Spring Break
Panic itself slowing swine flu
Kevin Hollinshead
Issue date: 5/4/09 Section: Opinion
The media has always served as a great prognosticator of doom and destruction, and their coverage of H1N1, commonly known as the swine flu, has been no exception.
However, what many do not realize is that this remarkable media attention, as well as the panic it has caused, has led to unprecedented world focus on preventing the spread of disease and a call for mass production of vaccines.
I dare say that this media frenzy has actually been an effective tool to not only contain the current outbreak but also to lead to steps toward improving global plans to prevent and contain future outbreaks.
The Centers for Disease Control estimates that around 36,000 Americans die every year of ordinary flu strains. Like the swine flu, most of these deaths occurred in people who died of complications such as respiratory failure or of a pre-existing condition made worse by a weakened immune system.
In this context, ordinary flu strains have been deadlier than the swine flu. Federal officials even conceded as much, stating H1N1 has relatively little staying power in even the cities hardest-hit. Scientists have said this strain lacks certain genetic traits found in previous killer bugs.
The media, however, has virtually ignored this fact and has devoted significantly less coverage to ordinary flu deaths, prevention and treatment options than to the hot new story.
This coverage has led to a massive undertaking in sanitation and other preventative practices. Schools are closing by the hundreds across several states to help mitigate the spread, both by keeping already-sick children home as well as by thoroughly sterilizing desks, lockers and more.
Because some people view this less virulent bug as the next bubonic plague, it sets the stage for improving pandemic-related protocol worldwide aimed at rendering all strains of influenza less effective in killing or incapacitating people.
The Spanish Flu of 1918 claimed millions of lives worldwide, largely because people at that time did not know what we know today about influenza and its spread. Today's comprehensive anti-outbreak measures certainly did not exist then. The first effective vaccines did not even roll out until around 1940, courtesy of the U.S. military.
However, what many do not realize is that this remarkable media attention, as well as the panic it has caused, has led to unprecedented world focus on preventing the spread of disease and a call for mass production of vaccines.
I dare say that this media frenzy has actually been an effective tool to not only contain the current outbreak but also to lead to steps toward improving global plans to prevent and contain future outbreaks.
The Centers for Disease Control estimates that around 36,000 Americans die every year of ordinary flu strains. Like the swine flu, most of these deaths occurred in people who died of complications such as respiratory failure or of a pre-existing condition made worse by a weakened immune system.
In this context, ordinary flu strains have been deadlier than the swine flu. Federal officials even conceded as much, stating H1N1 has relatively little staying power in even the cities hardest-hit. Scientists have said this strain lacks certain genetic traits found in previous killer bugs.
The media, however, has virtually ignored this fact and has devoted significantly less coverage to ordinary flu deaths, prevention and treatment options than to the hot new story.
This coverage has led to a massive undertaking in sanitation and other preventative practices. Schools are closing by the hundreds across several states to help mitigate the spread, both by keeping already-sick children home as well as by thoroughly sterilizing desks, lockers and more.
Because some people view this less virulent bug as the next bubonic plague, it sets the stage for improving pandemic-related protocol worldwide aimed at rendering all strains of influenza less effective in killing or incapacitating people.
The Spanish Flu of 1918 claimed millions of lives worldwide, largely because people at that time did not know what we know today about influenza and its spread. Today's comprehensive anti-outbreak measures certainly did not exist then. The first effective vaccines did not even roll out until around 1940, courtesy of the U.S. military.
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