Panic-mongering

Tim Black writes:

Panic-mongering by authorities about a pandemic is distorting the threat and distracting from real killers like malaria.

There have been 11,194 confirmed cases of swine flu in Australia during the past couple of months. The total number of people to have suffered swine-flu related deaths since is 24.

From the Australian, here.

Meanwhile the top story in the Herald.

One of the thoughts that's started to occur to me, when I read about things like swine flu panic, is why people don't fear hell more than they do? It can't be because they're thinking rationally.

Anyway. "Matilda, what's the best cure for swine flu?" (Answer: lots of oinkment.)

The swine has no clothes

Took Ruby to see Dr Big Trev yesterday. He hasn't seen any patients with swine flu. Well he wouldn't, would he, seeing as how this is NSW.

But it's pretty clear that this is not a major pandemic of the sort that kills people. In fact, it's been pretty clear for quite a while now, when you look at the figures for Mexico where it all started.

This is good, but has involved incredible amounts of expense in the process. Imagine if that effort had gone into helping fight some of the third world diseases that actually kill people.

Crying wolf over swine flu

Total dead from this near 'pandemic'? 20, worldwide.

...a WHO spokesman admitted that under the guidelines many normal strains of flu would also be "pandemics".

From The Age.

I blame global warming.