory at the end of the flu season.

[Winehole23]

Another way to encourage manufacturers to enter the flu vaccine business, experts say, is to provide funding for research and clinical trials to test new vaccines and drugs. One way to judge high-level concern about flu, especially pandemic flu, can be seen in the increase in federal funding. The budget for flu research at the National Institutes of Health is projected to increase by 200% from 2001 to 2005.


That money will be spent in part on basic research into the flu virus itself, how it mutates and reproduces, and what makes one strain more dangerous than another, says Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

[Winehole23]

According to the USA today article, vaccine shortages have more to do with low profit margins, the unpredictability of demand and the small number of producers, than the regulatory environment.

The remedies suggested in the article are mostly various public subsidies for the producers.

[Wild Cobra]

Maybe in the future you'll be more understanding of posters who don't bother to back up what they say.
Sure, if similar is explained.

[Wild Cobra]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2004-12-13-flu-vaccine-cover_x.htm
OK, I think at one point a few years ago, we only had one USA supplier.

[Winehole23]

Sure, if similar is explained.This is unclear. Please explain.

[Wild Cobra]

This is unclear. Please explain.
LOL...

You serious?

[Winehole23]

Similar to what?

[Winehole23]

I don't understand what you're juxtaposing, WC.

[Wild Cobra]

I don't understand what you're juxtaposing, WC.



My integrity is important to me, so I try to state facts and opinions as such. I do recall some interesting reports on the topic years back when we had our first flue shot shortage. It's not important enough for me to look up.Maybe in the future you'll be more understanding of posters who don't bother to back up what they say.
Sure, if similar is explained.
How is someone even expected to look something up from years back if it's not a pressing case to them?

[rjv]

the thing is also that they are indicating this could be a younger person disease and then they define the parameters of young as 65 and under. also, we know that the flu is better spread under indoor conditions and that the flu's primary targets have been schools and colleges. the migratory pattern would be to eventually get to homes and then the "older" demographic. there have been other countries who also had the trend of ealier age groups being affected and then also noticed an eventual increase in the older age groups.

another thing is that they are reporting that 90% of the fatalities are amongst the younger ages as well. but of that 65% are in the 20-45 age domain and this is the group that tends to avoid doctors visits and takes less care of itself when it comes to being sick. also, if it is true that pregnant women are also more vulnerable this eliminates the 65 and over group as well. another supposed group that is more inclined to suffer more serious cases is the obese.

numbers worth looking at but certainly that demand more scrutinization.

[Winehole23]

How is someone even expected to look something up from years back if it's not a pressing case to them?An inconvenience waiver?

Wimpy! :lol

[Wild Cobra]

An inconvenience waiver?

Wimpy! :lol
LOL...

Call it what you want. This topic isn't that important to me. Hell, I'll concede on that just to make it go away. That's how important it is to me.

Now if someone insists on their facts being right, then I reserve the right to insist on evidence.

[Winehole23]

Call it what you want. This topic isn't that important to me. Hell, I'll concede on that just to make it go away. That's how important it is to me.A good man knows when he's been thumped. :lol


Now if someone insists on their facts being right, then I reserve the right to insist on evidence.And I'll reserve my right to claim it's inconvenient to do so. I'll even link this thread.

[Wild Cobra]

A good man knows when he's been thumped. :lol

It's not that at all. Just more important topics and household things to do. If it makes you feel better though, go ahead and believe as you wish.

[Wild Cobra]

You know, you think the worse in people, so I actually did find a supporting link from 2004.

La Grippe of the Trial Lawyers (http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/004/793dgqvs.asp)

Some excerpts:


Two weeks ago, British regulators suspended the license of Chiron Corp., the world's second-leading flu vaccine supplier, for three months. Officials cited manufacturing problems at the factory in Liverpool, England, where Chiron makes its leading product, Fluvirin. Chiron was scheduled to supply 46 million of the 100 million doses to be administered in the United States this year. The other 54 million will come from Aventis Pasteur, a French company with headquarters in Strasbourg.
When the above happened, we only had one supplier.


In 1967 there were 26 companies making vaccines in the United States. Today there are only four that make any type of vaccine and none making flu vaccine. Wyeth was the last to fall, dropping flu shots
after 2002.
When Wyeth still made the flu vaccine, we only has one US supplier.


In theory, prices might have been jacked up enough to make vaccine production profitable even with the lawsuit risk, but federal intervention made vaccines a low-margin business. Before 1993, manufacturers sold vaccines to doctors, doctors prescribed them to patients, and there was some markup. Then Congress adopted the Vaccine for Children Act, which made the government a monopsony buyer. The feds now purchase over half of all vaccines at a low fixed price and distribute them to doctors. This has essentially finished off the private market.
This is where the profitability stopped for makers. Outside suppliers are not liable in our courts, and US suppliers couldn't sell for enough to make a profit under the constant threat of huge lawsuits.


