Obama panel warns: Swine Flu may kill 90,000

[MetalHead]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a8_2nrwYD1kM

Swine Flu May Cause 90,000 U.S. Deaths, Report Says (Update2)




By Tom Randall and Alex Nussbaum
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/data?pid=avimage&iid=iHRr6pB.6EI0

Aug. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Swine flu may infect half the U.S. population this year, hospitalize 1.8 million patients and lead to as many as 90,000 deaths, more than twice the number killed in a typical seasonal flu, White House advisers said.
In a report by the President’s Council of Advisers on Science and Technology (http://www.ostp.gov/cs/home), President Barack Obama (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Barack+Obama&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1) today was urged to speed vaccine production and name a senior member of the White House staff, preferably the homeland security adviser, to take responsibility for decision-making on the pandemic. Initial doses should be accelerated to mid-September to vaccinate as many as 40 million people, the advisory group said.
Seasonal flu usually kills about 36,000 Americans, said Tom Skinner (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Tom%0ASkinner&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1), a spokesman for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Swine flu, also called H1N1, causes more severe illness needing hospitalization among younger people than seasonal flu, while leaving people 65 and older relatively unscathed, said Mike Shaw (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Mike+Shaw&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1) of the CDC.
“This isn’t the flu that we’re used to,” said Kathleen Sebelius (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Kathleen%0ASebelius&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1), U.S. Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. “The 2009 H1N1 virus will cause a more serious threat this fall. We won’t know until we’re in the middle of the flu season how serious the threat is, but because it’s a new strain, it’s likely to infect more people than usual.”
Data from clinical trials to assess the safety and effectiveness of swine flu vaccines will start to become available in mid-September, health officials reported Aug. 21. Full results from the two-dose trials won’t be available until mid October.
Mid-October Vaccine
“We are making every preparation effort assuming a safe and effective vaccine will be available in mid-October,” Sebelius said today at the CDC’s Atlanta offices.
According to what the advisory report describes as a “plausible scenario,” 30 percent to 50 percent of the country’s population will be infected in the fall and winter. As many as 300,000 patients may be treated in hospital intensive care units, filling 50 percent to 100 percent of the available beds, and 30,000 to 90,000 people may die, the report said.
Peter Gross, chief medical officer at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey, said if the group’s scenario comes true, “I think every hospital in America is going to be in a crunch. We’ll be hard pressed to deal with those predictions,” he said.
Predictions ‘Overblown’
The predictions seem “overblown,” Gross said, given that swine-flu outbreaks in 1968 and 1957 failed to cause as many deaths, even with medical technology and disease surveillance less advanced than today.
“Influenza, you can make all the predictions you want, but it’s more difficult than predicting the weather,” Gross said in a telephone interview today, after the advisory report was made public. “If influenza was a stock, I wouldn’t touch it.”
The 775-bed hospital is planning for an outbreak, upping its order of flu medications and discussing where to put patients if the worst occurs, Gross said.
The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology is chaired by John Holdren (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=John+Holdren&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1), the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology, Eric Lander (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Eric+Lander&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1), the head of the Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Harold Varmus (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Harold%0AVarmus&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1), the chief executive officer of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
The 21-member group of scientists and engineers, created by Congress in 1976, advises the president on policy involving scientific matters.
Four Months
H1N1 has already reached more than 170 countries and territories in the four months since being identified, the Geneva-based World Health Organization said. Swine flu causes similar symptoms as seasonal strains. It has so far resulted in worse than normal flu seasons, with increased hospitalizations and cases of severe illness, the WHO said in an Aug. 12 release.
The median age of those with the pandemic virus has been 12 to 17 years, the WHO said on July 24, citing data from Canada, Chile, Japan, U.K. and the U.S.
“People who get infected with this strain happen to be the healthiest members of our society,” said Shaw, associate director of laboratory science at the CDC’s flu division, in a presentation today, also at the agency’s offices.
The H1N1 strain is genetically related to the 1918 Spanish Flu strain that killed an estimated 50 million people. Variations of the Spanish Flu strain circulated widely until around 1957, when they were pushed aside by other flu strains. People whose first exposure to a flu virus was one of those Spanish Flu relatives may have greater immunity to the current pandemic, Shaw said.
To contact the reporters on this story: Tom Randall (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Tom+Randall&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1) in New York at trandall6@bloomberg.net (trandall6@bloomberg.net);
Last Updated: August 24, 2009 16:38 EDT


I thought it was only the Bush administration that engaged in fear mongering.
90,000 US deaths???
:lmao2: :lmao2: :lmao2:

FEAR!!!!!!!

