Although the World Health Organization (WHO) has elevated their swine flu pandemic alert to phase 5, the number of confirmed cases as of April 29, 2009 remains extremely low, with most cases mild and rarely fatal. In fact, although you may hear about some 2,500 cases in Mexico with 152 deaths, only 26 cases and 7 deaths have actually been confirmed as being due to swine flu. Around the world only 148 cases are confirmed. The one death of the 91 cases in the United States was in a Mexican child who contracted the illness in Mexico before visiting the U.S. The only thing newsworthy about these numbers is that they are so low and yet the reaction to them so high.
It’s important also to remember that “pandemic” simply means worldwide spread. An epidemic is a localized outbreak of an illness and a pandemic means that it’s spread to more […]
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s weekly report said no
fewer than 800 flu-related deaths were reported in any week between Jan.
1-April 18, the most recent week for which figures were available, CNN
reported Tuesday. Seasonal flu is expected to keep killing hundreds of
people every week for the rest of the year.
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ST. ANDREWS, Scotland (UPI) — A Scottish study challenges
longstanding expectations that men are promiscuous and women tend to be
more particular when it comes to choosing a mate.
Lead study author Dr. Gillian R. Brown of the School of Psychology at
the University of St. Andrews said that in
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SALT LAKE CITY (UPI) — Children who are firstborn, breech or
whose mothers are 35 or older are at significantly greater risk for an
autism spectrum disorder, U.S. researchers said.
Researchers at the University of Utah School of Medicine showed women
who give birth at age 35 or older are 1.7
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CHICAGO (UPI) — Men with denser bones may be more likely to
develop prostate cancer, U.S. researchers suggest.
Johns Hopkins researchers said recent research suggests women with high
bone mineral density are at an increased risk of aggressive breast
cancer. The findings prompted Dr. Stacy Loeb
Original post by admin and weightlossopinions.com
The current swine flu outbreak has many people worrying, and even more wondering, about how to avoid getting sick. And because of all the media photos and videos of people in Mexico walking around wearing face masks, people in this country naturally want to know if these are an effective means of prevention? Unfortunately, however, as with many aspects of this unusual epidemic there aren’t adequate answers for all the questions. It turns out, that there just haven’t been enough studies to say whether or not wearing a face mask would help prevent infection.
Some people will doubtless say that it’s obvious that wearing a mask would reduce the chance of your inhaling a respiratory virus that can be spread by coughing and sneezing. But it’s not nearly as obvious as they would have you believe. There are several reasons why you could still become infected in spite of wearing a […]
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As I wrote earlier if you’re an average person living in the U.S. there’s absolutely no reason now to panic about the current swine flu situation in spite of the media hysteria. That may change as time passes, but it could just as easily go the other way and not become a full-blown pandemic. That’s what happened in 1976, when a swine flu scare led to emergency vaccination of some 40 million Americans in 10 weeks but the feared pandemic just never panned out. The Los Angeles Times has a nice piece on that story.
But many people have questions about the flu vaccine right now. Does this year’s vaccine cover the current swine flu strain? Why doesn’t the flu vaccine cover all strains? Why do I need to get a new flu immunization every year when I don’t have to do that for most of the other illnesses I got […]
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As of today, Monday April 27, I agree completely with President Obama when he says that while swine flu is an issue of concern, it is “not a cause for alarm.” There are several reasons why you should not panic in spite of the incessant media drum beat and the minute by minute updates. First, so far this is an extremely uncommon illness affecting a very small number of people in the United States, all of whom had mild illness and recovered without incident. Yes, it might spread further, but even so, let’s take a step back and remember that we’re talking about influenza, not Ebola or smallpox. And while full-blown influenza is no walk in the park, for most people it’s not even remotely life-threatening. It’s an unpleasant upper respiratory illness with systemic symptoms of fever, weakness and body aches, that can knock you out for a week, but […]
Original post by admin and weightlossopinions.com
As of today, Monday April 27, I agree completely with President Obama when he says that while swine flu is an issue of concern, it is “not a cause for alarm.” There are several reasons why you should not panic in spite of the incessant media drum beat and the minute by minute updates. First, so far this is an extremely uncommon illness affecting a very small number of people in the United States, all of whom had mild illness and recovered without incident. Yes, it might spread further, but even so, let’s take a step back and remember that we’re talking about influenza, not Ebola or smallpox. And while full-blown influenza is no walk in the park, for most people it’s not even remotely life-threatening. It’s an unpleasant upper respiratory illness with systemic symptoms of fever, weakness and body aches, that can knock you out for a week, but […]
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Spring is in the air, and so is the pollen. If stepping outside makes
you cough, sneeze or cry, you may be one of the millions of Americans
who suffer from hay fever.
Hay fever, also known as allergic rhinitis (rhinitis means inflammation
of the lining of the nose), is caused by an allergy to
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