As recently as 1980, 18 American companies made eight different vaccines for various childhood diseases. Today, four companies--GlaxoSmithKline, Aventis, Merck, and Wyeth--make 12 vaccines. Of the 12, seven are made by only one company and only one is made by more than two. "There are constant shortages," says Dr. Paul Offit, head of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "With only one supplier for so many vaccines, the whole system is fragile. When even the smallest thing goes wrong, children miss their vaccinations."
What prompted my anger some years back was when a vaccine lot was contaminated. None could be distributed. Only one supplier.


"It was a turning point," says Dr. Offit, whose book The Cutter Incident will be published next year. "Because of the Cutter decision, vaccines became one of the first medical products to
be eliminated by lawsuits."


Adding to the problem are the predictable panics about vaccines that spread among parents and are abetted by trial lawyers. In 1974, a British researcher published a paper claiming that the vaccine for pertussis (whooping cough) had caused seizures in 36 children, leading to 22 cases of epilepsy or mental retardation. Subsequent studies proved the claim to be false, but in the meantime Japan canceled inoculations, resulting in 113 preventable whooping cough deaths. In the United States, 800 pertussis vaccine lawsuits asking $21 million in damages were filed over the next decade. The cost of a vaccination went from 21 cents to $11.

Every American drug company dropped pertussis vaccine except Lederle Laboratories. In 1980, Lederle lost a liability suit for the paralysis of a three-month-old infant--even though there was almost no evidence implicating the vaccine. Lederle's damages were $1.1 million, more than half its gross revenues from sale of the vaccine for that entire year.

I forgot how much of this was from trial lawyers sueing the pants off of pharmaceutical companies.


In 1998, the FDA approved a vaccine for Lyme disease, which strikes 15,000 people a year. GlaxoSmithKline manufactured it for three years but quit when rumors began circulating that the vaccine caused arthritis.

All this has made the flu an epidemic waiting to happen. Each year flu viruses circle the globe, moving into Asia in the spring and summer and back to North America in the winter. Surface proteins change along the way so that the previous year's vaccine doesn't work against the following year's variation.

Each year in February, the Centers for Disease Control meets with the vaccine-makers--all two of them--and decides which strain of the virus to anticipate for next year. Then they both make the same vaccine. Last year the committee bet on the Panama strain, but a rogue "Fujian" strain suddenly emerged as a surprise invader. A mini-epidemic resulted and 93 children died, only two of them properly vaccinated.

[Winehole23]

Appreciate the link WC. :tu

[ChumpDumper]

So, how did WC determine that the makers of vaccines are friends of Obama?

[Winehole23]

Intuition?

[Wild Cobra]

Intuition?
Huh?

[ChumpDumper]

Huh?Precisely.

[sook]

I believe h1n1 is or will be moderately prevalent. True, most will be fine, but plenty of people are going to die. Getting vaccinated isn't a big deal. People shouldn't be weirdos; there's no secret agenda behind flu shots.

Half the kids at texas a&M, including me got it. It was ridiculously bad, I was actually stupid not to goto a doctor and that was NOT smart lol.

For about a week i went into medical shock somehow. I would come home from class, so tired and mentally exhausted i couldn't even think at all, no sense of where i was or anything. Made studying even harder. At night I would have intense cold sweats, only a high fever for like 2 days, but I would sweat so profusely and wouldn't even be hot. Its when I was having tachycardia one day that I finally went to the doctor, he told me I was crazy dehydrated and since I wasn't eating at all (no appetite when sick) it pretty much made everything worse combined with all the stress of college life. I actually just like recovered 2 weeks ago.


I was calling this shit a myth like all the other bullshit the gov has fed to us and didn't take precautions, its their own fault, the boy who cried wolf isn't believed when the wolf is actually there

[Cant_Be_Faded]

I really wish I knew what to believe when it came to this shit.

[MannyIsGod]

Its going to be bad as far as flu goes but don't expect scenes out of Outbreak. The problem here is the expectations people have of what a pandemic means and what it actually is. Thats all.

[boutons_deux]

"what to believe"

You can KNOW there's no proof that this vaccine works against this particular virus.

Internet has created a Tower of Babble where KNOWING rationally, scientifically, verifiably is replaced by the irrational, magical-thinking, intentionally confusing claims (esp religious and political claims).

