A long way to go
HEALTH officials warned yesterday that as many as four million Australians could eventually catch swine flu.
Victoria’s acting chief medical officer, Rosemary Lester, said an eventual infection rate of 20 per cent was a “fair estimate”.
“Next year, this may well be the predominant (influenza virus),” she said.
With 50 confirmed cases so far there is a long way to go.
Does anyone else think we are overreacting just a tad?
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Yep, with you all the way on this one. As far as I can tell this is just the latest strain in a long line of different flu strains. We’re definitely in panic mode because some Mexicans died early in the piece. I haven’t analysed that aspect but I’m sure lower medical standards in Mexico are to blame in large measure. While a lot of us may well end up with this (and the current quarantining effort will ultimately be seen to have been both a failure and a fiasco) hopefully not too many residents of the land downunder will die due to our generally high medical standards. Of course some will die – those with pulmonary problems but every flu strain gets its claws into them.
“Does anyone else think we are overreacting just a tad?”
The media are – but then nothing sells newspapers or increases ratings like a good health scare.
This bug is the flu, after all – not nice, but it’s been around a long time and kills people every year.