Government & Swine flu (influenza)

You may be asking yourself as of late, what is this Swine Flu? Swine Influenza (swine flu) is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by type A influenza virus that regularly causes outbreaks of influenza in pigs. Swine flu viruses cause high degrees of sickness and low death rates in pigs. Swine influenza viruses may spread among swine throughout the year, but most outbreaks occur during the late fall and winter months similar to outbreaks in humans. The classic swine flu virus (an influenza type A H1N1 virus) was first separated from a pig in 1930.

What is a rather disturbing fact is that there is normally only one case of human infection every two years. That makes the recent outbreaks all the more alarming. Since the government has raised the pandemic threat level to 4, we should not only educate ourselves, but protect ourselves. Humans are not responding to the typical medications for the swine flu. That leaves us to our own devices. 

It's a simple fact: drugs are a multi-billion dollar business. Not only do pharmaceutical company have politicians in their pocket, but they also invest huge sums of money on advertising. Many drug companies actually spend much more on marketing than they do on actually researching and developing the drugs they sell. The next time you watch TV, count how many drug commercials you see during a 30 minute period. You'll soon discover that a very large percentage of all the advertisements you watched were for prescription drugs.

So it's no surprise that the media companies these drug companies help fund in a major way aren't too eager to share simple, cheap ways you can stay healthy without using these drugs.

The drug companies are big media's favorite customers. And because of this, incredible medical breakthroughs that would take away from the drug company's profits would also hurt the television companies that could otherwise share those breakthroughs with the public. 

It is my contention NOT to rely on the government to assist in this current swine flu crisis. Swine flu is not spreading from eating pork. Cooking pork thoroughly kills any bacteria. The flu is passed directly from pig to human and human to human. Influenza viruses can be directly transmitted from pigs to people and from people to pigs. Human infection with flu viruses from pigs are most likely to occur when people are in close proximity to infected pigs, such as in pig barns and livestock exhibits housing pigs at fairs. Human-to-human transmission of swine flu can also occur. This is thought to occur in the same way as seasonal flu occurs in people, which is mainly person-to-person transmission through coughing or sneezing of people infected with the influenza virus. People may become infected by touching something with flu viruses on it and then touching their mouth or nose.

In September 1988, a previously healthy 32-year-old pregnant woman was hospitalized for pneumonia and died 8 days later. A swine H1N1 flu virus was detected. Four days before getting sick, the patient visited a county fair swine exhibition where there was widespread influenza-like illness among the swine.