The CDC announced yesterday that the level of swine flu infection has reached epidemic levels in some American cities and states. 41 States have reported widespread flu.
According to the BBC, Anne Schuchat of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) put it this way:
"Influenza is widespread in the country and illnesses, hospitalisations and deaths continue to increase," she said.
"It's unprecedented for this time of year to have the whole country seeing such high levels of activity."
Already deaths among children in the US have surpassed what would be normal for an entire flu season; 86 children have died from confirmed cases of H1N1 here. There were 19 deaths of teenagers and children in America in the last week alone, according to the Washington Post. 3,873 Americans have died since the pandemic began. In my area there have been three deaths in Lexington, and the local schools are already struggling to deal with flu-related problems. It's important to be aware that many of the children who died were perfectly healthy. This is a very fast-acting virus, and can lead to respiratory failure within a few days.
Despite these facts, the vaccine continues to be controversial. Here on Gather we have seen posts urging people not to have their children vaccinated. The reasons given are the old, tired claim that vaccines cause Autism, that the mercury they contain is dangerous. There have been no reputable studies to back up these claims, yet the myths continue to circulate.
Others remain skeptical that the country is headed for an epidemic. I hope that those who are unconvinced will educate themselves. Every person who doesn't get vaccinated not only runs the risk of infection, but adds to the risk of others, especially those who are immune-deficient and cannot be vaccinated for that reason.
And I especially hope that those scare-mongers who are posting misleading and false information take a more responsible approach to publishing here on Gather. Stop being part of the problem and start being part of the solution. It's the least you can do.
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Only 28-30 million doses would be available by the end of the month, said Anne Schuchat of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The number of children who have died so far this year from the H1N1 virus was greater than the number that normally die in an entire flu season, Ms Schuchat said.
Forty-three children are reported to have died from flu since 30 August, with 38 of those confirmed to have been caused by the H1N1 virus.
Half of those deaths were in children aged between 12 and 17.
The World Health Organization warned doctors that the virus can cause potentially life-threatening viral pneumonia much more commonly than the typical flu
An analysis in 10 states of people hospitalized with the pandemic strain of H1N1 influenza shows that asthma is by far the most common underlying condition associated with severe cases of the disease.
With the first 600,000 doses of swine flu vaccine scheduled to be released today and the media already swirling about how difficult it will be to get a dose, scam artists from Internet “pharmacies” are lining up to bridge the gap.
Specifically, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, the World Health Organization and the pharmaceutical industry are bracing for an onslaught of fake and substandard drugs, with a special eye out for unauthorized versions of Tamiflu, the patented Roche vaccine that is the cornerstone of the public health-effort. “We don’t know what we could be seeing in the next few weeks,” says Gary Coody, who coordinates health-care enforcement for the FDA. “They (Internet drug operators) don’t necessarily have any regard for public-health safeguards.”
"Internet drug operators don’t necessarily have any regard for public-health safeguards."
Sinovac Biotech Ltd. said Wednesday the Chinese government purchased 3 million more doses of Sinovac's Panflu.1 swine flu vaccine, bringing the total order to 6.3 million doses.
The vaccine maker said it expected to complete delivery of 4.5 million doses of Panflu.1 by the end of October. More than 100,000 Beijing residents have been inoculated with Panflu.1 and no severe side effects have been reported, the company said.
The Chinese government ordered 3.3 million doses of Panflu.1 on Sept. 4, the day after its regulatory agency approved the vaccine.
"Medical experts have been telling us that pregnant women are more vulnerable to developing complications after contracting the virus.
"For this reason, they will be among the priority groups for vaccination when the H1N1 vaccine becomes available later this month."
Ms Sturgeon urged all pregnant women to get vaccinated in order to ensure "maximum protection" for themselves and their babies.
Latest reports for the world:
date | cases | deaths
Saturday, October 10, 2009 | 458743 | 4754
Monday, October 5, 2009 | 458743 | 4754
Sunday, October 4, 2009 | 457303 | 4699
Saturday, October 3, 2009 | 358319 | 4480
Friday, October 2, 2009 | 358319 | 4478
MoreShow plotsShow local reports
Computed by Wolfram MathematicaSource information »Download as: PDFLive Mathematica
Talk about irresponsible! They really will get people killed. There oughtta be a law.
Look at the odds. Would you rather take a 1/1,000,000 chance of harm or a 1/100 chance of harm. The vaccine is far less likely to harm you than the disease it prevents.