[jrumann59]

That number while large is only double that of regular flu. The only people that really have to worry are the young, elderly and anyone else that has a weak immune system. 99% of Americans have nothing to worry about. I feel this administrations harping on a "deadlier" flu is nothing more than fear mongering with hope of pushing Obamacare through. I talked to my doctor about the vaccines and he told me I wouldn't need it and if the gov't mandated everyone to get one I would be on the bottom since I only get sick once a year.

[MetalHead]

That number while large is only double that of regular flu. The only people that really have to worry are the young, elderly and anyone else that has a weak immune system. 99% of Americans have nothing to worry about. I feel this administrations harping on a "deadlier" flu is nothing more than fear mongering with hope of pushing Obamacare through. I talked to my doctor about the vaccines and he told me I wouldn't need it and if the gov't mandated everyone to get one I would be on the bottom since I only get sick once a year.

I see you have your eye on the ball.

[TheRat]

Obama's death panel?

[Temo]

We all know it's to cover up the planned mass killings of conservatives.

[jrumann59]

We all know it's to cover up the planned mass killings of conservatives.

Possible but I found it curious that at the height of the supposed pandemic and then fall to last page news Obamacare was in its infancy then 4 weeks later the CDC started making the claims that this years flu season will be rife with the swine flu and then low and behold Obamacare started polluting the air waves.

[Kangaroo]

I never get the flu shot and I only had it once in my entire life

Funny in a 3 week stretch my son got the flu, my daughter got the flu right after my wife got strep throat and me I kept on trucking even thow I was exposed to that stuff everyday for 3 weeks.

I mean I have had the flu once in 37 years

I have one main thing I battle with and it is sporadic and that is Migraine headaches

[jrumann59]

I get the flu once a year it lasts for a day and my wife then gets it and it takes her out for 3 days and she gets the flu shot every year.

[CowboyMcCoy]

Shoot, I'm going to invest in whichever company makes the vaccine.

[DaBoys4Life]

oh noes scare tactics 101.

[Hoofbite]

What if it does?

If that swine takes off, it could get ugly quick.

I haven't gotten a flu shot in years but am considering it this year.

[daschoo]

doesn't sound much like scare tactics to me. i'm surprised the projections are so low to be honest. over here we're being told that 65,000 may die of it.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8159488.stm
of course it may very well be and hopefully is that that is also scaremongering but sureley obama is fairly poor at scaremongering if he is stating roughly one in every 3400 will die while the country he is being accused of basing his health care reform on is projecting 1 in every 685

edit: those figures may not be 100% as i got the populations from wikipedia but they will be accurate enough that the point i've made is correct.

[BigWillie]

doesn't sound much like scare tactics to me. i'm surprised the projections are so low to be honest. over here we're being told that 65,000 may die of it.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8159488.stm
of course it may very well be and hopefully is that that is also scaremongering but sureley obama is fairly poor at scaremongering if he is stating roughly one in every 3400 will die while the country he is being accused of basing his health care reform on is projecting 1 in every 685

edit: those figures may not be 100% as i got the populations from wikipedia but they will be accurate enough that the point i've made is correct.

Australia is suffering through their own flu season right now and swine flu is showing a weakened state as their flu season goes on. In places like Victoria they are even showing an extreme downturn in the number of infections.

[StanleySpadowski]

For all the liberal bashing of "big" drug companies and ObamaCare backers blaming those companies for out of control health care costs, I think it's only fair that those people are the last ones in line to get the vaccine being produced by the Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline's of the world.

[Hoofbite]

For all the liberal bashing of "big" drug companies and ObamaCare backers blaming those companies for out of control health care costs, I think it's only fair that those people are the last ones in line to get the vaccine being produced by the Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline's of the world.

So because people are unhappy with getting bent over in one way, they should be bent over in another to even things out?

Good idea!

