Swine flu no worse than regular flu, Napolitano says

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The swine flu virus that has sparked fear and precautions worldwide appears to be no more dangerous than the regular flu virus that makes its rounds each year, U.S. officials said Monday.

"What the epidemiologists are seeing now with this particular strain of U.N. is that the severity of the disease, the severity of the flu -- how sick you get -- is not stronger than regular seasonal flu," Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Monday.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/05/04/swine...main/index.html

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Don't tell that to Biden - no doubt he's got a direct line to the Air Force to shoot down commercial air liners if there are reports of sneezing.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

In China, an airplane will be picking up dozens of Mexican citizens who want to return home after being held by Chinese officials for "health reasons," Mexico's Foreign Ministry announced Monday.

China has denied discriminating against Mexicans, saying it is exercising proper precaution to prevent the spread of the virus.

The plane will stop in various cities in China where there are "concentrated" numbers of Mexican citizens who wish to leave the country, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

So. ####### was the last week all about? They made Pedroh miss his trip to Mexico!

[GueraKristina 1]

In China, an airplane will be picking up dozens of Mexican citizens who want to return home after being held by Chinese officials for "health reasons," Mexico's Foreign Ministry announced Monday.

China has denied discriminating against Mexicans, saying it is exercising proper precaution to prevent the spread of the virus.

The plane will stop in various cities in China where there are "concentrated" numbers of Mexican citizens who wish to leave the country, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

So. ####### was the last week all about? They made Pedroh miss his trip to Mexico!

the strain in mexico is supposedly stronger, atleast thats what they are saying on the news. Also, there isnt any real common health care like we have in the U.S over in mexico, its more like a pay the doctor when you walk in, if he diagnoses you, he does, if not, he doesnt, its all the same price, and can sometimes not be accurate or helpful at all. People when they are sick in mexico, costs them directly out of the pocket, and they tend to stick it out more, so they dont go to the doctors, the sympoms get worse, and they spread it, and people die because they dont go to the doctors to get the right meds. Sucks, but its a precaution.

[stangguy 0]

The big deal is that while it may not be any more virulent than other flu viruses going around this season, there is no vaccine to prevent infection with this virus. Vaccines are typically developed based on the strains that show potential to early on cause widespread infection several months before flu season. Because this strain was not identified early on as a potential candidate no vaccine was developed. There is no protection other than not coming in contact with it or hoping your immune system is strong enough to fight off the initial attack. Many people take this approach anyway so it doesn't matter to them, I'm one of them. However many of those that get vaccinated are usually at high risk for infection or a high potential for mortality. Because they don't have that protection against this virus the numbers that could potentially die are higher.