Sunday, May 3, 2009

Swine Flu, What's Going On?

So what is going on?
First the "positive" headlines...

US officials downplay swine flu outbreak-United Press International
Swine flu epidemic on decline: Mexico-CBC.ca
Officials: H1N1 flu has so far been less severe than feared-Baltimore Sun
Mexico: Swine flu epidemic on decline-The Associated Press
Mexico says it past the peak in flu epidemic-Reuters

And now headlines that don't look so positive...

First probable Swine Flu cases found outside Chicago-Chicago Sun-Times
In state, potential cases of swine flu reach 25-Seattle Times
Florida up to 15 suspected, 3 confirmed cases of swine flu-ABC Action News
Colombia confirms first case of swine flu-The Associated Press
First swine flu cases in L.A. County confirmed-Los Angeles Times

So what is really going on?
Reports say that the CDC is only testing severe cases.
So how many cases are out there that are not confirmed?
And if the cases are not severe enough to be tested, whats the problem?

According to WHO, 18 countries have officially reported 898 cases of influenza A(H1N1) infection.
Mexico has reported 506 confirmed human cases of infection, including 19 deaths.
The United States Government has reported 226 laboratory confirmed human cases, including one death.

I guess the big question is how many cases are out there unreported, and could there be unreported deaths as well?

Here are the CDC's official stats on U.S. Human Cases of H1N1 Flu Infection as of May 3, 2009, 11:00 AM ET, from their website.....
Alabama 1
Arizona 18
California 26
Colorado 4
Connecticut 2
Delaware 10
Florida 3
Illinois 3
Indiana 3
Iowa 1
Kansas 2
Kentucky 1 (resident of KY but currently hospitalized in GA.)
Massachusetts 7
Michigan 2
Minnesota 1
Missouri 1
Nebraska 1
Nevada 1
New Hampshire 1
New Jersey 7
New Mexico 1
New York 63
Ohio 3
Rhode Island 1
South Carolina 15
Tennessee 1
Texas 40, 1 death
Utah 1
Virginia 3
Wisconsin 3

TOTAL (30) 226 cases 1 death

From all the reports I'm reading, 226 cases in the US seems awfully low.

And here's something I found interesting...
At Google Trends, swine flu isn't even in the top 100 searches.
Really? Has interest fallen off that quickly?
That's kind of funny, because at Yahoo's Buzz Index, Swine Flu is still number one even with a 238 drop.
And at the trending topics on Twitter, Swine Flu is number two.

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