The Swine Flu Pandemic: Fact or Fiction?

The American health officials have declared a public health emergency as more cases of swine flu are confirmed in the U.S. Health officials around the world are afraid that this is heading to a global pandemic that emerged from Mexico, where seven or more people have been confirmed dead because of the swine flu virus.

On April 20, 2009, the World Health Organization (WHO) had raised the pandemic alert level to a five on its six-level threat level scale, which means that they've determined that the virus is capable of human-to-human transmission. So what does this mean for the United States? It seems that the initial outbreaks across the country show an infection already traveling at higher velocity than the pandemic strain in 1968, the Hong Kong flu.

The phase 5 level alert has never been declared since the warning system was put into place in 2005, in response to the avian flu crises. The phase 6 level alert means that a pandemic is under way. WHO now openly admits it is not possible to contain the spread of the swine flu and recommends mitigation measures, not restricting travel or closing borders.

A pandemic doesn't mean what we normally think it does; it's not dead bodies lying in piles on the streets like during the black plague. All it means is that a new infectious disease is spreading throughout the world.

The numbers for fatalities, and suspected and confirmed cases across the world change depending on what source you use. If you want the up to-date numbers, you might want to check out Google Maps' Swine Flu Tracker.

There are several countries that have banned travel or have made plans to quarantine air travelers that show the signs of swine flu, such as:

• Fever of more than 100
• Coughing
• Runny nose and /or sore throat
• Joint aches
• Severe headache
• Vomiting and/or diarrhea
• Lethargy
• Lack of appetite

The top global flu experts are trying to predict how dangerous the swine flu strain is, as it becomes clear that they had little information about the Mexican outbreak. It's really unclear just how many cases there were in the month or so before the outbreak was detected, and also, it's unknown whether the virus was mutating to be more lethal, or less.

I rather imagine that you, like me, have been alarmed by the news reports of the swine flu scare. They seem, at least to me, that they are designed to scare us into rushing to get the vaccine and accept the idea of mandatory vaccinations.

On April 27, 2009, Time magazine published an article that discussed how dozens died and hundreds were injured from vaccines as a result of the 1976 swine flu farce, when the Ford administration tried to use the infection of soldiers at Fort Dix as a ruse for the massive vaccinations of the whole country.

Even the acknowledgement of the 1976 farces as an example of “how not to handle a flu outbreak”, the article still introduce the notion that officials “may soon have to consider whether to institute drastic measures to combat the disease”. Luckily, there are a few respectable journalists that have recognized this and are working at trying to spread the voice of reason to the fear that is being promoted in the majority of the media.

To improve the failed pandemic system, massive new investments in surveillance, scientific and regulatory infrastructure, basic public health, and global access to common sense interventions like vitamin D optimization are required.

According the Washington Post, the CDC didn't learn of the Mexican outbreak until six days after Mexico had begun to impose emergency measures. The outcome of this swine flu panic is that, while completely unexpected, it was accurately predicted. Six years ago, Science dedicated a major story to evidence that “after years of stability, the U.S. Swine flu virus has jumped onto an evolutionary fast-track”. But then, maybe this is precisely what the public health authorities want to happen.

I would rather imagine that you can expect to see a lot of panic over this issue in the near future. However, the key is to stay calm, this isn't the first time the public has been warned about the swine flu. The last time was in 1976 and it resulted in the massive swine flu vaccine campaign. Within a few months, claims totaling $1.3 billion had been filed by victims who had suffered paralysis from the vaccine. The vaccine was also blamed for 25 deaths. However, several hundred people developed Guillain-Barre Syndrome after they were injected with the wine flu vaccine, even healthy 20 year olds ended up as paraplegics.

It is very difficult to predict a pandemic, and a rash response can be extremely damaging. Think about this, malaria kills 3,000 people every day, and it's considered “a health problem”. But, there are no fancy vaccines for malaria that can rake in billions of dollars in a short amount of time. One Australian news source, states that even a mild swine flu epidemic could lead to the deaths of 1.4 million people and would reduce the economic growth by nearly $5 trillion dollars.

“Give me a break, if this doesn't sound like the outlandish cries of the pandemic bird-flu I don't know what does,” states Dr. Joseph Mercola.

President Bush said two million Americans would die as a result of the bird flu. In 2005, 2006, 2008, those fears were exposed as little more than a hoax, designed to instill fear, and line the pockets of various individuals in the industry. Dr. Joseph Mercola states in his bestselling book: The Bird Flu Hoax that it was a massive fraud involved with an epidemic that never happened.

Just what is the swine flu?

Regular swine flu is a contagious respiratory disease, caused by a type-A influenza virus that affects pigs. The current strain, A (H1N1), is a new variation of an H1N1 virus, which causes seasonal flu outbreaks in humans, that also contains genetic material of bird and pig versions of the flu.

Interestingly enough, this version has never before been seen in neither human nor animal. There are few reasons to not rush to conclusions that this is the deadly pandemic we've been told would occur in the near future (even if no one could predict it without some kind of inside knowledge).

Dr. Joseph Mercola is of the opinion that is highly likely factory farming that is responsible for producing this viral strain, and believes that there is still no cause for concern. Here's a little tidbit you may not know about, all H1N1 flu's are descendants of the 1918 pandemic strain. Mutations in the virus are the reasons why flu shots may or may not work from year to year. Since there is no vaccine available for this current hybrid flu strain, this is helping feed the fear that millions of people will die before a vaccine can be made.

Just a couple of months ago, scientists concluded that the 1918 flu pandemic that killed between 50-100 million people worldwide in a matter of 18 month, which all these worst care scenarios are built upon, was Not due to the flu itself.

Amazingly they discovered the real culprit was strep infections. Most often people with influenza often get what is known as a “super infection” with a bacterial agent. In 1918 it would seem that they had Streptococcus pneumonia otherwise known as pneumonia from strep throat. The researchers concluded that since strep is much easier to treat than the flu, especially with modern medicine, that a new pandemic would more than likely be less devastating as it was in the early 20th century.

Paul Ewald, an evolutionary biologist, and others, claim that a pandemic of this magnitude simply cannot happen, because in order for this to happen the world has to change not the virus. In a previous interview with Esquire magazine, he discusses the possibility of bird flu pandemic, stating: “They think that if a virus mutates, it's an evolutionary event. Well, the virus is mutating because that is what viruses and other pathogens do. But evolution is not just random mutation. It is random mutation coupled with natural selection; it is a battle for competitive advantage among different strains generated by random mutation. For bird flu to evolve into a human pandemic, the strain that finds a home in humanity has to be a strain that is both highly virulent and highly transmissible. Deadliness has to translate somehow into popularity; H5N1 has to find a way to kill or immobilize its human hosts, and still find other hosts to infect. Usually that doesn't happen.”