Julie Rohm
Unfortunately, I can't devote my entire life to tracking down these rumors - especially when so many have already been debunked. That's why I recommended the Snopes site - tracking down Internet rumors is what they do.
Hola, Señora Sarah!
I am on a short 7-day vacation in Cancun right now and I can tell you firsthand that more people working in the tourist industry have told us that the Flu endemic is being felt extensively all over this area where the tourist trade is the highest income producer. There are fewer people visiting here according to the locals, people are staying away for fear of the virus. The hotels are sparsely booked. We've seen foreigners around but not as many as I was expecting. The tourist spots have short waiting lines and a lot of the parking lots show few spaces filled.
We're staying at a 4-Diamond hotel on Hotel Row, and this morning, while watching the sunrise on our balcony, I counted only 8 cars in the guests parking lot. In the lobby and on-site restaurants of our hotel, staff stand around idle for the most part. Wherever we ate dinner each night downtown where we always expected crowds in the well-known spots, we never had to make reservations... as walk-ins, we were always seated instantly in dining rooms where tables were fairly empty. In a way, it was nice, we were always treated well and received specialized attention from the staff.
Because we left the US before the vaccines were available, I was concerned about infection but by taking a more conscious effort with preventive measures of hygienic cleanliness, I hope we can avoid any vulnerabilty.
Foreigners. Sheesh!
I agree... with preventative hygiene and the simple act of washing our hands whenever possible or needed, we have been lucky enough to avoid the usual tourist complaints. We've also tried all kinds of cuisine and fresh fruit with no ill effects.
BTW, we called home last night and found out 2 of our grandkids have missed two days of school because of illness symptomatic of flu... they will be seeing the doctor today for some tests. Hopefully it is not H1N1.
Still waiting for news and results of their tests... will go to try the sauna and jacuzzi now. They have our rooms so cold I need some heat or wear a sweater!
The parents who are afraid of putting their kids at risk amuse me too. Apparently they don't drive their kids anywhere or let them cross the street.
Then someone on Faux News claims battleships are unstable, and everyone piles in the dinghy...
Best Example of Gather Wit this week.
(These nominations used to mean a lot more, sorry for the debased nature of the site.)
We're gonna be short on Swine Flu vaccine, folks, and seasonal flu vaccine does NOT help (although the two together seem to bolster each other).
I had the flu twice prior to 1985--never again! Some people do not know how horrible it can be. I was SICK for ten days each time. The first bout left me weak for two months. The second left me with walking pneumonia.
It is a 24/7 job.
Ten questions
about flu vaccines that doctors and health authorities refuse to answer
#1) Where are the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies proving flu vaccines are both safe and effective?
Answer: There aren't any. (http://www.naturalnews.com/027239_v...)
#2) Where, then, is the so-called "science" backing the idea that flu vaccines work at all?
#3) How can methyl mercury (Thimerosal, a preservative used in flu vaccines) be safe for injecting into the human body when mercury is an extremely toxic heavy metal?
Answer: It isn't safe at all. Methyl mercury is a poison. Along with vaccine adjuvants, it explains why so many people suffer autism or other debilitating neurological side effects after being vaccinated.
#5) Why don't doctors recommend vitamin D for flu protection, especially when vitamin D activates the immune response far better than a vaccine? (http://www.naturalnews.com/027231_V...)
#7) If the flu vaccine offers protection against the flu, then why are the people who often catch the flu the very same people who were vaccinated against it?
#10) If flu vaccines work so well, then why are drug makers and health authorities so reluctant to subject them to scientific scrutiny with randomized, placebo-controlled studies?
And
That the shots are meant to kill us
Credibility issue?
50 million deaths from Spanish Flu - no vaccine.
70 thousand deaths from Asian Flu - vaccine available.
Pretty good results from that vaccine? Looks like it.
The two flues are related and the pandemics were 40 years apart.
"50 million deaths from Spanish Flu - no vaccine.
70 thousand deaths from Asian Flu - vaccine available.
Pretty good results from that vaccine? Looks like it."
This is such weak reasoning, that you have helped me come to the conclusion that there is in fact no real science behind this whole vaccine push . . It just makes no sense to me, that if there was real science, you would be reciting something so irrational. Of course fewer deaths resulted from EVERY flu outbreak that was not the worst one on record . . . vaccine available or not.
With such "logic", all the folk's that push these vaccines ever needed to do, was push one for a sickness that was not as bad as the Spanish Flu scourge, and Presto! That vaccine saved millions of lives!!
(That ain't science you're trusting in, it's the TV ; )
And I don't have a TV.