Knowing the truth has always been extremely difficult, but now there are movements like the Repugs, conservatives, neo-conservatives, "Christian" supremacists, and hate media that have as their primary objective the sowing of falsehoods and confusions (a well-KNOWN effective demagogic strategy) that they intend to exploit for their own power and enrichment.

You can be sure that BigPharma and their captured FDA are going to hype this some-worse-than-average flu into the 1918 flu.

Next year when the flu deaths are tallied vs non-swine-flu years, we'll know whether the hype justified. 10s of 1000s people die from the flu every year in USA, and it's the same ones (with co-morbidities and general weak/ill health) that die.

"Every year in the United States, on average:

5% to 20% of the population gets the flu;
more than 200,000 (http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/qa/hospital.htm) people are hospitalized from flu-related complications; and
about 36,000 (http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/disease/us_flu-related_deaths.htm) people die from flu-related causes."

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/keyfacts.htm

[Col. Sam Daniels]

I really wish I knew what to believe when it came to this shit.

Get your ass to Cedar Creek if you need proof!

[Wild Cobra]

5% to 20% of the population gets the flu;
more than 200,000 (http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/qa/hospital.htm) people are hospitalized from flu-related complications; and
about 36,000 (http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/disease/us_flu-related_deaths.htm) people die from flu-related causes."

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/keyfacts.htm
We are at what, about 2.8% of that so far?

I'll make this wild ass prediction that this years numbers will be lower in hospitalization and deaths, because the H1N1 isn't as strong as the annual flu, is preceding it, and will help peoples system prepare for the annual flu!

[Winehole23]

the H1N1 isn't as strong as the annual flu, is preceding it, and will help peoples system prepare for the annual flu!Let's hope so. Young, healthy people are getting it, and the rate of mortality has been a concern, I think.

[MannyIsGod]

Um, that 2.8% is happening way faster than it did in years before and we're at a much more advanced level to date in the flu season just becasue this flu bug didn't go away in the summer.

I don't know why on earth you think this year will be less severe than others to be honest.

[Wild Cobra]

I don't know why on earth you think this year will be less severe than others to be honest.
Well, I'm not always right on my predictions, and that's all it is. I'm not going to go completely through my though process on it.

[Cry Havoc]

The regular flu is relatively incapable of killing me.

Swine flu can and has killed individuals my age who are healthy without external health complications.

I'd say that separates this from the standard flu, but you know, that's just me.

[EmptyMan]

If you get sick a lot, take it if you want.

I haven't even thought twice about worrying about the dreaded swine flu.

[MannyIsGod]

Well, I'm not always right on my predictions, and that's all it is. I'm not going to go completely through my though process on it.

I'm shocked you decline to lay out your line of thinking when its obviously poor. I'm shocked. No really. Shocked.

[Wild Cobra]

I'm shocked you decline to lay out your line of thinking when its obviously poor. I'm shocked. No really. Shocked.
Think what you want. If your were so divine, shouldn't you be able to tell everyone my thought process?

[Viva Las Espuelas]

this doesn't surprise me. a co worker took her little girl, maybe under 3 years old, to the doctor and they told her she had the flu...............didn't know what kind so they just said it was swine flu. turns out it was just flu, but was it taken down as that.............................................. ...

[MannyIsGod]

Think what you want. If your were so divine, shouldn't you be able to tell everyone my thought process?

Are you really a Wild Cobra?

:wow

Obviously any man who thinks they are actually a wild snake that lives in Asia has issues.

[Viva Las Espuelas]

Think what you want. If your were so divine, shouldn't you be able to tell everyone my thought process?
just give it time.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

Theres just so much conflicting information and too many motives at work here.

No way for the common person to really figure out if the new vaccine would help them out should the h1n1 mutate down the road and become more deadly.

No way to know if the vaccine is really just garbage and a scheme to make money

It's all hickeldy pickeldy

[Wild Cobra]

Theres just so much conflicting information and too many motives at work here.

No way for the common person to really figure out if the new vaccine would help them out should the h1n1 mutate down the road and become more deadly.

No way to know if the vaccine is really just garbage and a scheme to make money

It's all hickeldy pickeldy
I agree. The CDC reports something like 36,000 annual flu deaths, but when you remove the factors that really killed people, that number diminishes a great deal. The flu is more often just the item that complicated what a person really died of, sometimes making them die sooner. I think actual flu deaths are well under 1000 annually. However, more people get complications from the flue shots than that.

[ChumpDumper]

I agree. The CDC reports something like 36,000 annual flu deaths, but when you remove the factors that really killed people, that number diminishes a great deal. The flu is more often just the item that complicated what a person really died of, sometimes making them die sooner. I think actual flu deaths are well under 1000 annually. However, more people get complications from the flue shots than that.Do you have a link to these statistics?