Monday, April 27, 2009

Swine flu

While it is possible that this will turn into a pandemic catastrophe, I am definitely in wait and see column. There have been 149 deaths in Mexico attributed to swine flu but it is hard to know if that is accurate considering the state of medical infrastructure in Mexico. I wonder how the people in Mexico contracted it--do they work directly in pig meat production or processing? Why does it become less lethal as it has moved into the U.S. and Canada or is the difference that the U.S. and Canada have systems that are capable of locating and treating patients earlier in the course of the disease? It is surprising that with global air travel and global trade that there have been so few actual pandemics and those that have occured, such as SARS, have been contained with no where near the mortality rates of the 1918 influenza pandemic. The next two weeks will tell the tale: major pandemic with high mortality, major pandemic with lots of miserably sick people who eventually get well, or pandemic contained/averted.

Thought for the day:

It has been said that our anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, but only empties today of its strength. Charles Haddon Spurgeon

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