Confirmed swine flu deaths in Mexico = twenty.

[Hannah Bell]

"Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova says only 20 of the deaths have been confirmed to be from swine flu and the government was awaiting tests results on the rest."

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/04/27/ap6343467.html

Suspected = 149. The distinction is important to make.


In the US, zero deaths, only one person hospitalized, the rest "not seriously ill".

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1173672/Obamas-swine-flu-scare-shaking-hands-archaeologist-died-24-hours-later.html


So could the panic-mongerers ease up a bit, please?

boy - wolf etc.

[Political Heretic]

1. Wow that is a big distinction.

[Warpy]

2. Thanks, earlier posts made it seem that the 149 number

was a confirmed, not suspected number.

I hope the CDC is aiding the Mexican authorities in this. They have more resources and can nail it down faster.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

3. And that number hasn't gone up in the last three days.

Some apocalypse.

[readmoreoften]

9. That is incorrect. It was 80 on 4/25. 103 on 4/26. 142 today.

It's not "fearmongering". It's proper articulation of the data. And that's from someone who went to the mall to use free movie passes today sans face gear or rubber gloves.

[Hannah Bell]

12. those aren't confirmed deaths from the virus, but suspected.

[readmoreoften]

27. Correct. My point was that the number has not remained static as the above poster claims.

These are not confirmed deaths, and lax reporting has contributed to the confusion. AFP, for example, failed to use the word "suspected." It is unscientific, but it may also be due to the fact that Mexico claimed yesterday that it only has $450K for fighting the virus (a loan for a few million was missing.)

My guess--and this is a GUESS--is that part of the anxiety is due to Mexico's historic tendency to play down death counts in the media (1968 massacre, etc) combined with our hystericizing of everything and anything that will bring ratings.

I think a rational approach is best right now: no US deaths, 26 confirmed deaths in Mexico, stay home from work/school if you're sick (this should be promoted anyway), and wash your damn hands. I do understand the anxiety of those who work as first responders, K-12 teachers, friends/family of immunocompromised people. But no, I don't promote being hysterical about it. I'm in a city in Texas and I'm not running around in a mask or anything.

I do think there are more important stories the media could be focused on, but they never focus on those stories anyway, and I do consider this more important than, say, morbid excitement over a missing white girl or Brittney Spears or a shooting spree.

[Hannah Bell]

30. definitely more important than brittany or shooting sprees, but currently being reported

in about the same way.

got a link for the new "26 confirmed"?

on edit: never mind. i see from the cdc that 26 = the number of *cases* (not deaths) they've verified with their own lab testing in mexico.

[MorningGlow]

4. Thank you for posting this

I noticed this information earlier today as well. There's a lot of speculation and hyperbole connected with this illness. I'm not saying it isn't serious, but the more facts that are shared the better, in order to prevent the panic that's just under the surface in just about everybody.

[kestrel91316]

5. We don't need the panic-mongers, but we also don't need people such

as yourself pooh-pooing the whole fuss.

Especially if you have no medical background.

[Hannah Bell]

6. i work in a hospital, & show me where i "pooh-pooh" anything.

i reported fact, v. ill-informed speculation about how the deaths are due to "cytokine storms," etc.

you'd think some of the folks talking this up were invested in flu vaccine.

[kestrel91316]

8. What sort of work do you DO in a hospital? Just curious.

Frankly, if all you want are facts, why in heaven are you hanging out on DU, lol????? You are in the wrong place for someone who hates speculation and debate.

[Hannah Bell]

11. i like debate, & i'm an RD. I don't hang out on DU to get facts particulary, more to

keep up with the zeitgeist & inject a little leftish pov into the debate.

[elifino]

7. RSOE EDIS-Pandemic Monitoring

http://www.idemc.org/index.php?area=

This site is usually reliable, it has a ticker at the bottom of the screen an will update automatically.

[bluedawg12]

32. Thank you. That's an impressive site. n/t

[readmoreoften]

10. I'm only interested in taking appropriate/reasonable measures.

If raising awareness makes it possible for sick people to stay home from work without penalty, I'm all for it. People shouldn't be forced to work when sick in the first place. Maybe the public will start to feel differently about these "forced labor" sort of policies.

I'm glad they're testing/doing what's necessary. I don't think it's a joke, but I don't think it's the end of the world either. :shrug:

[hedgehog]

13. Here's the deal: Mexican officials track cases of and deaths

from flu on a routine basis. They noticed that at a time of year when few people have flu, many new cases were being reported. They also noted a higher than normal death rate, and that the people dying were young and healthy as opposed to old and/or sickly. Further investigation revealed that the virus in circulation is a new one that most people are not immune to.


So, what would you do in this situation? Ignore it? Wait until there are thousands dying?

[Hannah Bell]

14. I ask you to notice the extent to which your post reflects *your own* assumptions

about my *motivation* for the post, not the content of the post.

There are *twenty* deaths confirmed to have resulted from this flu in mexico, per information released this morning.

what *i* would do = less speculative reporting, less sensationalized reporting, fewer headline leads reporting "suspected" deaths v. confirmed ones.

[hedgehog]

15. Speculation and sensational comments are stupid, but there

are reasons for genuine concern.


For example, someone posted here today about a college student just returned from Mexico and exhibiting flu symptoms. Would you want that person to share a dormitory with other students two weeks before they end the semester? Maybe he just has a cold, but wouldn't you want him tested and isolated if he is a carrier? If you were a nurse in a student health clinic, wouldn't you want the head's up?

[Hannah Bell]

18. Yes, I read that post. Someone who the poster somehow *knew* was

a college student & *knew* had just returned from Mexico was buying cold medicine at a supermarket.

[hedgehog]

28. I'm taking the poster at their word that the situation was as

described. Consider the case of the students from St. Francis Prep who turned up ill after traveling to Cancun. Without the info that Mexico was facing a new type of flu, wouldn't the default reaction be that they'd all picked up a stomach bug?

[Avalux]

16. So according to Hannah Bell, there isn't a problem and no one should be concerned.

I'm to assume you are a virologist and are speaking from a scientific perspective?

No, I didn't think so.

[Joe the Revelator]

17. PANIC MONGER!!!!! HOW DARE YOU TRY TO BE INFORMED??

[Avalux]

19. You posted in my 'informative' post yesterday -

so I know you're fake yelling at me. ;) :hi:

[Hannah Bell]

21. The fact that there are twenty confirmed deaths in mexico v. 149 suspected ones isn't information?

Contrary to the impression given by some that there are 149 confirmed deaths?

uh, okay.

[Joe the Revelator]

25. Ok, how many of the 149 do you think are going to end up as actual flu deaths? Remember...

the Spanish flu only had a 2.5 percent mortality rate.

[Hannah Bell]

26. it doesn't matter what i think. fact is, only 20 are confirmed.

[Joe the Revelator]

29. SO now we just ignore the other 149 likely cases

yeah, that sounds like the best course of action.

[Hannah Bell]

31. you're fond of straw men. i leave you with yours.

[Hannah Bell]

20. no, that's *your* straw man, as is obvious from reading the op.

[Avalux]

22. You did provide some good information.

Then you had to ruin it by calling people names. Good job.

[Hannah Bell]

23. where is that?

[Orwellian_Ghost]

24. 1976 Swine Flu Propaganda Ad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASibLqwVbsk&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gotchamediablog.com%2F2009%2F04%2F1976-swine-flu-propaganda-ad.html&feature=player_embedded