Do we really have a National "Swine Flu Emergency" ?!?

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Permalink Reply by TheCannulator on October 31, 2009 at 10:04am

I think really we have a greater emergency in STD's like HSV2 HIV and Hepatitis variants.

Pity so much effort doesn't go in to them.........

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Permalink Reply by Thomas Durkee on November 1, 2009 at 2:50am

yeah so is poverty, homelessness, and unemployment. They are all emergencies that affect the public's health.

If you've ever been to the Appalachian mountains or parts of the deep South or many other places in rural America, you could call Poverty, Malnutrition, Homelessness, and Unemployment a "disaster".

But H1N1 is sexy and it gets all the funding. So that's where I work.

-Tom

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Permalink Reply by Gul Dukat on November 1, 2009 at 2:15pm

Um Tom not to drag this into the political arena but why have you chosen to pick on the south with this? I believe that your home state of Michigan is also suffering from the exact same problem as the deep south and Appalachian mountain areas. The last time I looked Detroit, Flint & Lansing all had their share of problems associated with poverty, malnutrition, homelessness, and unemployment as well.

Here is a list of the 25 most dangerous cities to live in the U.S. and you will see that the North and West are equally represented here as well as the south. In fact you have to go down to city # 6 before you get to the deep south (unless you consider St. Louis the south which I do not)

Actually only 7 of the top 25 are from the south.

MOST DANGEROUS 25
1. Detroit 407.2
2. St. Louis 406.2
3. Flint, Mich. 381.0
4. Oakland, Calif. 338.9
5. Camden, N.J. 323.8
6. Birmingham, Ala. 268.8
7. North Charleston, S.C. 254.3
8. Memphis, Tenn. 245.6
9. Richmond, Calif. 245.1
10. Cleveland 244.4
11. Orlando, Fla. 237.4
12. Baltimore 236.7
13. Little Rock, Ark. 233.8
14. Compton, Calif. 223.6
15. Youngstown, Ohio 222.0
16. Cincinnati 218.3
17. Gary, Ind. 214.0
18. Kansas City, Mo. 203.4
19. Dayton, Ohio 201.5
20. Newark, N.J. 197.3
21. Philadelphia 192.9
22. Atlanta 189.9
23. Jackson, Miss. 188.8
24. Buffalo, N.Y. 187.8
25. Kansas City, Kan. 187.6

Thomas Durkee said:

yeah so is poverty, homelessness, and unemployment. They are all emergencies that affect the public's health.

If you've ever been to the Appalachian mountains or parts of the deep South or many other places in rural America, you could call Poverty, Malnutrition, Homelessness, and Unemployment a "disaster".

But H1N1 is sexy and it gets all the funding. So that's where I work.

-Tom

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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on November 1, 2009 at 4:51pm

Let's not forget the poverty, homelessness, and huge publich health problems in San Fransisco and Oakland...Berkeley's neighbors, or the earthshaking state budget deficits that California has - the worst in the country.

California's budget deficits make it less able than most to deal with its public health problems, especially in the short term.

Is California still asking for a federal bailout for it's state budget deficits? If so, then it's asking for all of those poor, underpriviledged folks in the South to pay for California's unsustainable public initiatives.

Then there is the chronic underemployment and unemployment from Detroit to Allentown due to the downturns in the steel, coal, and auto industries...the list goes on and the South doesn't lead the list.

Stereotyping isn't helpful, nor in this case, is it remotely accurate.

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Permalink Reply by Thomas Durkee on November 1, 2009 at 11:14pm

This should answer your question(s), thoroughly :

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/video/share.html?s=news01s33BBqC3E

(run time: 9 1/2 minutes)

Note the similarities in disease outbreak and health outcomes in the SE U.S. & Appalachia with many third-world countries.

--Tom

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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on November 1, 2009 at 11:27pm

...and watch the bunny. No, not the hand reaching into the top hat, the BUNNY.

In other words, Tom, you put up a PBS clip that unscientifically discusses a single variable without any comparisons to the other places under discussion to supposedly make it OK for you to stereotype.

Sorry, I'm not buying it, especially when - at least for now - one of the places with the lowest number of current H1N1 cases is South Carolina, while California has a widespread H1N1 outbreak. Apparently, California is more 3rd World than is South Carolina, at least for now.

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Permalink Reply by Thomas Durkee on November 1, 2009 at 11:40pm

Very TRUE!

South Carolina is one of the last states... if not THE last state, to report widespread swine flu cases! Also note: D.C. isn't reporting widespread H1N1 either (good thing we both currently live in these two areas!)

But the truth remains: the Deep South (Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana) has always historically had much lower health outcomes when compared to the rest of the U.S. and most places in the industrialized world. Ditto for the Appalachian areas (West Virginia, SE ohio...). And California isn't doing so bad with H1N1... which is the main reason Cali isn't getting much vaccine when compared to the size of its population.

Ask anyone familiar with epidemiology... it's a widely accepted fact.

--Tom

Ben Waller said:

...and watch the bunny. No, not the hand reaching into the top hat, the BUNNY.

In other words, Tom, you put up a PBS clip that unscientifically discusses a single variable without any comparisons to the other places under discussion to supposedly make it OK for you to stereotype.

Sorry, I'm not buying it, especially when - at least for now - one of the places with the lowest number of current H1N1 cases is South Carolina, while California has a widespread H1N1 outbreak. Apparently, California is more 3rd World than is South Carolina, at least for now.