[BrAinPaiNt]

So because people are unhappy with getting bent over in one way, they should be bent over in another to even things out?

Good idea!

If you are not with us, you are against us?:D

[JBond]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_swine_flu_outbreak

The 1976 swine flu outbreak, also known as the swine flu fiasco, or the swine flu debacle, was a strain of H1N1 influenza virus that appeared in 1976. Infections were only detected from January 19 to February 9, and were not found outside Fort Dix.[1] The outbreak is most remembered for the mass immunization that it prompted in the United States. The strain itself killed one person and hospitalized 13. However, side-effects from the vaccine caused 25 deaths.

On February 15, 1976, an army recruit at Fort Dix said he felt tired and weak. He died the next day and four of his fellow soldiers were later hospitalized. Two weeks after his death, health officials announced that swine flu was the cause of death and that this strain of flu appeared to be closely related to the strain involved in the 1918 flu pandemic. Alarmed public-health officials decided that action must be taken to head off another major pandemic, and they urged President Gerald Ford that every person in the U.S. be vaccinated for the disease. The vaccination program was plagued by delays and public relations problems, but about 24% of the population had been vaccinated by the time the program was canceled. Only one person, the Fort Dix army recruit, died from the flu.[2]

There were reports of Guillain-Barré syndrome, a paralyzing neuromuscular disorder, affecting some people who had received swine flu immunizations. This syndrome is a rare side-effect of modern influenza vaccines, with an incidence of about one case per million vaccinations.[3] As a result, Di Justo writes that "the public refused to trust a government-operated health program that killed old people and crippled young people." In total, less than 33 percent of the population had been immunized by the end of 1976. The National Influenza Immunization Program was effectively halted on December 16.

Overall, about 500 cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), resulting in death from severe pulmonary complications for 25 people, were probably caused by an immunopathological reaction to the 1976 vaccine. Other influenza vaccines have not been linked to Guillain-Barré syndrome, though caution is advised for certain individuals, particularly those with a history of GBS.[4][5]

[TheCount]

Possible but I found it curious that at the height of the supposed pandemic and then fall to last page news Obamacare was in its infancy then 4 weeks later the CDC started making the claims that this years flu season will be rife with the swine flu and then low and behold Obamacare started polluting the air waves.

lol, did you just say "possible" to the idea that it's a cover up for the mass extermination of conservatives?

[Hoofbite]

lol, did you just say "possible" to the idea that it's a cover up for the mass extermination of conservatives?

:laugh2:

[burmafrd]

Not worried. Unlike libs we conservatives are way too smart to just line up and be exterminated. Plus we have most of the guns, too.

[TheCount]

Not worried. Unlike libs we conservatives are way too smart to just line up and be exterminated. Plus we have most of the guns, too.

... was that a joke? :eek:

Well you did get your "libs" in there, so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised.

[BrAinPaiNt]

... was that a joke? :eek:

Well you did get your "libs" in there, so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised.

:laugh2:

[burmafrd]

I am a lot more blunt and honest then most of you libs. Or those posing as supposedly impartial.

And who was it that said about mass extermination of conservatives? One of your liberal buddies Count, TEMO.

[Temo]

lol, did you just say "possible" to the idea that it's a cover up for the mass extermination of conservatives?

Don't ruin this for me.

[Temo]

And who was it that said about mass extermination of conservatives? One of your liberal buddies Count, TEMO.

But I wanna be your buddy too :(

[burmafrd]

I don't swing that way. Try BP, he probably does.

[Temo]

I don't swing that way. Try BP, he probably does.

You're breaking my heart, burm. :(

[TheCount]

I am a lot more blunt and honest then most of you libs. Or those posing as supposedly impartial.

And who was it that said about mass extermination of conservatives? One of your liberal buddies Count, TEMO.

Yeah, well you know Temo and I just had our afternoon tea (like we do every Tuesday) and were trying to come up with ways to purge the earth of conservatives and swine flu was the best we could do.

But being dirty, good for nothing, libs we beat around the bush and lie to each other far too much to ever come up with an ACTUAL plan, so I guess you're safe for another year.

[JBond]

But being dirty, good for nothing, libs we beat around the bush and lie to each other far too much to ever come up with an ACTUAL plan, so I guess you're safe for another year.

