General of Darkness
16th August 2010, 05:51 PM
I suspect their next attempt will probably be on target. :soap
The pandemic that never was
* Adam Cresswell, Health editor
* From: The Australian
* August 16, 2010 12:00AM
http://resources2.news.com.au/images/2010/08/15/1225905/571142-swine-flu-suits.jpg
Paramedics Linda Alwer and Sarah Colquitt wearing bio-hazard suits for attending possible swine flu cases last year. Picture: David Caird Source: The Australian
IT arrived with a bang and is leaving with a whimper, or rather a sniffle.
Swine flu, which emerged in Mexico in March last year and sent the world into a panic, has receded to a point where health authorities have been told they can start lowering their guard.
"The new H1N1 virus has largely run its course," World Health Organisation director-general Margaret Chan said last week.
She added the virus had not disappeared, but merely joined the gallery of other flu virus strains, and as such would "continue to circulate for some years to come".
The announcement will barely register with most Australians, many of whom - judging by the sluggish take-up of the swine flu vaccine - apparently decided some time ago that H1N1 was not the terrifying killer it had initially been painted.
Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.
Related Coverage
* WHO flu advisers had industry links Adelaide Now, 5 days ago
* Experts chew fat in wake of swine flu The Australian, 23 Apr 2010
* Britain closes swine flu hotline Adelaide Now, 11 Feb 2010
* Medical officer rejects swine flu claims Adelaide Now, 12 Jan 2010
* Warnings over swine flu 'second wave' Adelaide Now, 23 Aug 2009
End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.
Early in 2009, the WHO predicted the disease would infect up to 2 billion people globally, and in Australia experts were warning many thousands of deaths - up to 10,000 in NSW alone, according to one report - might be expected.
The reality has been somewhat different. To the end of 2009 swine flu caused just 191 deaths in Australia, out of 37,636 confirmed infections, 4992 hospitalisations and 681 admissions to intensive care.
Each of the 191 deaths is still a tragedy for the families involved, but to place it in context, consider what happens every other year from "normal" seasonal flu: an estimated 2000 to 3000 deaths in this country.
Experts internationally have since rated the outbreak a damp squib, raising a question over the billions spent by national governments on drugs and vaccines to fight a threat that in the end proved much milder than forecast.
In Australia, the federal government spent more than $100 million buying 21 million doses of vaccine from Melbourne-based drug giant CSL. Only about half of these have been distributed, and fewer actually used, with the total costs estimated at about $140m for the vaccine alone.
Most of the roughly 9.5 million doses left over in Australia's swine flu vaccine stockpile will reach their expiry date early next year.
But although the federal government's chief medical officer is still urging vaccination for those yet unprotected, the chances of this stockpile being reduced much further do not seem great.
The seasonal flu vaccine available every year now includes swine flu as one of the three strains it protects against.
Peter Collignon, professor of infectious diseases at the Australian National University and a prominent critic of the pandemic flu responses, says all the evidence points to an overreaction by health authorities.
By mid-June last year, as swine flu raced through the Australian population, he says it was already clear the infection was not going to prove a repeat of the infamous 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, which is now estimated to have killed up to 50 million worldwide.
The rest.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/the-pandemic-that-never-was/story-e6frg6z6-1225905590249
The pandemic that never was
* Adam Cresswell, Health editor
* From: The Australian
* August 16, 2010 12:00AM
http://resources2.news.com.au/images/2010/08/15/1225905/571142-swine-flu-suits.jpg
Paramedics Linda Alwer and Sarah Colquitt wearing bio-hazard suits for attending possible swine flu cases last year. Picture: David Caird Source: The Australian
IT arrived with a bang and is leaving with a whimper, or rather a sniffle.
Swine flu, which emerged in Mexico in March last year and sent the world into a panic, has receded to a point where health authorities have been told they can start lowering their guard.
"The new H1N1 virus has largely run its course," World Health Organisation director-general Margaret Chan said last week.
She added the virus had not disappeared, but merely joined the gallery of other flu virus strains, and as such would "continue to circulate for some years to come".
The announcement will barely register with most Australians, many of whom - judging by the sluggish take-up of the swine flu vaccine - apparently decided some time ago that H1N1 was not the terrifying killer it had initially been painted.
Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.
Related Coverage
* WHO flu advisers had industry links Adelaide Now, 5 days ago
* Experts chew fat in wake of swine flu The Australian, 23 Apr 2010
* Britain closes swine flu hotline Adelaide Now, 11 Feb 2010
* Medical officer rejects swine flu claims Adelaide Now, 12 Jan 2010
* Warnings over swine flu 'second wave' Adelaide Now, 23 Aug 2009
End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.
Early in 2009, the WHO predicted the disease would infect up to 2 billion people globally, and in Australia experts were warning many thousands of deaths - up to 10,000 in NSW alone, according to one report - might be expected.
The reality has been somewhat different. To the end of 2009 swine flu caused just 191 deaths in Australia, out of 37,636 confirmed infections, 4992 hospitalisations and 681 admissions to intensive care.
Each of the 191 deaths is still a tragedy for the families involved, but to place it in context, consider what happens every other year from "normal" seasonal flu: an estimated 2000 to 3000 deaths in this country.
Experts internationally have since rated the outbreak a damp squib, raising a question over the billions spent by national governments on drugs and vaccines to fight a threat that in the end proved much milder than forecast.
In Australia, the federal government spent more than $100 million buying 21 million doses of vaccine from Melbourne-based drug giant CSL. Only about half of these have been distributed, and fewer actually used, with the total costs estimated at about $140m for the vaccine alone.
Most of the roughly 9.5 million doses left over in Australia's swine flu vaccine stockpile will reach their expiry date early next year.
But although the federal government's chief medical officer is still urging vaccination for those yet unprotected, the chances of this stockpile being reduced much further do not seem great.
The seasonal flu vaccine available every year now includes swine flu as one of the three strains it protects against.
Peter Collignon, professor of infectious diseases at the Australian National University and a prominent critic of the pandemic flu responses, says all the evidence points to an overreaction by health authorities.
By mid-June last year, as swine flu raced through the Australian population, he says it was already clear the infection was not going to prove a repeat of the infamous 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, which is now estimated to have killed up to 50 million worldwide.
The rest.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/the-pandemic-that-never-was/story-e6frg6z6-1225905590249