Swine flu still needs to be taken seriously in spite of media shock stories. Swine flu has the same demographic as the 1918 flu, in that it has killed people in their 20-40's instead of the young and old, which is opposite to the strains we deal with usually. The 1918 flu first appeared in the spring and didn't amount to too much, then after having spread around the world and mutating, it came back in the fall and killed millions. It takes six to eight months to develop a flu vaccine, so in the fall the vaccine that's being made now might well be ineffective. The good news is we know a lot more about how flu viruses spread and can take better precautions. This is not alarmist, just good preparation. Hospitals and other emergency preparedness centers are stockpiling Theraflu as a precaution if the vaccine is useless. It will most likely not become as serious as 1918, but we can't act as if it won't.
Buddahaid
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