Swine Flu: Keep Things in Perspective, People!!!

Swine flu is all over the news now. People are rethinking or canceling travel plans, buying face masks, avoiding pork, and really getting paranoid!

Let's put things into perspective, shall we?

Today, the CDC reported 64 cases in the US. Sounds alarming, right? Not if you look at the big picture of influenza in this country.

Let's take a look at the statistics of seasonal influenza in the United States:

* According to the CDC report of seasonal flu, nearly 25,000 throat cultures from patients tested positive for seasonal influenza this past flu season (September 28, 2008 - April 4, 2009). Again, I emphasize, these were cases of seasonal flu, not swine flu.

* Within the seasonal influenza population, 55 children died of seasonal flu. No one in the US has died from swine flu.

* Hospitalizations? During the 2008-2009 flu season, approximately 6 of every 10,000 people were hospitalized for laboratory-confirmed seasonal flu. Compare that with a single hospitalized swine flu patient in the US.

Looks like the seasonal flu wreaked more havoc than the current swine flu outbreak. And comparing the numbers with previous years, this year's seasonal flu was worse in terms of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths.

Let's take a look at why people are getting paranoid. First, the numbers of swine flu are increasing daily. While this may seem alarming, the current number of cases in the US is tiny, if you look at the big picture. With a US population of over 300 million, that means that currently 0.00002% of the population is infected.

Second, young adults in Mexico are dying. As frightening as this sounds, keep in mind that reports are showing that many of these individuals sought medical care during late stages of disease, when treatment options become more limited. In addition, as I've mentioned in earlier blogs, many parts of Mexico have poor nutrition, poor health care, and poor air quality, all of which will contribute to more severe illness.

Third, people are nervous because the seasonal flu vaccine is not effective against swine flu. Tell the truth, how many of you really got the flu shot this year? A recent report from the Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine showed that only 20% of children under 2 and 30%-36% of adults got the flu vaccine in 2007. So even though the vaccine is safe, effective, and readily available for preventing a disease with apparently worse prognosis than swine flu, most people are not getting it.

Fourth, pork and pork products? You have to understand how the influenza virus causes disease in order to know that you can't get it by eating pork. Influenza is a respiratory infection, which means the virus attaches to cells in your respiratory tract. Eating pork will not cause swine flu, since the virus (which, incidentally, is inactivated by cooking) won't be able to get to your respiratory tract through food consumption. It is spread by inhalation of aerosolized droplets when people cough or by, say, picking your nose after touching something contaminated with the virus.

Travel advisories? Well, let's just say I'm not planning to go to Mexico anytime soon.