Swine Flu Just the Latest Hysterical Panic
BY: WC WINDBAG
For years, we have heard how the next terrible pandemic was coming to wipe out the population, or how a man-made creation would ultimately destroy our planet. Hong Kong Flu, DDT production, Global Cooling, Russian Flu, AIDS, Global Warming, SARS, Avian Flu, and Climate Change have all created panic through dominating headlines, which state that we all may perish if not for some quick government action. These panics have also created profits for those who luckily already have something to offer (like face masks), but often also to those who cleverly cater their products and services to match the panic, like carbon credits.
Being a conservative, I am not prone to panicking. I tend to sit back, try to gather as many facts as possible, and only then come to a conclusion. The writers of this blog all tend to think this way, which is why (for example) we recognize Global Warming Climate Change for the bunk it is.
This is why after about a week of Swine Flu panic, I am ready to say emphatically: Swine Flu is nothing more than just the latest hysterical reaction from emotional people thinking with their hearts and not their brains.
I want to be clear… I’m NOT saying the Swine Flu is NOT dangerous. Like any flu-like disease, left untreated the patient is at greater risk to further health issues, possibly even life threatening ones. Proof of this is not hard to find as many have been infected, and some have died from Swine Flu already. But as my co-blogger Arch City Madman has already pointed out in the comment section of NCViking’s post, according to the CDC:
“Around 36,000 people in the US die each year from the flu. Last check there were less than 50 reported cases in the US of people getting sick from the Swine Flu. I think a little perspective is in order for the MSM folks.”
The exact quote from the CDC:
Using new and improved statistical models, CDC scientists estimate that an average of 36,000 people (up from 20,000 in previous estimates) die from influenza-related complications each year in the United States.
We have seen the Swine Flu before, in the 1970’s. Back then, it did not spread as it has today, but that did not stop the ‘scaremongering‘. Today, scaremongering continues: threat levels raised, predictions from health officials of impending deaths, and even our Vice President telling people to stay off the subways.
Never mind that Swine Flu does not appear to be as serious as has been said. Never mind that Swine Flu death rates have decreased in Mexico. Never mind that scientists see this flu strain as relatively mild compared to others. From the LA Times:
As the World Health Organization raised its infectious disease alert level Wednesday and health officials confirmed the first death linked to swine flu inside U.S. borders, scientists studying the virus are coming to the consensus that this hybrid strain of influenza — at least in its current form — isn’t shaping up to be as fatal as the strains that caused some previous pandemics.
In fact, the current outbreak of the H1N1 virus, which emerged in San Diego and southern Mexico late last month, may not even do as much damage as the run-of-the-mill flu outbreaks that occur each winter without much fanfare.
SO… can we please calm down and focus on what is important. Such as what has “enchanted” President Obama in his first 100 days?
- Open Thread - August 12th, 2010
- Fun Video of the Day - July 22nd, 2010
- Jimmy Buffet Channeling His Inner Obama - July 9th, 2010
- Shocking Poll of Elites: W One of the Worst Presidents Evah - July 2nd, 2010
- Funny Video of the Day - June 25th, 2010
Does that mean I can come out of my plastic bubble now?
Only if you don’t want to get caught up in the next terrible pandemic… Rooster Flu… or perhaps, Earth Temperature Change.
I am not sure the purpose of your post. Nobody is saying that at the N1H1 virus will wipe out all of humanity. In fact, no one in any position of responsibility has claimed that any viral outbreak in the last 50 years would wipe out humanity.
If there is an elevation of emotion, it is the elevation posted on this blog. Your post reveals your own hysterical reaction to watching TV, nothing more.
I, as a consumer of news, need to know when it is safe to take my children to Mexico or any other part that has an outbreak, period; regardless of whether the outbreak is mild or serious, and of course especially if there is a chance of serious illness or death.
I find it interesting that you are all over AF1 flying low, but don’t care for the coverage on H1N1. I think you have it backwards.
Mike, first let me say that is nice to see you back. We have not heard from you in a while, and were not sure if you were still doing your taxes.
Second, the purpose of my post is the same as it has been since the beginning: to opine on what I feel is on my mind. You once again are reading this as if it were an encyclopedia and not an opinion page. We use hyperbole and exaggeration to make points. Anyone who is conscious realizes that the media is whipping up a frenzy over this latest doomsday scenario. For example, my local news program spent the first 10 minutes of a 30 minute broadcast to talk about the Swine Flu.
