This NEEDLESS Fear Over The Swine Flu

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Okay I just have to rattle off some ideas about the recent "pandemic" swine flu frenzy that of course everyone is talking about. I'm giving some facts and figures here, but I'm also voicing my own opinions about this Swine Flu business. As many know the Center For Disease Control (CDC) just raised the "rating" of the seriousness of this swine flu to rating of five (out of six). Health officials are calling this a "pandemic". Oh? Yes, the initial spot of where it first occurred and they are calling it "ground zero" where most of the outbreaks are but has now spread worldwide. Many of the US and world cases, which are for the most part milder, were a result of people having recently traveled to Mexico, bringing the "bug" back with them. But to call it an outright pandemic? First lets get some of our facts straight. So far, the sum total of people that have been affected by this swine flu worldwide has been under 1,000. Let's look at history for a moment. In 1918, there truly WAS a worldwide pandemic of the Spanish flu, a strain of the H1N1 virus, which ironically, the swine flu is a mutated form of it---The Spanish flu lasted from 1918 to 1920 and in that time some 20 to 100 MILLION people died from it. What one has to remember, was ANTIBIOTICS DIDN'T EXIST in those days, in fact antibiotics, the first being of the penicillin type weren't developed until 1929. Had antibiotics been around during the Spanish Flu period, the millions upon millions of deaths may not have occurred. Today, we not only have the penicillin type antibiotics, but other forms, making any viral disease almost a thing of the past, or at least curable. The MAIN problem however, is the antibacterial/antiviral frenzy WE have created with all those lotions, soaps, etc, that may in fact, have been instrumental in creating antibiotic resistant strains of any viruses or bacteria, in other words causing the superbugs. Yes, maybe we should be concerned about the swine flu outbreak...but in my mind it's hardly of pandemic proportions given the statistics of the Spanish Flu. Do you want more statistics??? While the media is going ga-ga reporting the swine flu, when was the last time you heard about the statistics about TB (tuberculoses)? Here are the facts: [i]"In 2008, a total of 12,898 incident tuberculosis (TB) cases were reported in the United States; the TB rate declined 3.8% from 2007 to 4.2 cases per 100,000 population, the lowest rate recorded since national reporting began in 1953. " "Among U.S.-born persons, the number and rate of TB cases continued to decline in 2008. The number of TB cases in U.S.-born persons 5,283." "Among foreign-born persons in the United States, both the number and rate of TB cases declined in 2008. A total of 7,541 TB cases were reported among foreign-born persons" [/i] ( http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_cases_of_tuberculosis_are_reported_each_year_in_the_US ) These statistics are just for the US alone....yet it's estimated that TB kills 2 MILLION people worldwide each year, so why isn't the media going ga-ga with this info? Also, TB is far more deadly of a disease What makes me laugh, that as part of the media frenzy about the so-called swine flu "pandemic" one sees how the pharmaceutical companies are having a field day producing the Tamiflu medication like crazy--methinks a conspiracy here???--also did you know that many of the symptoms that swine flu has, Tamiflu can create? Here are these facts about Tamiflu and the side effects: [i]Remember, Tamiflu went through some rough times not too long ago, as the dangers of this drug came to light when, in 2007, the FDA finally began investigating some 1,800 adverse event reports related to the drug. Common side effects of Tamiflu include: * Nausea * Vomiting * Diarrhea * Headache * Dizziness * Fatigue * Cough [/i] http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/04/29/Swine-Flu.aspx So yes, while many of us should be concerned, I don't think we need to lock ourselves in our homes, wear masks, or wash our hands every five seconds--just the NORMAL hygienic practices we've been doing all along. We are after all surrounded by germs, viruses, and bacteria EVERY SINGLE DAY of our lives. Our bodies do have wonderful immune systems to ward off many germs...if that weren't so, we all probably would have died long time ago and become an extinct species. Okay this is my take on it...how about you? Do you think the media is blowing this whole thing out of proportion? Sources of some info from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1918_flu_pandemic http://www.textbookofbacteriology.net/resantimicrobial.html (Warning: NOT a referral links but to info on Spanish flu, swine flu, Tamiflu and antibiotics)