YOU MEDIA SWINES

I'm now officially over all of this shit, having been in Bali for the last week I've been slightly sheltered from the hype. But if tonight's news is anything to go by I should have stayed there a bit longer

"THE VIRUS THAT THREATENS HUMANITY!" yeah thanks very much Channel 7

I wonder what the real story is....

A member of the World Health Organisation (WHO) has dismissed claims that more than 150 people have died from swine flu, saying it has officially recorded only seven deaths around the world.

Vivienne Allan, from WHO’s patient safety program, said the body had confirmed that worldwide there had been just seven deaths - all in Mexico - and 79 confirmed cases of the disease.

“Unfortunately that [150-plus deaths] is incorrect information and it does happen, but that’s not information that’s come from the World Health Organisation,” Ms Allan told ABC Radio today.

“That figure is not a figure that’s come from the World Health Organisation and, I repeat, the death toll is seven and they are all from Mexico.”

Ms Allan said WHO had confirmed 40 cases of swine flu in the Americas, 26 in Mexico, six in Canada, two in Spain, two in Britain and three in New Zealand.

article in full

The population of Mexico isn't exactly streaming across the US border in a state of apocalyptic panic is it, no in fact they're doing this...

Some Mexicans have reacted to the swine flu crisis with humour and creativity. A man wears a mask with a moustache drawn on it as he talks on his mobile phone in Mexico City

So we read another article....

Scientists see this flu strain as relatively mild

Genetic data indicate this outbreak won't be as deadly as that of 1918, or even the average winter.

In fact, the current outbreak of the H1N1 virus, which emerged in San Diego and southern Mexico late last month, may not even do as much damage as the run-of-the-mill flu outbreaks that occur each winter without much fanfare.

"Let's not lose track of the fact that the normal seasonal influenza is a huge public health problem that kills tens of thousands of people in the U.S. alone and hundreds of thousands around the world," said Dr. Christopher Olsen, a molecular virologist who studies swine flu at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine in Madison.

"This virus doesn't have anywhere near the capacity to kill like the 1918 virus," which claimed an estimated 50 million victims worldwide, said Richard Webby, a leading influenza virologist at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.

article in full

Not even as deadly as an "average winter".

I flew back in last night and thank christ I did because if it was tonight I would have to line up for a thermal scan and guess what, yep I have the flu, I caught it two days ago in Bali*. So in the mass hysteria that is flowing from this I probably would have been rushed to an isolation unit and everyone on my flight would have been tested - no doubt. They could have possibly even made an episode of Border Patrol around me, wow, awesome.

Why do we have to suffer this sort of crap from the media, sure this virus can kill but so can the flu you yourself contract every other year. But common household influenza just doesn't cut it in the dramatic states does it. K Rudd came on the TV tonight and offered a simple solution "Everyone just needs to wash their hands in soapy water after they cough or sneeze" kills the bug you see. Even the ABC couldn't let that statement go with a deep throaty voice over "But even that may be too late for some"

Oh give me a break.


*there is of course the possibility that I have slipped into the country with the swine flu and I am the harbinger of death for you all....haha sucks to be you.

Goodnight "cough"

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