Re: Swine flu and Torchwood


"Jim Lesurf" <noise@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:507a9e10b2noise@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
In article <IdqdnTmpzOElEcbXnZ2dnUVZ8qBi4p2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Andy
Champ
<no.way@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Jim Lesurf wrote:
>
> Ah. So the key point you are making is that our government are so
> dimwitted and ignorant that they think any flu with a common name that
> starts with 'S' must be deadly, and they have to spend millions of
> pounds (of our money) on that basis?

I'll be pleasantly surprised if you can point me at the science graduate
on the cabinet. (Brown, for example, has a PhD in the history of the
Labour party...)

That may explain a lot. Are they also clueless about the difference between
energy and power?... Maybe they think the difference is "We are in power
but the opposition haven't got the energy to get rid of us." :-)

> Is this flu significantly more 'deadly' that the typical types we get
> most winters?

It appears exceptionally mild so far.

The early reports about Mexico seemed to tell us it had a very high
mortality rate. But since then the reports I've read from closer to home
seem to indicate a rate of the order of 1:1000. That is serious on the
basis that if a million people catch it, then around a thousand would die.
But the BBC TV news yesterday say that, typically, around 3,500 die each
winter from 'seasonal flu'.

That said, I have no objection to the government 'erring on the side of
caution' and developing the vaccines, etc. Better to save lives if we can.
But people do seem to get risks out of persepctive. As Brian (IIRC) pointed
out, we seem to take road 'accident' <sic> deaths as being 'normal'.



However Jim, the thing with road accidents and falling down the stairs is that the annual numbers are reasonably predictable, and which we do at least have some degree of control over, I think the major fear with flu is that it could very quickly mutate and become a completely different and much more deadly ball game within a very short space of time.


.

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