Today the World Health Organization raised the pandemic threat level from 4 to 5 (the highest level is 6). According to the WHO's Dr. Margaret Chan: "All of humanity is under threat." Again though, medical professionals, as well is government officials, are stressing the need not to panic. I just saw an interview with Dr. Sanjay Gupta on Wolf Blizter's Situation Room, and he basically said that the reason for raising the threat level has a lot more to do with the scope and not yet the severity. Swine Flu is now in 11 states, but Georgia is not yet one of them. However, according to a Georgia health official, the likelihood of Georgia not being affected is nil. Health officials in Georgia expect to be dealing with cases, as Atlanta is an obvious international crossroads. In any case, you can click here to get the latest from the BBC.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
The WHO Raises Pandemic Threat Level to 5
Today the World Health Organization raised the pandemic threat level from 4 to 5 (the highest level is 6). According to the WHO's Dr. Margaret Chan: "All of humanity is under threat." Again though, medical professionals, as well is government officials, are stressing the need not to panic. I just saw an interview with Dr. Sanjay Gupta on Wolf Blizter's Situation Room, and he basically said that the reason for raising the threat level has a lot more to do with the scope and not yet the severity. Swine Flu is now in 11 states, but Georgia is not yet one of them. However, according to a Georgia health official, the likelihood of Georgia not being affected is nil. Health officials in Georgia expect to be dealing with cases, as Atlanta is an obvious international crossroads. In any case, you can click here to get the latest from the BBC.
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7 comments:
i wonder how the person in Spain got it when he's not gone to Mexico..? did he get it from someone else in Spain who recently went to Mexico? If he has, then there's more people in Spain bound to have it. Other then that, i dont know how it would spread all the way up there....oh wait, i kept on reading the article and it said the person who got it, probably got it from his girlfriend who did go to mexico. but does that mean she mas it too? Do you have to actually have the swine flu to transmit it to someone else?
then when i saw this quote: "It really is the whole of humanity that is under threat in a pandemic." ...it made me more cautious.
i also wonder about all the deaths in Mexico. i thought all those 159 people died because of the actual swine flu when really 7 were actually killed by it. What happened to the rest of the people? did they get something else?
I agree with Dr. Chan. I don't think we should panic yet, but be very aware and take many precautions. Although I think banning pork imports, like Ghana did, is a little too extreme, it's always good to be very cautious. Yes, it's spreading fast and we should be scared, but not in total freak out mode. It's been confirmed in every continent except for Africa. So maybe this shows that the places with more cases show more wealth than other places because as sources said, all of these cases had to deal with traveling to Mexico. If these people are able to travel, they must have money. Maybe this shows how Africa is very behind. Not only do they not travel outside their country, but they do not travel outside their continent for luxury or entertainment purposes. Other than that, we should really be on the lookout and aware of our surroundings.
in answer to your question miss dang, the mexican system is quite slow in confirming that, yes, these deaths were swine flu deaths. no doubt mexico has more cases and deaths than we do, but the confirmation process takes a while.
so its nothing compared to the black plague where people were dying in a couple of days but at the same time i guess its worse because the world is more globalized so theres more chances to spred. By pandemic do they mean that everyone will get infected or that everyone will die? cause id rather do through the first one. but according to the docters the scary thing is that theres no cure for it and that they dont even know how it started. pretty scary but like the black plague we'll get immunities right? or will it be like the regular flu where no matter how many times you get it you can always get it again?
wow.. Globalization at its finest... I had no idea that it spread to Spain...Germany...Israel..But after the season 5 finale it doesn't suprise me at all.
But wow one death, at least 91 confirmed cases Us. I had no idea it was 91 (and still growing)
i got into a huge arguement today with a junior because she was saying this was only spreading through mexicans and it came from swans. i was like wow you dont watch the news..
but this is crazy.. this could like possibly shut down the world for a certain time.. i mean if schools and bussiness are kinda closing, then everything will eventually close if it gets to bad.
atleast the flu season is over though. but i have a feeling thats not going to stop it. like at all.. it may slow it down but i think it will still continue to spread
A lot of people are panicking when they don't need to be. Yes, the threat level is a 5, the highest is a 6, one up from that. But a 5 only means that it's spreading from human to human in 2 countries. a) Most diseases that affect humans WILL spread from human to human. b) 2 countries out of a 100 and something. Not a great percentage. Yes, the number of countries transmitting it will grow, but will a huge number of people die? Only if there isn't good healthcare, which most places have. The places that don't, aren't as active in globalization and therefore are much less likely to have someone get it anyways.
I saw someone talking on some boards about swine flu, and they were saying how it the reason Mexican people are dying can't be because they don't have good healthcare, because Mexico offers free health care to travelers and tourists. a) Travelers and tourists don't always get accepted for free health care; it's offered, but not guaranteed. b) Travelers and tourists does NOT include natives- the native people are too poor to get care for themselves. The travelers are the ones going back to their own countries with swine flu, but not dying- they get treatment in their country, maybe in Mexico too. The Mexican people don't get treatment ANYWHERE, and in most cities, living conditions are horrible and much more likely to promote disease. Sure, they're the same as slums in big cities in the US, but most of our country isn't slums- Mexico has a horrible problem with slums and pollution.
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