Jul 09 2009
Swine Flu still a problem
Swin flu is more than hysteria in Argentina. Until this past week, I had no idea that the swine flu (H1N1) was still a pandemic in some parts of the world. In Argentina, the number of cases has reached 2,485. Sixty people have died so far. Those totals are lower than other countries, such as Australia.
However, the Argentinian numbers have increased sharply. In less than a week, the reported number of deaths more than doubled. The number of cases jumped by 898 between the WHO’s July 3rd report to its most recent report.
An Argentinian aquaintance told me the normal 15-day school break has been extended to 30 days to prevent exposure. Her daughter is doing her work at home and faxing it in. Theatres and cinemas have closed, and children are not supposed to go shopping.
Her family hasn’t been able to get the vaccine, though a shortage isn’t being reported by the government. Meanwhile, tens of new cases are reported every day – and the death toll goes up. Doctors and medical workers are being pulled from their regular duties to handle the workload. That means surgeries have been cancelled, labs are processing only samples that have already been sent in, etc.
Part of the problem is that swine flu prefers cooler weather (although the new virus isn’t affected as much). Argentina’s weather is the opposite of North America, so it is experiencing winter now – prime flu season.
Wow… it’s amazing how little stories like this penetrate here in the U.S… I thought it was hype, but this is disturbing… a lot of people are probably going to be very surprised in a few months when it migrates here.
That’s what I was thinking, too. As soon as a danger seems to have passed, we go back to our own concerns and (especially) our entertainment.
Last time I checked there had been six deaths attributed to swine flu in Britain. So far most of them had other underlying health issues which haven’t been specified. That is to say the people who are supposed to have died of swine flu were already at death’s door with something else. I still think it’s a classic piece of UN hype. The whole declaration of a pandemic smacked of the young UN health staffers having the time of their lives. Much more exciting to declare a world wide pandemic and get to go on CNN, than, er to actually go to work, do your job, declare no pandemic and not get to go on CNN. I doubted their professionalism and their motivation. I would be very curious about the exact nature of the outbreak in Argentina.
Yours.
Doubting Seamus
So would my Argentinian correspondent, James. She and her neighbors are disgusted with the lack of information from the government, other than the continued precautions and the death toll (60 on July 8). They still go to work, shop, etc. but wish things would get back to normal.
Part of the problem appears to be that there wasn’t enough flu shots or antiviral medicine to begin with. I’ll be watching for the update on numbers next week. Maybe the worst will be over by then.
My cousins won’t be traveling to Argentina this summer, at any rate.