Per the Times, the swine flu is likely to peak this season in late October, before the vaccine has been made and distributed in vast quantities. Unless I utterly misapprehend the Congressional timeline, it follows that the non-timely government response will be in the midst of the debate over national health care reform.
So just to ruminate out loud, will this (a) make the public go Postal and diminish support for a greater government role in in health care by reinforcing the notion that Bit Gummint can't get anything right;
(b) increase support for a greater government role by demonstrating that only the Feds could have even come close with this large a project; or
(c) more or less have no impact on public opinion?
FWIW, if Obama wants to make himself useful on swine flu he really ought to get back to promoting the Jihadist fist bump, and soon. I am still showing up at cocktail parties and meeting people who expect a handshake or (shudder) a peck on one or both cheeks. It's so Two thousand and late...
TM:
So just to ruminate out loud, will this
(c) Get Obama to blame Bush.
Posted by: hit and run | September 12, 2009 at 01:48 PM
er, that should be (d) of course.
Posted by: hit and run | September 12, 2009 at 02:10 PM
Its.
The.
Flu.
Posted by: Charlie (Colorado) | September 12, 2009 at 02:46 PM
(e) teacher's unions will demand more love from Obama with a czar to give them a sink in every classroom and zero tolerance for students not washing hands properly.
-- NHS will have a czar to have parents with non-compliant children given visits at home and mandatory counseling.
-- Not sure who will send family members off to obesity camp as that czar title is pending.
Posted by: FeFe | September 12, 2009 at 03:45 PM
Chaco -- sure, it's the flu. But
every
damned thing has to be more dramatic now-a-days.Posted by: Rob Crawford | September 12, 2009 at 04:01 PM
It's our fault. We're not sneezing into our sleeves or shirt pockets. That's the new way to sneeze. :)
Posted by: Joan | September 12, 2009 at 05:45 PM
For our house, the flu arrived last week. Everybody's sick here and all look to survive the encounter. It's a tough bug; the infirm will pass and the hospitals and economy will be burdened as the infections peak, but it's a flu, and the antiviral resistance seems to very widespread. Watch for secondary bacterial infections rapidly morphing into pneumonia. That will kill some who fall behind the therapeutic curve.
As for the vaccines pending, the PTB can't possibly have them "right" as there remains significant scientific uncertainty over how to best predict and correctly determine the dominant genetics of unfolding flu epidemics, especially with, as one might expect, orthodoxy clinging to the money at all costs. Let us hope their tinkering with natural selection doesn't magnify the risk of the worst happening.
As long as the SARS mechanism stays out of H1N1, the risk of death from mishandled treatment caused by orthodox medical thinking will remain greater than the risk of death from the flu.
Some new science and news at LUN.
Posted by: willem | September 12, 2009 at 07:51 PM
Just FYI,
Word we are hearing is that the method of delivery of these proposed vaccines is not going to be by the US Postal Service. Instead to guaranty it gets there absolutely, positively on time etc, they are going to use some other private company who's stock jumped about 5 dollars yesterday.
Posted by: daddy | September 12, 2009 at 10:01 PM
Hey, Tom, the peck on the cheek is even safer than the fist bump! (Just don't touch your cheek with your hands...)
Posted by: cathyf | September 12, 2009 at 10:31 PM
I believe it takes a heck of a lot of time to ramp up vaccine production in volume. The guess is made as to what the next season's flu will be around a year ahead of time, and sometimes they are wrong. Chaco is right; it's the flu, and this one may be a little less lethal than the usual.
================================
Posted by: But what do I know? | September 12, 2009 at 10:35 PM
joan, uh oh, trying to aim sneezes is going to hurt low backs.
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Posted by: So, how do I know? | September 12, 2009 at 10:37 PM
Well, this was coming up in the previous thread, so...miss you Cathy!
Posted by: hit and run | September 12, 2009 at 10:40 PM
Hey, I miss all youse guys, too! I was keeping up pretty well for awhile reading after work, but then two weeks ago was my parents 50th -- wonderful party -- and the new server at WonderGirl's school keeps misbehaving, and the big parade was Wednesday, and Thursday was the first day of girl scouts AND the first volleyball game and we went to the fair, and last night back to the fair for the calf tagging and the chicken scramble...
*whew* I've been a busy girl!
Posted by: cathyf | September 13, 2009 at 12:34 AM
FOR INDIAN AND SOUTH EAST ASIA AUDUANCE
GILOI (This is not available in western countries)
can definitely help in reducing the effect of SWINE FLUE. In advanced stage flue causes activation of "NF Kappa B" initiating "CYTOKINE STORM". This results in to massive inflammation of the lungs and respiratory tracts taking their tolls on the victims of the SWINE FLUE. GILIOI is one of the few natural substances which can inhibit "NF Kappa B" expression and hence can be very useful in SWINEFLUE management strategy. However, there is very little or no DATA available as to the doses, bio-availability, half life and toxicity of Giloi. Perhaps, one can take this in quantity and way suggested by NAMDEO, as this is TIME TESTED method used by thousands for ages. Further, why should this require a “PROTOCOL” at the time of PANDEMIC, specially when there is nothing to offer from the shelves of modern medicines. I REPEAT - THERE IS NO MORDERN “MAN MADE MOLECULE” THAT CAN ADDRESS “NF Kappa B” EXPRESSION. .
FOR US AND EOROPEAN AUDIANCE
There are other natural herbs spices that have inhibit NF Kappa B expressions. One of them is CURCUIMINIODES and they are available in these countries as CURCUMIN 95% extracts. This not only inhibits NF KappaB expression to reduce the inflammation but this also is HAT and P300 inhibitor, required by the flu virus to multiply rapidly in our body. MUCH BETTER OPTION THAN TAMIFLU
Feel free to contact me on my email address or my sell phone +91 9820192863.
DEV
Posted by: DEV AGARWAL | September 13, 2009 at 05:35 AM
The word phamaceutical is from the Greek Pharmokos, meaning poison. Take fluids, get rest. Of 'verbis, herbis, et mineralis', stick to the verbis. Remember, herd immunity is ancient and good.
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Posted by: Viruses need to be non-lethal, dependent as they are on their host. There are exceptions to this rule. | September 13, 2009 at 08:42 AM
I think I had the swine flu a couple weeks ago, but I'm not sure. It was a flu unlike any other. It started out more like a sudden attack of allergies, which I don't have normally, that didn't go away. Literally burning sinuses and severely runny nose. Lots of aches and pains. But no fever.
I started to wonder what I had and looked it up on the net and I saw that fever is absent in swine flu about a third of cases! Which is very unusual for flu. So it's kind of hard to know you have it when you have it. I did have fever of 100 for one day after about a week and then it ended. So a strange flu. Not really that severe though if you are healthy. More like a nuisance.
Posted by: sylvia | September 14, 2009 at 08:46 AM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAkt081beGk
Posted by: david | September 15, 2009 at 09:04 PM