The year of 2009 brings a relatively new pandemic into the scene, swine flu a.k.a. H1N1. The first outbreak of swine flu occurred in 1976, during the Presidency of Gerald Ford. A recruit in the United States army at Fort Dix, New Jersey reported that he felt tired and dazed. The next day he died and four men were hospitalized. The virus that caused such illness in the five men was found to be a strain of swine flu. Mass panic took hold of public health officials and they pressured Ford to have everyone in the U.S. to be vaccinated for this epidemic.
The 1976 outbreak of swine flu was expected to infect 50 million Americans, but only 200 cases were reported with one death (there were more deaths caused by the vaccination than the virus itself). The epidemic was called a political farce by the public. Swine flu is back again and we seem to fear it as a pandemic that could kill millions worldwide, but it may not be the case. Consider the following examples. SARS was considered to kill millions but only 774 people died by the time the World Health Organization (WHO) called the outbreak to be over. SARS is not the only example; bird flu was also expected to be a virus that could not be stopped, yet only 170-200 people died of bird flu worldwide. To better put this in perspective, you have a higher chance of killing yourself before SARS, bird flu, or even swine flu kills you.
The only known treatment for swine flu is Tamiflu (Oseltamivir), the same treatment for bird flu. Tamiflu has been licensed by Gilead Sciences Inc. with Hoffman-La Roche manufacturing it until 2016. Now this makes me think... Donald Rumsfeld, the former Secretary of State under the Bush Administration; the same man that led the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq was the former chairman of Gilead Sciences Inc. and held major stocks in the company. That just doesn’t seem right.
George Bush authorized $1.7 billion to fight bird flu, 14% of which went to Gilead Sciences Inc. and 10% of the cost of every vaccine went to Rumsfeld. This leads me to a conclusion; we’re living everyday of our lives trying to stay clean and clamming to rub hand sanitizer every moment we see it, when there could be a possibility that we’re forced to be scared. And by who? Corporate giants no less! This is occurring once again and swine flu is the excuse. We need to look at the bigger picture, more people die from AIDS and malnutrition worldwide than the different kinds of influenza viruses. We can’t be forced to focus on H1N1 just because the corporate pharmaceutical companies don’t make money treating other fatal diseases.
Yes, we should attempt to keep ourselves clear of swine flu’s way, but we should not be forced to lock ourselves in our homes and expect to ride out the epidemic. Rather, we should carry on with our everyday lives and not feed into everything on the news.
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