The number of cases grows daily and America has more than any other nation, but swine flu has moved off the front pages.
What happened? Is the pandemic now a non-event? Were we all worked up about nothing?
Well, no and no. There's still reason for concern. What's changed, in part, is what we know about the virus. It's not as deadly as first feared.
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We've also moved into an investigative period where the statistics are ever interesting but not fully explanatory.
“We know so much more than we knew a month ago, but what we don't really know is how many cases there are that aren't reported,” said Ellen Leahy, director of the Missoula City-County Health Department.
That's a key figure, and one that won't ever be fully known because so many cases are mild and go unreported. Still, it's a number scientists and health officials try to pin down.
“It won't be exact, but we need it to assess the virulence of the virus and its transmissibility,” said Dr. George Risi, an infectious disease specialist in Missoula.
For instance, when the virus first emerged in Mexico, it appeared extremely deadly. But the lethality was overestimated because overall infections were severely underreported.
As researchers and health officials got a better handle on the numbers, the virus proved much less virulent, deadlier than the standard-issue flu, but not by much.
“Part of what is happening is that we all have some experience with it now,” said Leahy. “It's here, and we in the United States actually have more cases than anyone. So we have more information than we did at the start, and that makes things easier to understand.”
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What happened? Is the pandemic now a non-event? Were we all worked up about nothing?
Well, no and no. There's still reason for concern. What's changed, in part, is what we know about the virus. It's not as deadly as first feared.
*
We've also moved into an investigative period where the statistics are ever interesting but not fully explanatory.
“We know so much more than we knew a month ago, but what we don't really know is how many cases there are that aren't reported,” said Ellen Leahy, director of the Missoula City-County Health Department.
That's a key figure, and one that won't ever be fully known because so many cases are mild and go unreported. Still, it's a number scientists and health officials try to pin down.
“It won't be exact, but we need it to assess the virulence of the virus and its transmissibility,” said Dr. George Risi, an infectious disease specialist in Missoula.
For instance, when the virus first emerged in Mexico, it appeared extremely deadly. But the lethality was overestimated because overall infections were severely underreported.
As researchers and health officials got a better handle on the numbers, the virus proved much less virulent, deadlier than the standard-issue flu, but not by much.
“Part of what is happening is that we all have some experience with it now,” said Leahy. “It's here, and we in the United States actually have more cases than anyone. So we have more information than we did at the start, and that makes things easier to understand.”
Quoting and Saving on your health insurance has never been easier...EasyToInsureME
Florida Health Insurance
Texas Health Insurance
EasyToInsureME offers clients the easiest way to buy individual health insurance. Free services include instant online health insurance quotes, custom proposals for each client, free phone consultation, and 10-minute ap
Article Source: http://www.directorys.uniquearticles.info