Hey, that is not good logical inference, you could stick pop-tarts in that blender, and come up with the same result. My point is, these people are about to inject many many millions of human beings with some stuff they HAVE NOT tested realistically. They know that, the rules are waived for this. It's a gambling game at best, and that's why the rules exist in first place.
There are numerous other disturbing particular aspects, that I have read about, and numerous statements from reputable medical and "bio" practitioners. I do not appreciate being called the sorts of names you're flinging about at anyone that doubts your personal judgment on these matters. I am not a child, and you ain't my mom anyway ; )
Please consider that other people might not be complete imbeciles, and still have good reason to differ with you. I don't see why you would not wish the downside aspects of what is happening, to be treated like a joke, this is serious business, for godsake.
If the downturn were minor, or not present that would be negative proof - maybe. The fact is that since you can't test a flu vaccine the way you do say, a polio vaccine, it's very difficult to make strong claims. The fact that the virus mutates, that the test comes only with the pandemic and that no one knows what the death rate would have been means that we have to draw inferences. We don't get year-in year-out data the way we did with polio because a flu virus is a moving target. My claim of success was rather mild to say the least, but still had I been a parent in that era I would have found such evidence compelling.
Being a scientist, or at least a former scientist, I appreciate the difficulty manufacturers of flu vaccines face. A lot of the so-called proof that they don't work comes from a study of two years when the vaccine and the virus as it existed when flu season came alone were a particularly bad fit. Yet people continue to use those examples to make sweeping denials of the efficacy of all flu vaccines in all years. Perhaps you should address them.
"when its your time to die you are going to die whether you take a shot or not"
Now that is NOT thinking Julie. We have choices and we were given a brain to make the RIGHT choices, other wise why not just walk in front of a car or drive 120 MP on a highway with sharp curves?????
You do your research, don't let the old media use their SCARE tactics make the choice for you. Those in charge, FDA, doesn't have a very good track record...
We know the North American Union is right on track and Snoops denies it's existence as well. SPP is the lead in this union and the govt has budgeted money for the project. We have agreements with Canada to use their police force in conjunction with marshal law. We do not remove the illegals from Mexico. We see all three flags flying together in some S. CA post offices, there has been riots in Canada, and they announced the union to their Canadian parliament.
So much for THAT un-scientific AND unreliable resource.
I've proved it wrong over and over.
I assume that was a rhetorical question.
So now the Internet site devoted to debunking tripe like yours must be in the pay of the pharmaceutical companies? Do you ever listen to yourself? Do you really believe the whole world is engaged in a huge conspiracy to benefit drug manufacturers? Can you imagine the logistics of such a thing? Why have there been no whistle blowers?
Snopes merely offers a list of sources debunking the swine flu myths on the Internet. Or are all their sources part of the conspiracy too?
As to your proof - I don't see you offering any data, just your own brand of loopiness. Ask anyone of the millions of Mexicans who've been deported if we "don't remove illegals from Mexico". Be sure to ask the ones who've had to leave their kids here..
You are an embarrassment to anyone who knows what the term proof actually means.
I see the typical name calling is at hand, thus I KNOW I've made valid points.
What happens is that those of us simply seeking to pass on good information, get weary of restating the same truths. We (she hopes) slowly give up and she gets to be the last man standing. This allows her the dubious pleasure of influencing those who prefer sensationalism to fact without doing a lot of hard, tedious work.
So, I posted this information from the CDC to inform those who are interested in being informed. I have no intention of spending the rest of the day, or week, going over the same ground in the hopes that Linda and her ilk will finally acknowledge their defeat.
If you wish to see detail responses to Linda's claims, you have only to go back through recent posts on the subject. If you wish to hold on to your misconceptions in the face of evidence, by all means keep believing that a huge conspiracy is afoot to convince the world to buy worthless and dangerous vaccines.
I'll keep posting information as it arrives. And wait for my flu shot to become available.
I sometimes wonder if Linda has stock in a natural foods/supplements company. lol
I love her one-world conspiracies. Very entertaining.
And that's the problem. Too many people around here with the same problem. Now that Gather has decided to let them run the place dry with their multiple postings of the same bushit every day and give us no points for spending our time refuting their bushit - I don't want to be here.
My doctor says I survived a bout of H1N1 last week. I got the regular flu shot yesterday and intent to get the H1N1 shot as soon as it is available to me. My doctor, who I trust, says there is no danger for me or anyone else in the shot. They will not inject us with anything live.
Ignore all of them is a good idea though.