H1N1 (Swine Flu) spreads worldwide= Is declared a Pandemic

[SaskatchewanScreamer]

Or there is this take on it:

Swine flu and panic in Ukraine

Alanna Shaikh - November 18, 2009 - 12:58 am

* Health

There are a lot of rumors coming out of Ukraine right now about a new form of swine flu, a brand new illness, or some kind of virulent pneumonia. I suspect it’s no more than swine flu with complications, but it’s causing some major panic in Kiev.

Britain’s Daily Express newspaper has the terrified tabloid version. They report that “A cocktail of three flu viruses are reported to have mutated into a single pneumonic plague, which it is believed may be far more dangerous than swine flu. The death toll has reached 189 and more than 1 million people have been infected.” The New York Times has a slightly more nuanced report. They identify the mystery illness as swine flu and quote a WHO official who says that “Early findings are that serious cases mounted because the sick avoided hospitalization until their illness was dangerously advanced, stockpiles of Tamiflu were locked in centralized locations and the supply of ventilators fell short.”

I suspect that the WHO and the New York Times have it right. There are a lot of barriers to access to health care in Ukraine, under-the-table payments being one of the biggest. I can well imagine people refusing to go to a doctor until their lungs were past saving. Avian Flu diary agrees, attributing the unusual severity to viral hemorrhagic pneumonia as a complication of swine flu. They also have an enlightening comment at the bottom of their post from a commenter in Ukraine watching the situation unfold.

Secrecy is not helping the government of Ukraine here. In a nation with a history of cover-ups – Chernobyl being the most famous – the population is quick to panic when they sense that they’re not getting the real story. Getting the real story out as fast as possible and backing it up with access to medical care – is the only way to stop the panic.
http://www.undispatch.com/node/9160

[allan101]

Hi Friends,
Looks like my 8 year old has it now (something). He is soooo miserable. for ten days he has had strep throat, not responding to antibiotics, and then severe constipation (which we attribute to the anti-biotics, although the doctor says not). Then the last 24 hours, 101.8 fever, not changing. Hot and cold, delusional (he thinks the bed is full of sugar) sore throat, stomach ache (those have both been for ten days already). coughing. Bing took him to the doctor yesterday, blood and urine work, nothing there, doctor said his throat looked better than last Tuesday. back today.

[cycloneye]

The death toll in Puerto Rico rises to 46 as a 8 year old boy died of the swing flu.

[cycloneye]

Hi Friends,
Looks like my 8 year old has it now (something). He is soooo miserable. for ten days he has had strep throat, not responding to antibiotics, and then severe constipation (which we attribute to the anti-biotics, although the doctor says not). Then the last 24 hours, 101.8 fever, not changing. Hot and cold, delusional (he thinks the bed is full of sugar) sore throat, stomach ache (those have both been for ten days already). coughing. Bing took him to the doctor yesterday, blood and urine work, nothing there, doctor said his throat looked better than last Tuesday. back today.

I hope that he gets fine completly very soon.By the way,welcome to storm2k.

[cycloneye]

H1N1 less bad than feared

http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2009 ... latestnews

[cycloneye]

The death toll in Puerto Rico climbs to 49 with the death of three more children in the last few days.

[cycloneye]

Death toll in United States climbs to 10,000 since H1N1 broke out

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34365895/ns ... d_and_flu/

Swine flu has caused nearly 10,000 deaths in the United States, part of an outbreak that has infected about 50 million Americans, government health officials said Thursday.

The deaths as of mid-November included about 1,100 children and 7,500 younger adults, said Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 200,000 people have been hospitalized, he noted.

[lurkey]

H1N1 Swine Flu vaccine is becoming available for general population for some counties in NC. .. http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/6567457/

[cycloneye]

800,000 doses of vaccine for children recalled.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,580281,00.html

[cycloneye]

Death toll in Puerto Rico rises to 54 after 4 people died today.There are 1,195 cases confirmed here.

http://www.elnuevodia.com/cuatromuertes ... 54288.html