Why "children"?, page 1

posted on Apr, 9 2006 @ 10:35 AM

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In this latest Sky News article, it states that if bird flu spreads to humans, 100,000 children could die. Why say that 100,000 children could die? Why not 100,000 people, adults and all? Is there a reason for it only saying "children"? Have i missed the part where it says bird flu only effects children?

I just found it a bit of an odd way to word a news article. Unless of course bird flu is man made and this will be 100,000 knocked off thier target of 4 billion by the year 2050!

CX.

[edit on 9-4-2006 by CX]

AgentSmith

posted on Apr, 9 2006 @ 10:38 AM

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The media like to scare monger, who knows how they arrived at that number but you can be pretty sure it's because it'll strike more fear into more people that way.
The media are the biggest culprits of control over the masses out of everyone in my opinion.

Code_Burger

posted on Apr, 9 2006 @ 10:42 AM

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Originally posted by AgentSmith
The media are the biggest culprits of control over the masses out of everyone in my opinion.

But who controls the Media, Agent Smith? How did the first media outlets (as we know them today) come about, and who funded them?

sanctum

posted on Apr, 9 2006 @ 10:44 AM

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Here's the link.
Fresh Fears Over Bird Flu.

Britain's chief medical officer fears as many as 100,000 children could die if the bird flu virus moves into the human population.

Sir Liam Donaldson has advised the Government that closing schools could halve the number of deaths if the worst case scenario was realised.

The advice came in a letter written to schools minister Jacqui Smith which has been leaked to The Sunday Times.

"If all age groups were affected equally, and the virus was particularly severe (ie at the upper end of our assumptions) the excess deaths in school-age children could be as high as 100,000," he wrote.

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

soficrow

posted on Apr, 9 2006 @ 11:47 AM

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Seasonal flus usually kill the immune compromised, infants and the elderly but with this flu, children and young adults are infected and die far more frequently. No one knows why.

cohiba

posted on Apr, 9 2006 @ 03:26 PM

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Originally posted by soficrow
but with this flu, children and young adults are infected and die far more frequently. No one knows why.

Do you have a source for this? From what I remember reading about H5N1 it affects immuno compromised individuals just like other flu. I don't recall seeing how children and, especially, young adults are more affected?

From the reports we have seen for fatalities, it would seem more children/young adults have died, but that has nothing to do with the flu, IIRC. It just happens that is who is out taking care of the infected animals, and in the closest contact with infected birds, which is how it seems to spread. (Close contact with infected birds).

soficrow

posted on Apr, 9 2006 @ 08:01 PM

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Originally posted by cohiba

Originally posted by soficrow
but with this flu, children and young adults are infected and die far more frequently. No one knows why.

Do you have a source for this? ...I don't recall seeing how children and, especially, young adults are more affected?

H5N1's propensity for the young is fairly well publicized, and one of the most disturbing things about this flu. The 1918 epidemic had a similar impact.

IMO the fact that young, healthy people are most often infected indicates that H5N1 has been around for a long while, and that older people have acquired immunity.

Mar. 11, 2006. Why does the H5N1 virus attack the young?

The Star's analysis shows that all but six of the 97 people who have died globally so far from bird flu were under 40. ...People, in other words, with the strongest immune systems and not, as one might expect, the elderly and those already sick. The median age was 19, and a quarter of them were under age 12. ...Children, teenagers and young adults are the unfortunate victims of the deadly H5N1 bird flu sweeping through poultry farms in Asia, Africa and now Europe.

WHO officials said this week there are three confirmed cases of suspected person-to-person transmission: * In January 2004, Ngo Le Hung, a 31-year-old Vietnamese schoolteacher, became infected and died from a chicken he bought for his wedding, and his two sisters also died. * In September 2004 a dying 11-year-old Sakuntala Premphasri infected her mother Pranee, 26, in Thailand and both died. And in July 2005 a 38-year-old father is believed to have infected his two daughters, aged one and eight - all three died. * Cheng said there may be other cases in which people became infected through human-to-human transmission, but there isn't enough evidence to prove it. There may also be many less severely ill people going unnoticed.

"But we haven't seen any substantial change in the virus and that is really the trigger we're watching for."

There are numerous possible explanations of why H5N1 hits the young - but the truth is, no one really knows. Or if they do, they're not telling. Everything else is speculation.