Swine flu: Eight myths that could endanger your life-New Scientist.

[Ichingcarpenter]

Swine flu: Eight myths that could endanger your life

MYTH 1
The symptoms are like regular flu. You've got it if you've got a fever

Up to half the people who get swine flu never develop a fever, and some suffer from gastrointestinal symptoms as well as more standard flu

MYTH 2
This is just mild flu. The death rates are even lower than for normal flu

Swine flu is killing young people rather than the very elderly, and although winter is just starting, more young people have already died of flu than normally die over the entire winter

MYTH 3
You're safe as long as you're healthy. Only sick, weak people get really ill

Most of the children who have died of swine flu were perfectly healthy beforehand, and many of the adult victims also had no underlying conditions


..................More here with the data ;
http://www.newscientist.com/special/swine-flu-myths-that-could-endanger-your-life

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. Here's an interesting graph from the article:

It shows this really is different from a normal flu year.

[trotsky]

2. Very important, very good article.

Thanks for posting. K&R

[FarCenter]

3. Very good article - Note Myth 8 - Once this pandemic is over we'll be safe for another few decades

"But we would still be in deep trouble if a flu virus that kills half the people it infects - such as H5N1 bird flu - started spreading readily. The current pandemic shows that, unless we can make vaccines work against all flu viruses, we need to be able to make them even faster."