WHO chief: flu pandemic appears to be happening

AP News Source

GENEVA (AP) -- The head of the World Health Organization says the swine flu outbreak appears to have reached pandemic proportions.

WHO Director-General Margaret Chan says "on the surface of it" she believes a pandemic has been reached.

Well for a virus that so far has a .2% death rate, they are still making a huge deal out of it. Unless they expect it to "mutate" I do not see what the major concern for this virus is. But hey I am no virologist. The math does not add up to the fear that is being spread.

Originally posted by LeaderOfProgress
The math does not add up to the fear that is being spread.

The real figures are being suppressed.
Only 'severe' cases are being tested to confirm the numbers.

There is no 'fear being spread', but instead, the WHO and CDC are spreading apathy.

Read up on how the 1918 Flu Epidemic behaved and then look at what the Swine Flu is doing now. Read Laurie Garretts book on this. Especially chapter 6. It will educate you and the truth will scare the stuff'n out of you.

According to the WHOs own scale, this should have been a level 6 months ago.

I'm no virologist either, however H1N1 seems to have certain parallels with the 1918 Spanish flu.

1. 1918 pandemic is thought to have been an avian flu.

2. 1918 pandemic broke out in winter -- an unusual time for flues to begin, as did H1N1

3. 1918 pandemic started strong, and then attenuated -- it decreased. It re-emerged in the fall of that year with a vengence. I believe that's exactly what the WHO and CDC are concerned about.

4. As with H1N1, it was thought to have killed via a cytokene storm -- using the body's own immunities against it.

The 1918 pandemic didn't cause a particularly high mortality for a seasonal flu; what made it such a killer was that it was thought to have been particularly communicable. Reference. Roughly 1/3 of the world's populations contracted the 1918 Spanish flu, and about 5% of those people died -- somewhere between 20 -75 MILLION souls.

I think there's reason to be concerned. I've seen many U.S. school districts take down the warnings posted, and people seem to be completely unconcerned.

In 1918, we didn't have commercial aircraft/airports all over the place..... our mode of travel was slow, and people lived further apart, for the most part.

I think the WHO should have already declared a pandemic -- all the conditions have been met as far as I am concerned. If they officially declared WHO pandemic level 6, then perhaps people would pay attention again, continue their systems and strategies for avoiding contracting it.

The bottom line in the US is they have stopped testing people under direction from the CDC unless, UNLESS, they are hospitalized! Yet we read health directors in NY stating if you have the flu now it is likely H1N1. My doctor told me that she could not test me until I was admitted to the hospital and I was only a day or so away from that when the medication for my lungs started to relieve the congestion and allow me to breathe.

We have no clue how far this has spread, they don't want us to know! It is a shame the thread was closed, we had very good information there available to all. I still get the updates and the situation is still nothing but lies, misinformation and plain and outright disinformation.

Time will tell that is for sure.

reply to post by FlyersFan


You and I on the same page, apparently. Yes, numbers are being intentionally underreported, and this is roughly how and why it is happening.

First, the samples from sick people have to go to CDC/WHO for processing and analysis. If there are a group of people with the same symptoms in an area, then just one or two are sampled, as there is (by their own admission) a severe backlog in sampling at the CDC due to budget cutbacks, as well as [properly] stringent sampling and analysis protocols.

Now, let's say that one of those that is sampled dies. That person is eventually listed as a death on the RSO/EDIS/Pandemic.gov/CDC/WHO reports and maps. There could well have been several others within the same area that were sick with H1N1 as well as those that died from it. They may remain unreported.

It may be one of those cases where the conspiracy is by logistics, rather than by design. WHO knows. [pun intended]

IMO it was blown out of porportion from the get go.

However, once summer ends and the real flu season actually begins, we are going to be in a world of hurt.

There are multiple mutations of Influenze during every flew season, and it only takes one in order to become more than 2% deadly.

It would be wise to take precaution, but there is no need to Panic.

The WHO will raise the alert most likely at the end of the summer.

~Keeper

reply to post by FlyersFan


You know what I think is very amusing in this Pandemic pontential tragedy?

It's that America seems to be much more honest about their numbers & testing, than us here in Europe!

Testing here in many countries is almost non-existing! - the EU should be ashamed of themselves! - now it's spreading in Scandinavia among children, but not a word in the news!

A couple of days ago they had a very small article about the "mild" flu in my newspaper!

But it was just the ordinary, nothing to see here - just wash your hands and move along!


[edit on 9-6-2009 by Chevalerous]

If 1 in 10 would be infected, 0.2 percent is still 1.4 million deaths world wide. And frankly, it is an optimistic approach. So there is every reason to be concerned - but there is no reason to panic and when specialists described what was really happeining in the beginning - panic ruled. So my guess is that they decided to quite things down , but virus is there, it spreads and minimizing news about it is no longer possible. Thus they are a little more open now since silence is counter productive.
But come on - it is a flu. A violent strain of flu. Still a strain of flu. These things happen, a lot worse things happened actually.

Originally posted by Chevalerous
reply to post by FlyersFan

 

You know what I think is very amusing in this Pandemic pontential tragedy?

It's that America seems to be much more honest about their numbers & testing, than us here in Europe!

[edit on 9-6-2009 by Chevalerous]

Completely agree on that point. There are hundreds of cases reported in the UK and Spain, but here in France only 80 or so...
Either we're very lucky, or someone can't count.