I may be all wet, but I think that this is pretty much ado about nothing. That is my opinion, and not the news. That is what we do here. As a consumer of news, you need to take all that you see and hear and analyze it. You can discount what you read here, because I am neither reporting the news nor making it… I am commenting on it. Other “news” outlets do the same thing, but under the guise of “giving you the straight news”.
Hmmm, not sure how to take your opinion piece. To quote you, you are using hyperbole, exaggeration, opinion, and your reactions to complain or discuss how the media is over hyping H1N1.
As a consumer of news, I do take all that I see and hear and analyze it – pretty much as I do with what I read on this blog. And I’ll go further, so does almost everyone on this planet.
Is this much ado about nothing? Well, it is news. The 50 students in NYC who came down because two of them went to Mexico and then exposed others need to know about it. So do their parents, their neighbors, their neighborhood.
Are you personally at risk? Your chances are very small, but they are not zero. All it takes is one student, with a relative up from Mexico or NYC to spread it to a child and then to you.
This is education. Of all people, you know that this information is education. It’s what it is, how serious is it, and should you put yourself at risk. I say of all people because I never took you for a guy in favor of a news blackout of important public safety information.
10 mins of a 30 min newscast I would say 10 mins of a 30 min newscast is just about right on this issue. A lot depends on what was said, and how it was said, but I would suspect that the right things to say are:
- it started in Mexico
- WHO reported x number deaths. Your local news outlet would have had to report, and then later report the correction, that WHO originally claimed over 100. That information was also reported by Mexico.
- it has spread to the US, Spain, and NZ
- there are 200 people sick with it in the US
- there is at least one death in the US from it
- while people do die from the flu, H1N1 is different.
- It is estimated that somewhere between 20,000 and 36,000 people die each year from the flu. These are young children, usually under 6 y/o, almost always under 24 mos, the elderly, and those with compromised immunity defenses: cancer patients, HIV.
- While it is very very very rare for otherwise Healthy people to die from the flu, H1N1 can affect you. Even if you do get it, your chances of survival and recovery are very high. You must seek treatment early.
I still don’t get what your complaint is other than emotional hyperbole.
I see what you are saying and raise you. How about spending 1/3 of a newscast talking about someone getting struck by lightning? How about car accidents across the USA? Perhaps people who contract cancer? Your comments would still apply:
Look, when someone is affected by any sort of sickness and tragedy, it is important to that person. The one US death you mention is a Mexican boy and not a US citizen. So, a pandemic that has killed no one in the USA, but yet has infected close to (gasp) 200 people is huge news? Go back to regular deaths from the flu at about 35K per year… approximately 100 per day. Now that is news.
I have a very small chance of being struck by lightning… but it is not news, and it is isolated. The number of auto deaths, cancer deaths, and flu deaths per day shadows this blip, just like it does the Swine Flu. I am more likely to catch another kind of sickness.
I am all for knowledge of the situation, but this is overkill… which is my point. No US deaths, yet 1/3 of a news cast?
Of the examples you noted, cancer, car accidents, lightning — are not new and don’t warrant a significant time slice. However, if you added all of the news casts over this year (or over the years) on anyone of these subjects, say lightning and golf, then I would say the minutes spent by far exceeds the amount of time spent on H1N1.
Of H1N1, it is new, now, and the public has questions about it. I would say that the information disseminated has helped the public better understand their own risk.
A prime example would be you. I think it is fair to say that you did not know enough about the current H1N1 infection levels, or of your own risk. News is education.
So far your responses has been that no one needs to know about this issue. You favor a news blackout for whatever reasons, or at least a significant reduction in the information.
News outlets are business, and they happen to know what people want to hear about. I am surprised that you find businesses going about their responsibilities in a responsible manner to be offensive to you — while at the same time serving information so you can make an informed decision.
You should have also paid better attention to the news cast. You state: no US deaths. In fact there is a US death http://online.wsj.com.
Maybe next time you’ll listen up
White House aide’s family likely has swine flu
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D97SUKBO0&show_article=1
Mike, I am neither saying that it does not warrant any time nor am I saying it should be blacked out. In fact, it is a news story, and should be reported, but I think that it is overkill. Schools are being shut down, masks are being worn… and IMHO, it is overblown for the amount of infection there has been. I stand by that.