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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on November 1, 2009 at 11:51pm

Tom,

You're still cherry-picking sources that you think support your chosen stereotypes, and this time in the face of obvious evidence posted by...YOU. It's not what happened with other diseases in the past that counts with H1N1, it's what's happening now that counts. One of the states that you love to hammer for its health care outcomes is doing the best of any state in the Union vis-a-vis the H1N1 right now.

Maybe we just have better immune systems here, or something.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Rubin on November 2, 2009 at 9:53am

Speaking of immune systems, I attended a presentation at EMS Expo by Tim Hillier, who suggested "cytokine storms" might be responsible for the spike in flu fatalities among young adults. I've requested more information.

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Permalink Reply by Thomas Durkee on November 6, 2009 at 6:59pm

LATEST update on H1N1 spread - - Nov. 7th, 2009 for week ending OCT. 31, 2009 - - - -

Synopsis:

During week 43 (October 25-31, 2009), influenza activity remained elevated in the U.S.

•5,258 (37.2%) specimens tested by U.S. World Health Organization (WHO) and National Respiratory and Enteric Virus Surveillance System (NREVSS) collaborating laboratories and reported to CDC/Influenza Division were positive for influenza.

•Over 99% of all subtyped influenza A viruses being reported to CDC were 2009 influenza A (H1N1) viruses.

•The proportion of deaths attributed to pneumonia and influenza (P&I) was above the epidemic threshold.

•Eighteen more influenza-associated pediatric deaths were reported. Fifteen of these deaths were associated with 2009 influenza A (H1N1) virus infection and three were associated with an influenza A virus for which the subtype was undetermined.

•The proportion of outpatient visits for influenza-like illness (ILI) was above the national baseline. All 10 regions reported ILI above region-specific baseline levels.

•Forty-eight states reported geographically widespread influenza activity, two states reported regional influenza activity, the District of Columbia reported local influenza activity; Puerto Rico and Guam reported sporadic influenza activity, and the U.S. Virgin Islands did not report.

Key Flu Indicators
November 6, 2009, 11:00 AM

Each week CDC analyzes information about influenza disease activity in the United States and publishes findings of key flu indicators in a report called FluView.* During the week of October 25-31, 2009, a review of the key indictors found that influenza activity remained high in the United States. Below is a summary of the most recent key indicators:

•Visits to doctors for influenza-like illness (ILI) nationally decreased very slightly this week over last week after four consecutive weeks of sharp increases. While ILI declined slightly, visits to doctors for influenza-like illness remain at much higher levels than what is expected for this time of the year and parts of the country continue to see sharp increases in activity. It’s possible that nationwide ILI could rise again. ILI continues to be higher than what is seen during the peak of most regular flu seasons.

•Total influenza hospitalization rates for laboratory-confirmed flu are climbing and are higher than expected for this time of year. Hospitalization rates continue to be highest is younger populations with the highest hospitalization rate reported in children 0-4 years old.

•The proportion of deaths attributed to pneumonia and influenza (P&I) based on the 122 Cities Report continues to increase and has been higher for five week now than what is expected at this time of year. In addition, 18 flu-related pediatric deaths were reported this week; 15 of these deaths were confirmed 2009 H1N1, and three were influenza A viruses, but were not subtyped. Since April 2009, CDC has received reports of 129 laboratory-confirmed pediatric 2009 H1N1 deaths and another 15 pediatric deaths that were laboratory confirmed as influenza, but where the flu virus subtype was not determined.

•Forty-eight states are reporting widespread influenza activity at this time; a decline of one state over last week. They are: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. This many reports of widespread activity at this time of year are unprecedented during seasonal flu.

•Almost all of the influenza viruses identified so far continue to be 2009 H1N1 influenza A viruses. These viruses remain similar to the virus chosen for the 2009 H1N1 vaccine, and remain susceptible to the antiviral drugs oseltamivir and zanamivir with rare exception.


*All data are preliminary and may change as more reports are received.

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Permalink Reply by Eric D. Liddy Sr. on November 7, 2009 at 7:15pm

I had the Swine Flu during the 1970's outbreak and yes, I was sick as a dog. I think that people forget that there was a pandemic during the WW I era that did in fact kill millions worldwide.

HOWEVER...medicine has progressed worldwide so that mortality rates due to disease is much lower than it was during the early 20th century. People are so distressed about what the media is saying about this outbreak about dying, that they tend to forget that we have progressed in medicine and the death toll from this outbreak in my own opinion will probably be no higher than it is during the normal flu season for any other year.

I did get vaccinated this year for H1N1, but that is primarily so that I don't get sick myself and have to bang in sick. (I would much rather be earning my full paycheck versus a partial check.) Also, I did it too so as NOT to spread it to those that are immune-compromised as they are the ones that will be most adversely affected by this virus.

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Permalink Reply by Russell Stine on November 8, 2009 at 6:27pm

I'm really tired of all the arguing, and the charts and graphs hurt my head. Just post a link so I can see it myself and judge the worthiness of the source.

H1N1 to me doesn't seem to be that big of a deal. Of course I've seen a spike in flu calls recently, but nothing a little tylenol and bed rest at home won't fix. I won't be wearing mask on every call but I will be sanitizing my hands little more carefully.

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