So now they finally admit that 1/2 of all the fatalities from the swine flu have been in otherwise healthy people, thought they all had "underlying conditions"?!

www.foxnews.com...

"Approximately half the people who have died from this H1N1 infection have been previously healthy people," Fukuda said, adding that this was "one of the observations which has given us the most concern."

Originally posted by borrowedname

Originally posted by Chevalerous
reply to post by FlyersFan

 

You know what I think is very amusing in this Pandemic pontential tragedy?

It's that America seems to be much more honest about their numbers & testing, than us here in Europe!

[edit on 9-6-2009 by Chevalerous]

Completely agree on that point. There are hundreds of cases reported in the UK and Spain, but here in France only 80 or so...
Either we're very lucky, or someone can't count.

Yeah either we're lucky or maybe the virus can't get through customs on certain borders?

Yes something is very fishy with the official reporting here in Europe, that's for sure!

Viruses just don't halt themselves on borders!

I have to wonder if those people who get the flu now, will be immune if it mutates to a more virulent form.

It that's the case, getting the swine flu now, may be a blessing.

Getting it later could be very bad

Yeah but every single one of the people who died here in NY - we have 9 confirmed deaths so far - has had some sort of underlying condition such as some sort of lung disease, cancer, heart problems, etc.

Not a single death here in NY has occurred in a reasonably healthy person.

I dont think its near as bad as they say it is......IMHO I think they are just trying to keep the hype up on this so people will take that damned vaccine.....I havent had the flue since i was 9 , thats also the last time i ever had a flue shot.....you can bet im not taking any vaccines they are handing out, just too much crazy stuff behind it.

I do things to keep my immune system going strong tho and im fairly active....I bartend on the side for fun, ive been exposed to many many things....the last time i even had a cold was about 3 yrs ago...I dont plan on partaking on anything TPTB shove my direction

Originally posted by ChrisF231
Yeah but every single one of the people who died here in NY - we have 9 confirmed deaths so far - has had some sort of underlying condition such as some sort of lung disease, cancer, heart problems, etc.

Not a single death here in NY has occurred in a reasonably healthy person.

46% of the U.S. population is known to have at least one chronic illness.

[edit on 9-6-2009 by unityemissions]

Any news on this flu from the southern hemisphere? I would imagine that might give us a good indicator of what we could expect when the flu season hits in the northern hemisphere this fall.

reply to post by CINY8


I read that article, as well- seems a sharp 180 departure from a week ago, when we were told that H1N1 strikes people mostly with underlying health conditions- as if somehow someone with asthma or diabetes was just asking for it.....

Now- HALF of deaths are people with NO underlying health problems? Many kids, or people in their healthy teens, 20s, 30s...are taking ill and passing away- Maybe, just maybe, there's a little truth leaking out (in spite of their intrepid attempts to lie...) and WHO, CDC, etc., are realizing that this is not "just the flu", but highly-contagious, deadly enough to warrant attention, undertested and underreported, and NOVEL strain of flu that can be (and often is) as or more deadly than many of the infections we fear the most- like hemmhoragic viruses, meningitis, HIV, Strep A, etc.

And all of the people who have or will catch it are ripe victims for secondary opportunistic infections- like highly virulent pneumonia, endocarditis, kidney or liver failure, and long-term neruological damage that mirrors certain myelitis viruses or autoimmune dieseases. OH, and that's BEFORE the vaccine...

[edit on 10-6-2009 by CultureD]

reply to post by Finalized


From what I've read with a quick Google search, Chile, Brazil, all of Central America, Columbia, Argentina, Peru- all are extremely infected. Three deaths in Chile (that have been confirmed). One today in Bogota. Venezuela is beginning to get hit hard and is shutting things down.

S. America has said, in all articles, that they lack infrastructure to cope.

As well as the S. Hemisphere, it appears that Native populations both in S.A. and in canada and the Us are highly susceptible to contagion and death from flu- Winnipeg has the "First Nations" on alert, and two people from a Native American group have passed in New Mexico.

Australia and NZ are predicting 50% illness when this peaks, and numbers of infections, from average citizens, to sports stars, to ambulance drivers and other health care providers are all taking ill.

I'd link my sources, but again, this was gleaned from a quick Google search of "swine flu update" and includes about 200 sites.

[edit on 10-6-2009 by CultureD]

reply to post by unityemissions


And the problem with "underlying health conditions" as a qualifyer, is that it could mean anything from seasonal allergies to tree pollen-- to asthma, multiple sclerosis or COPD. They don't differentiate, and consequently, have an "out" when determining the lethality of H1N1: put all cases in the category of being "ill" already, and flu is not given as a reason for illness or death.

As well, people who have had mecial procedures are at high risk- anesthesia is hard on the body, and it takes time to bounce back- sometimes a year. I had spine surgery a few months ago- and while I'm healthy as a horse, otherwise- I'm in the group of those with "underlying health conditions". So- Slippery Elm, Rhodeola and coQ10 for me- and masks and a touch of social distancing for a while...

reply to post by Wildbob77


If you get it now and it doesn't mutate, you will have antibody to it. If it mutates, however, you'll be in the same boat as everyone else- your body will view it as new, novel, unrecognizable, and therefore, dangerous.

so- praying for no mutations, eh? I am.