At the moment, WHO site states there are 26 deaths (25 from mexico, 1 from US). Not really sure how the media/news got 100 and something (I think I heard/read somewhere that the 100+ was the initial guess.. but they found out later that most of them weren't H1N1's fault? not sure).
I
think the reason it seems to be such a "scare" is because:
- It's a new virus, we have no immunity against it. For seasonal flu, most of us would have had a little immunity to it from previous exposure of a similar strain.
- There are no vaccines for it when there's an outbreak, where as seasonal flu vaccines can be developed annually for it.
- Seasonal flu happens every year while pandemics do not. Influenza viruses can induce point mutations to their antigens to alter the strain and make it "slightly different" so our old antibodies don't bind so effectively (this is called an antigenic drift, if anyone is curious..). Pandemics is usually caused by antigen shifts (the case for this) where the virus exchanged RNA with other different strains (bigger change). Meaning our immune system will have to initiate a whole new response. Boohoo.
The big question: Is it as scary as the media makes it sound, and should we be scared too?
Probably not (especially when it sounds like some media doesn't have the right info.. unless I am misunderstanding something somewhere) BUT I personally don't think it should be underestimated and thought of as "just another flu". It is a new virus after all, it deserves some attention as a greeting!
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