The swine flu outbreak isn't over, but the party is.
It's back to school.
From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
School will be in session Wednesday for more than 16,000 Milwaukee-area students who were given unexpected spring vacations because of the swine flu outbreak.
After federal officials changed course and said Tuesday that it was not necessary to close schools where there had been cases of the flu, the nationwide tide that had sent more than 300,000 students out of school was quickly reversed.
"We are continuing to see more cases throughout the nation, but the virus is not so severe to warrant school closings at this time," Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said in a news conference late Tuesday afternoon. He added that all previously closed schools and child care agencies in Milwaukee were cleared to re-open.
In line with advice from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Milwaukee's Chief Medical Officer Geoffrey Swain said schools should put a high priority on having children or teachers who are not feeling well stay home, and isolating them as soon as possible if they exhibit symptoms during the school day. Kids or adults with flu-like symptoms should stay at home for seven days to help the city contain the spread of the disease, he added.
In retrospect, was there an overreaction to this swine flu strain?
Yes.
Did mixed messages from the Obama administration complicate matters?
Yes.
Did officials spread fear and incite panic?
Yes.
Was closing schools an unnecessary measure?
Yes.
Was it wrong to cancel the trip to Boston a group of seventh grade students from Wedgewood Park International School had scheduled?
Yes.
Did fear rule rather than reason?
Yes, for a while.
By the end of last week, it was becoming clear that the dreaded deadly virus wasn't nearly as bad as had been first reported.
I don't blame officials for taking extreme precautions at the onset of the swine flu. They behaved responsibly -- in the beginning.
However, as more evidence came in that we weren't dealing with an illness like the killer Spanish flu of 1918-1919, officials were slow to ease up on pushing people's panic buttons.
Most disturbing was the inadequate dissemination of accurate information.
The World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control, the White House, and state and local government were often not on the same page.
There would be a doomsday report juxtaposed with an encouraging report on newscasts.
There was not a coherent message. As a result, some people freaked out and were overly cautious while others didn't care and potentially put themselves and the community at risk.
If you look at this swine flu episode as a test, I would say government officials passed, but just barely. There definitely needs to be dramatic improvement, especially when it comes to communication.
Even now, we're still hearing mixed messages.
On one hand -- This virus is mild. Don't panic. It's not as bad as seasonal flu.
On the other hand -- Expect this virus to kill people. Get stressed.
Good news: We dodged a bullet.
Bad news: The worst is on its way. Here comes a spray of bullets.
For now, I'm not worrying about the flu. I'm going to be more sensible and worry about being attacked by a shark.
2 comments:
However, as more evidence came in that we weren't dealing with an illness like the killer Spanish flu of 1918-1919, officials were slow to ease up on pushing people's panic buttons.
Actually....... its the same strain of flu. While I think people did over react, I also think there was a reason. The A H1N1 virus did kill 1% of the population at one point.
I read that this swine flu has some significant differences from the Spanish flu strain that proved to be so deadly in 1918-1919.
__________
One flu expert says there's no reason to believe the new virus is a more serious strain than seasonal flu. And a federal health official said the new flu virus doesn't appear to have genes that made the 1918 pandemic flu strain so deadly....
Dr. Peter Palese, a leading flu researcher at New York's Mount Sinai Medical School, said the new virus appeared to be similar enough to other common flu strains that "we probably all have some type of immunity."
"There is no real reason to believe this is a more serious strain," he said.
Also Friday, an official with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the new swine flu virus lacks the genetic traits that made the 1918 pandemic strain so deadly.
CDC flu chief Nancy Cox said the good news is "we do not see the markers for virulence that were seen in the 1918 virus." Nor does swine flu virus have the virulence traits found in the H5N1 strain of bird flu seen in recent years in Asia and other parts of the world, she said.
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