You only know that schools are being shutdown and masks being worn because of the news coverage. In fact everything you think you know about this is because of the news coverage.
You are also not an expert on how to stop a virus. You stop it precisely by removing human to human contact: masks, close businesses and schools.
Masks are worn and schools are closed in Mexico. What possible motivation could you have in telling Mexicans it’s overblown? What kind of expert are you? Whose child would you let die? How do you know this won’t spread to 1,000s?
You do not know. You have no way of knowing. That’s my point.
I am also not an expert in the mechanics of my air condition… but I know when I turn it on my house gets cold. One does not need to be an expert to feel that the coverage is overblown.
When one asks the time, that person does not need to know how your watch works.
You are not turning on the air conditioner. You are not asking for the time.
You are making a statement: this coverage is overblown – without substantiation. It’s just a “feeling” you have.
If we follow your “feeling” then at what point is the coverage just right? 5 minutes, 3 minutes, 1 minute? What would be said? What would not be said? What part of the 10 minutes was wasted?
If the news changes, what part should not be reported? If a baby dies in the US from it, should it not be reported? If Mexico closes it schools for a week, should it be reported?
One thing its clear: you have presented no evidence whatsoever that anyone’s coverage is overblown. Even the WSJ and Fox are covering it with facts. Just the facts.
What facts would you ask these businesses to not report?
Mike, as we have said to you in the past, you are over doing this a bit. I said from the start that it was my opinion that the coverage was overblown… that the crisis was hyped. I do not need to offer pages and pages of video and print and tear each line apart bit by bit. If you disagree that the coverage is not overblown, that is fine. We will agree to disagree. I think the post stands on its own stating that the attention paid to this “crisis” is more than the facts warrant. As I said in one of my first replies to you, I may be all wet, but this is my opinion.
Your blog and your opinion.
The point remains that you cannot really backup your opinion with a fact. No one asked for pages and pages. From my point of view you have stated no case.
I disagree with you. I feel that I have provided sufficient information to back up my opinion. You have either not read the post or chose to ignore the content.
I provided facts regarding the number of flu deaths a year (100 a day in USA) vs. one Mexican child dying in the USA so far with Swine Flu. I have also included links showing that death rates have dropped in Mexico and to an LA Times article explaining that the virus is not a serious as first thought.
You may disagree with these facts and assertions, but you can not say they were not there.
You may also feel that this is not enough information to support my claim, but that is another issue. I am only addressing the issue where you say I have “stated no case”.
And an excellent point you make! So go ahead into Mexico, take your children with you. There is not TV coverage, don’t worry none about. Just go dude. Just enjoy Mexico all you want — worst case you’ll just be 1 death among 36,000 — so go right ahead. Don’t worry none.
And if come back, just infect a few people in town. There is no need to tell anyone about it, or put it on the news. So what if a school closes, cause dude, you are just one among 36,000, so no problem here at all.
sarcasm: off
The point is that people need to know the facts. Your 1 death in 36,000 is totally and absolutely irrelevant to the discussion on whether the facts need to be presented.
post your reply and we’ll be done with this thread.
Again, not calling for a blackout. And I also said in the post, quote:
I am not claiming that you want it to be broadcasted 24 hours a day, and you should not claim that I am looking for blackout. Shades of gray here…
Information on the Swine Flu ‘epidemic’ definitely falls into the gray. There is no doubt that Mike is right when he says we should be informed, it is how we are informed that is important. News coverage provides a means for educating the public but sometimes this means can wrongly do so. Unfortunately news coverage these days is more about shock and awe entertainment than perspective and facts…that is unless you listen to ‘All Things Considered’ on NPR, which I nerdily, admittedly do.
The CDC and the Obama Administration (sans Joe Biden) have done a good job so far of providing perspective and tempering fears, the media has not. Of course it hasn’t, it’s a spreading virus story … hype is to be expected. Unfortunately the media doing so may be crying wolf to the public, which could be dangerous if a more serious biological threat comes our way and we don’t take it seriously because of this over hype. Proper perspective is in order.
Also, if we are to garner one good thing from this, its that at least this contagious outbreak is from a weak virus. The outbreak is certainly NOT good, but it is providing us a nice test of our preparedness for something that could have been much, much worse.
How do you stay awake listening to NPR? Must be some strong coffee…
Monster drink. I don’t like coffee.
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