76 by Tom http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... NewsSecond Not only was H1N1 a bust (for which we should be grateful), but apparently the entire flu season was very mild. Some of this could be due to vaccines, but there wasn't a lot of vaccine available in the US for the longest time and a lot of people refused to take it for one reason or another. Like the Bird flu before it the swine flu fears seemed to be mostly the result of hype. Tom Quote Wed Mar 03, 2010 10:10 am
77 by granny_skot Having lost a 28 year old friend to this, I think I will disagree with you. it was not as deadly as feared, but where it did kill, it killed healthy young people, which is harder on a population, than losing the sick, weak and elderly not because of the love involved, but because of the lost potential, which is generally larger in young healthy persons than in the populations you expect to lose from. just a thought... granny Quote Wed Mar 03, 2010 6:37 pm
78 by Tom The point of this was not to say nothing happened to anyone. The point was that this is one of those increasingly tiresome "threats to mankind." "Pandemic" was the word used. It never materialized. Over 30,000 Americans die each year from the flu or complications from the flu. This year was no different than any other year except in one sense. The flu was less severe than normal. That is small comfort to those who lost a loved one, but it is a great comfort to millions more. Quote Wed Mar 03, 2010 10:26 pm
79 by granny_skot that is true, unfortunately the southwest where I live was hit a bit harder than other places. and it was doubled up a bit with a short run strain of Valley fever. So our winter death toll was actually a bit steeper than usual. Granny Quote Thu Mar 04, 2010 12:15 am