Swine Flu becomes a pandemic

It’s been a few days since I’ve heard anything about the swine flu on television or read about it on the internet. Yesterday, however, it was announced that the “piggy” flu has become an international pandemic.

As of now, the swine flu has reached 74 countries and infected close to 30,000 people. While it is considered a pandemic, most get the illness and never actually seek medical treatment and get better on their own. It has turned out that swine flu is a lot less potent than some were worried that it would be. It shouldn’t be considered any more dangerous now that it is considered a pandemic, just that it has reached several countries around the world.

In my opinion, the swine flu is a lot more hype than anything else, at least while it is in its current form. Only 144 people have died from swine flu, that number is dwarfed by the amount of people who die around the world from the regular people flu every flu season. Nearly half a million people die every year from the ordinary flu; when you think about it, more people die every year from the common cold than from the swine flu in its current form.

That being said, every year, the flu takes on a new form and typically turns into a new strain that we don’t have a vaccine against. So, in the future, the swine flu could be very bad…but this time around, it’s just not.

While the swine flu has been deemed a pandemic by the United Nations Health officials WHO, drug makers could start making vaccines against it, however…if they were to start making a vaccine for the swine flu, they would not have the ability to manufacture the regular flu vaccine to capacity for the coming up flu season. Manufacturers need to decide which is more important right now and if the current totals are an indication as to which is more important, I believe it is a no brainier.

I think it’s kind of amusing that China, the country that has brought us illnesses like SARS, has been quarantining visitors from other countries, including the mayor of New Orleans, if they believed that they could be carrying the flu.

Still, New York City reported three more swine flu deaths Thursday, including a child under 2, a teenager and a person in their 30s.

“Countries where outbreaks appear to have peaked should prepare for a second wave of infection,” Chan warned.

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