US DECLARES A SWINE FLU EMERGENCY

(I also virtually Always wear my seat belt.)

I also find it odd that you are quoting the gun nuts about having something and not needing.

it would probably avoid the costs of the current panic.

July 3, 2009

Swine flu cannot be stopped as 100,000 new cases per day feared

The UN's top health official has opened a forum in Mexico on combating swine flu by saying that the spread of the virus worldwide is now unstoppable.

World Health Organization head Margaret Chan added that the holding of the meeting in Cancun showed confidence in Mexico, which has been hard hit.

The WHO says most H1N1 cases are mild, with many people recovering unaided.

As the summit opened, the UK alone was projecting more than 100,000 new cases of H1N1 a day by the end of the summer.

As the peak of the flu season approaches in South America, some areas have declared a public health emergency and Paraguay has reported its first death

Swine flu party? Bad idea, experts say

Last Updated: Thursday, July 2, 2009 | 3:08 PM ET
The Canadian Press

Health officials are giving a big thumbs-down to the idea of so-called swine flu parties where people who already have the new H1N1 virus are brought together with others, including children, in order to infect them.

The apparent reason is that some people believe it's better to get H1N1 now while it causes mostly mild illness than in the fall when the virus might become more deadly.

Infectious disease experts, however, say deliberately attempting to develop immunity against swine flu is not a good idea.

Dr. Michael Gardam of the University Health Network in Toronto says he has heard about people tossing around the idea of flu parties for their children.

But he says the disease is not always benign, and children have become seriously ill or even died after getting infected.

Northern Manitoba native groups co-ordinate swine flu response
Last Updated: Monday, June 22, 2009 | 9:25 AM CT
CBC News

Critical incident managers from northern Manitoba aboriginal reserves are in Winnipeg this week to co-ordinate their response to the swine flu outbreak.

Staff from about 30 First Nations will be studying pandemic management and communication strategies. Some northern communities have been hit hard by swine flu.

Sydney Garrioch, grand chief of the northern chiefs, said northern communities need to maximize their pandemic response systems. "It's desperately needed," he said of the planning and co-ordination session. "Some communities don't have an organized system at all to work with and they have very limited resources or infrastructure in place."

The planning session starts Monday and runs until Thursday.

it would not surprise me if we are at least several months away from having an effective vaccine available . vaccines take time to develop - and usually a testing period of several months .

the formula is decided upon, though is untested

The Swine Flu Affair
Decision-Making on a Slippery Disease

In early February 1977, less than two weeks after taking office as Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, I was faced with a difficult health policy decision: Whether to release stocks of influenza vaccine that had been withheld after use of the vaccine was linked with the Guillain-Barré Syndrome"an often paralyzing and sometimes killing side effect.



In the fall of 1976, HEW had begun vaccinating millions of citizens in an unprecedented national influenza program"an attempt to vaccinate virtually the entire American population against swine flu, and to vaccinate high-risk persons against both swine flu and A/Victoria flu.



Two main formulations of vaccine had been produced for this nationwide immunization drive: one, monovalent"the swine flu vaccine alone; the other, bivalent"the swine flu vaccine combined with A/Victoria vaccine. But over a two-month period in the fall of 1976, use of these vaccines on millions of people

had turned up a hitherto unrecognized association between flu vaccine and Guillain-Barré Syndrome. Was Guillain-Barré the result of the swine flu vaccine, the A/Victoria vaccine, or all flu vaccines? No one could be certain.

I would give it a lot of thought before accepting it

let's just hope that the majority of the current and upcoming swine flu cases will continue to be rather mild .