H 32°, L 7° | Tomorrow: 
H 17°, L 4°
Swine flu, eh? Well, that one’s new. By Monday morning, as it became clear an unprecedented pandemic was spreading northward, the first apocalyptic reference rang out. A clueless local radio anchor cried out “This is like ‘The Stand,’” referring to Stephen King’s great post-apocalyptic novel. A friend of mine, who’d spent the weekend in bed with a nasty case of salmonella, spent the afternoon worrying he might have swine flu. My dad e-mailed me advising me to wash my hands more frequently than usual, proving he considers “swine flu” and “a cold going around” to be functional equivalents.
In the clearest evidence yet that fears of swine flu are keeping
And, as they always must, our UW administrators sent out a stoic e-mail assuring us they were “actively monitoring reports of swine flu affecting
Good grief. This is really not “The Stand.” There will be no weary bands of plague refugees stumbling cross country towards
Yes, swine flu may have caused up to 149 deaths in
Here’s where “critical thinking” comes into play. Why might swine flu be killing people in poor regions of
There comes a point in any democratic society where enough is enough — where citizens must trade a false stoicism for a real one. The former insists constant vigilance is a virtue, that there is no amount of nanny-state coddling unwarranted if it saves a few lives or — the furthest removed — makes a few people feel comfortable. If we could waterboard the swine flu, some of these people would be running to fill up the bucket.
Real stoics are different. We accept our absurd fates, whatever they may be, and trust the all-stars in the background to postpone the inevitable as long as possible. We don’t crouch around short-wave radios (or Gmail inboxes) waiting to know whether we’re safe. The surefire way to make our world a threatening place is to treat it like one, ad nauseam. Shit will happen, swine-created or otherwise.
And if our campus administrators want to overfill our inboxes, the occasion should be proportionate to the inbox blitzkrieg. Swine flu is not worth a single campuswide e-mail. A quasi-epidemic, fully treatable in the
Eric Schmidt ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in political science.
IP hash: c0a538ad
Non science majors should not be writing articles on these topics. The strain if swine flu that is going around Mexico and the US is the same strain that killed hundreds of thousands of people during the 1918 influenza pandemic. Sure, we have much better medical facilities and detection methods now, but that’s not the problem. The problem is that this highly infectious and fatal strain can be easily transmitted from pig to human and then human to human just from simple contact. One sneeze from an infected individual could infect many people in the area of said sneeze. While I agree that all the hype surrounding swine influenza might be a little over the top, I don’t think this is something to just set aside.
IP hash: b43eab93
Oh man, I was just about to work myself into a lather over this. I suppose I should have learned my lesson from monkey pox, bird flu, and SARS. Tell me when the sky IS falling, please.
IP hash: 91b0c688
Hmmmm…. makes one wonder tho…..
IP hash: 6eaa03fc
hey moron…its the end of the freakin werld!
IP hash: 6eaa03fc
sorry …i was not refrening to then swine flew~! It is H1N1 im the werrieds about - child zero
IP hash: aaeb4742
Thanks Dr. Eric Schmidt, PhD. MD. I was hoping for your expert, scientific opinion on this, as I know you have worked for the CDC or all your life.
IP hash: 722eb056
To anonymous 12:45
This is the same SUBTYPE of 1918 influenza (H1N1), not the same strain. This specific strain of the virus is a very odd amalgamation of genetic components from several different strains from all over the world. Also, the cases in the US have been mild, with the only death so far being a 23 month old child. To refer to this strain as “fatal” is incorrect (remember normal flu strains kill about 36,000 people a year, mostly infants and the elderly). Please do not chastise someone for writing on a topic that is not in their specific area of study and then present incorrect information.
-A science major who actually understands science
IP hash: af197728
lmfao nothing to swine about
IP hash: bd48b646
Criticism of this article for not being by a science major are way off base. He doesn’t go into any of the science behind the flu. All he is saying is that there hasn’t been anything yet that indicates we ought to be panicking. An observation that it doesn’t take anyone involved in the sciences to make.
IP hash: 6fabc93d
There have been only 8 confirmed deaths in the world from swine flu, according to an official WHO statement today.
IP hash: 502f4042
lol great title :)
IP hash: fa3ddb8f
Just because this virus has not turned into a pandemic yet, does not mean it won’t. The precautions listed in emails and news papers are recommended by people who know a lot about flu viruses and how they mutate and affect people… so they should probably not be taken lightly. Washing your hands often is the best way to protect yourself from any disease, not just the flu.
The stockpiles of medical supplies that hospitals are receiving have been sent as a precaution in the event that the flu evades primary means of control like washing hands and limiting travel to affected areas. It’s better to have these measures in place than be caught completely off guard.
Also, I’m sure that the University is not simply “monitoring the Times” to get their updates on the Swine Flu and current plans to minimize its effect. The State Lab of Hygiene is located on Henry Mall and is actively investigating and modifying protocols to deal with what would happen if the state of Wisconsin did start to see cases of Swine Flu. Why get information from journalists, when you can get it from professionals who are experts in handling potential pandemics and other world wide threats. Believe it or not, they have been preparing for a possible pandemic for many, many years… and we happen to be about 5 years overdue for one. (That’s not to say the current situation is going to be globally devastating, it just happens to have the potential to be if proper precautions are not taken)
Bottom line: It’s better to have a plan and be cautious than try to do damage control later.
IP hash: 46cd3555
Thank you Eric! If this is a pandemic, then every cold and flu season is a pandemic. There are hundreds of strains of the flu, this is just one more. Everyone needs to chill the fuck out.
IP hash: c8f295d0
This guy has no idea what he is talking about. 1918 was so alarming because it killed many healthy young adults. People cite this 36,000 people that die every year from regular influenza. That is correct, but regular flu generally kills immune compromised individuals, which are generally the elderly, already in feeble condition. Now imagine if those deaths occurred in individuals in their 20’s and 30’s by a process called cytokine storm. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cytokine_storm It would be a little more alarming, no?
1918 flu started very similar to how swine flu started this year. Not very virulent to start, went away for a few months, then killed 50 million people. The death rate was not higher than single digits. The truth is we don’t know how deadly this is. Only time will tell. Anyone who says the swine flu will or will not do this does not know what they are talking about. No one knows, and I for one believe that the risk is worth preparing for. If this does progress like some think it could, people like Eric will probably be the same ones who will want Congressional hearings about why the government didn’t protect us.
IP hash: 97d91588
9:53 is the only science major who knows whats going on
IP hash: 722eb056
So parroting what you read on wikipedia and cnn.com makes you a science major?
IP hash: fa3ddb8f
At least they did research… That’s more than I can say for some of the posts.
IP hash: bb14a186
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/04/090429-swine-flu.html
The swine flu is no worse than the flu we’re used to. Calm down. Stop referring to US mainstream news for your information. It is highly sensationalized. The Times, Fox News, and even the normal nightly newscasts are blowing things way out of proportion.