I’m not panicked - now, or at the height of the Swine Flu Scare, but I am prepared. My point is that a pandemic is not unthinkable - so it is more than reasonable to take precautions.
Yes, we are better able to deal with secondary infections than we were in 1918. However, if the healthcare system is overwhelmed, which is a distinct possibility, you may be forced to deal with those infections yourself. Drugs like Tamiflu might help, but they might also lose their effectiveness as the virus mutates.
In 1918, there were three waves. They did not start with troops in the trenches in France. They started with troops in basic training cantonments in the U.S. - which are not all that different from other environments, like schools or the recirculating air of a passenger jet, from a transmission perspective. The first wave did little damage. The second wave was the killer. The third wave, which had it struck alone would still have ranked among the most deadly epidemics in history, paled in comparison to the second wave - which completely overwhelmed hospitals, and the numbers of doctors and nurses available.
And the treatment was the brand new Miracle Drug, Aspirin.
Look up what that did.
Along with NO Antibiotics for secondary infection.
Stop the fearmongering. It’s a freakin’ 100 years later. Medicine has advanced, for heaven’s sake!
Most of us have the good sense to understand that the government is wrong about nearly everything.
Their efforts to stampede us into
‘saving the financial system’,
‘saving the car companies’,
saving the world from global warming’,
‘saving the American people from the flu’
‘saving the American people from a broken health care system’
‘saving the American people from losing their homes’, and
‘saving the air traveler’
all stem from the very same root; an overwhelming and evil desire to control every aspect of our lives.
Fortunately they are no match for most Americans.
Don’t be such a fool.