A great visualization of global media scare stories over time – Swine Flu is measurably bigger than previous hyped stories.
http://alexbowyer.blogspot.com/2009/08/swine-flu-from-horses-mouth.html
my personal write up of swine flu
Read MoreDispelling the myths about H1N1
Swine flu has been all over the news for the last few months, especially in the UK; You could hardly miss it. But as with many things which are analyzed and deconstructed ad nauseum in the media over several months, the reality is somewhat different from the hype.
Having experienced swine flu first hand, and recovered, I feel compelled to set the record straight:
1) Swine flu is just another form of flu
New flu viruses appear every year, and despite its sinister sounding name, swine flu is just another variant. Most variants don’t get to have their own name outside of scientific circles – this one did for two reasons: Firstly, it originated in pigs not in humans; Secondly, it is extremely virulent. That does *not* mean that it is extremely serious – just that it is easily spread from human to human, more so than is normal for flu.
What seems to have happened is that a great deal of stigma has been attached to the name. “It’s not just flu, it’s SWINE flu, it must be AWFUL!”.
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