I find your honesty refreshing.:D

[TheCount]

I find your honesty refreshing.:D

Well I'm trying something different, but I gotta tell ya, so far... it stinks. :laugh2:

[BrAinPaiNt]

You're breaking my heart, burm. :(

He swings that way...he is just like many republicans on the hill that refuse to admit it, even if they get caught.:p:

[Temo]

But being dirty, good for nothing, libs we beat around the bush and lie to each other far too much to ever come up with an ACTUAL plan, so I guess you're safe for another year.

I'm telling you, my 6 months of pre-election support for John McCain and my completely Republican ballot was all a ploy to get conservatives at ease. (although we all know that NY conservatives are really just libs in disguise)

Soon we will strike.

[JBond]

(although we all know that NY conservatives are really just libs in disguise)

Soon we will strike.

Wow. Two honest statements in the same thread.

[Temo]

Wow. Two honest statements in the same thread.
What can I say JBond, after all these months of political talk, I'm pretty sure we know everyone's stance on everything by now :D

[JBond]

What can I say JBond, after all these months of political talk, I'm pretty sure we know everyone's stance on everything by now :D

True statement. Thank God football is season is here.:D

[daschoo]

What can I say JBond, after all these months of political talk, I'm pretty sure we know everyone's stance on everything by now :D

the only one i can't quite work out is burm :confused:

[BrAinPaiNt]

the only one i can't quite work out is burm :confused:

You are not a right wing dittohead...therefore you are a lib.

There, that is it in a nutshell.

[TheCount]

the only one i can't quite work out is burm :confused:

Yeah, he is pretty subtle isn't he?

[JBond]

Yeah, he is pretty subtle isn't he?

Everyone seems to give burm a hard time, but for some reason like to overlook the fact he is right most of the time. No he is not subtle, but being subtle has not gotten conservatives very far. I believe many times he is looking down the road and basing his comments on what he thinks will happen through experience. It can sound over the top just as I do, but we are living in different times now.

How many here would have predicted the president would have the ability to hire and fire CEO"s of companies at a whim. Who would believe the president would take over entire companies and then hand them over to the unions while screwing the true owners of the company. These are definitely very different times.

[TheCount]

Everyone seems to give burm a hard time, but for some reason like to overlook the fact he is right most of the time. No he is not subtle, but being subtle has not gotten conservatives very far. I believe many times he is looking down the road and basing his comments on what he thinks will happen through experience. It can sound over the top just as I do, but we are living in different times now.

How many here would have predicted the president would have the ability to hire and fire CEO"s of companies at a whim. Who would believe the president would take over entire companies and then hand them over to the unions while screwing the true owners of the company. These are definitely very different times.


Well obviously you'd think he's right all the time, and I'm pretty sure it's the other way around as far as who is giving who a rough time.

[BrAinPaiNt]

Everyone seems to give burm a hard time, but for some reason the fact he is FAR right leaning ALL of the time. No he is not subtle, but anything that does not match his views automatically makes someone a lib.


Fixed it for you.:D

But I will give him credit when credit is due. I love when he talks about WWII. He does have a good knowledge on the topic and I find them very interesting. So...there is hope for him.:D

[daschoo]

main reason burm came to mind was his reasoning earlier on today that i thought megrahi was innocent because i'm a lib and i want him to be innocent. which of course completely ignored all the reasons and links i had given throughout the thread to the evidence behind my thinking and just jumped to i disagree with your politics so thats why.

[JBond]

main reason burm came to mind was his reasoning earlier on today that i thought megrahi was innocent because i'm a lib and i want him to be innocent. which of course completely ignored all the reasons and links i had given throughout the thread to the evidence behind my thinking and just jumped to i disagree with your politics so thats why.

nah, you're a lib for completely different reasons.:D

[BrAinPaiNt]

main reason burm came to mind was his reasoning earlier on today that i thought megrahi was innocent because i'm a lib and i want him to be innocent. which of course completely ignored all the reasons and links i had given throughout the thread to the evidence behind my thinking and just jumped to i disagree with your politics so thats why.

Well you are a dirty lib and a dirty furriner, plus a dirty soccer lover.

Geez buddy you got three strikes against you from the get go.;) :p:

Next thing we will find out is that you wear flannel school girl skirts to parties or something.:p:

[daschoo]

you're surely not suggesting that my kilt is less than manly? you're just jealous you don't have the knees to get away with wearing one! :D

[BrAinPaiNt]

you're surely not suggesting that my kilt is less than manly? you're just jealous you don't have the knees to get away with wearing one! :D

Oh I got the knees baby, you just gotta find them under the hair.:o: :p:

[TheCount]

Well you are a dirty lib and a dirty furriner, plus a dirty soccer lover.

Geez buddy you got three strikes against you from the get go.;) :p:

Next thing we will find out is that you wear flannel school girl skirts to parties or something.:p:


lol, that reminds me. I was driving in Upstate New York last weekend and some guy had a huge spray painted sign hung on his porch that read "Foreigners Go Home" and everyone in the car looked at each other like "Uh Oh" (especially since half the car was minorities) and then a few blocks from that house there was a guy with a professionally printed banner that had pictures of Obama and several other Democrats and the word "Enough", and we just busted out laughing.

[Jarv]

lol, that reminds me. I was driving in Upstate New York last weekend and some guy had a huge spray painted sign hung on his porch that read "Foreigners Go Home" and everyone in the car looked at each other like "Uh Oh" (especially since half the car was minorities) and then a few blocks from that house there was a guy with a professionally printed banner that had pictures of Obama and several other Democrats and the word "Enough", and we just busted out laughing.

A trip off the topic road here, but what do you consider upstate ? I assume your from the city because of NY, NY...See, to me people call Brewster, NY upstate. My parents live 6 hours north of that...

Just one of those things I don't get :)

[StanleySpadowski]

I guess the subtle nuance of my post was lost. I should remember to couch things in language that my five year old would understand so that the knuckle draggers get it.


Guys who make drugs ain't all bad. They make big bucks on some drugs so they can pay to look up ways to make drugs to heal us of stuff they do not have drugs for yet.

Monosylabbic and everything to say that our "high" prescription prices pay for research and development of new drugs and vaccines. We pay more than most countries but we also have the most advanced system in the world. They make squat on the latest anti-rejection drugs for transplant receipients but it saves lives and costs hundreds of millions of Viagra scripts to pay for it.

It's like the biyotch with PETA taking insulin. Either you're for it, against it or you're a giant hypocritical ******.

[TheCount]

A trip off the topic road here, but what do you consider upstate ? I assume your from the city because of NY, NY...See, to me people call Brewster, NY upstate. My parents live 6 hours north of that...

Just one of those things I don't get :)

Yeah, I get that alot. I was in Hoosick, NY which is about 3 and a half hours from NY City. I wouldn't consider Brewster upstate, but I went to HS in Westchester and people from Manhattan call that upstate sometimes, which is funny since it's about 30 minutes away.

[bbgun]

Well, it was nice knowing you guys. See you on the other side.

[burmafrd]

Considering how often BP has gotten to exposing himself as a closet Lib, I would not be surprised if he does swing both ways.

[TheCount]

Considering how often BP has gotten to exposing himself as a closet Lib, I would not be surprised if he does swing both ways.

You mean he's a closet moderate? That *******!

[MetalHead]

you're surely not suggesting that my burka is less than manly? :D

We know...

[jrumann59]

lol, did you just say "possible" to the idea that it's a cover up for the mass extermination of conservatives?


Yes I forgot to put in the sarcasm emoticon we do not have.

[DaBoys4Life]

Yes I forgot to put in the sarcasm emoticon we do not have.

:sarcasm:

[jrumann59]

:sarcasm:

Damn it did not show up at work when I made that reply. How long has that been around?

[DaBoys4Life]

Damn it did not show up at work when I made that reply. How long has that been around?

always?

[trickblue]

Damn it did not show up at work when I made that reply. How long has that been around?

always?

I did not create that one... but I should have...

Bad on me...

[daschoo]

We know...

that made me smile

[BrAinPaiNt]

Considering how often BP has gotten to exposing himself as a closet Lib, I would not be surprised if he does swing both ways.

Your sweet tongue and sexual overtones will not work...you still can not have your deepest desire...ME.

:laugh2:

[MetalHead]

that made me smile

Of course it did.