Think Maryland's ready for the Swine Flu? Guess again. With nearly 400,000 people under the age of five and over 660,000 over the age of 65, the highest at-risk populations for complications leading to death by flu, and only 476,000 doses to go around for a population of over 5 million statewide, Maryland seems to be coming up short in preparedness. Hope they can beg, borrow or buy more in a hurry if it's needed.
"Maryland's stock of antiviral medications is 38 percent lower per capita than supplies in Virginia and 24 percent below the District's stockpile -- statistics that mirror the findings of a nonprofit agency that said last year that Maryland was tied for last in the nation in readiness for a health emergency.
According to figures released earlier this week, Maryland will have a supply of about 476,000 doses of antiviral medication available in the coming days to withstand what some health officials fear could be a widespread outbreak of swine flu. That supply works out to a course of treatment for one out of about every 11.8 state residents...."
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10 comments:
I remember years ago they had a scare. They gave shots at the Health Dept. in Salisbury. Would the shot still be good/working.
Best thing to do is cook your pork and wash your hands, esp in public places. Don't rely to heavily on antibacterial hand sanitizers but use if you have nothing else and last but not the least important is to use common sense.
There was a swine flu outbreak in the 70's (1976?) and more people died from the vaccine than from the flu itself. I'll take my chances with the flu.
Anon 10:32:
Good question. The Swine Flu shots given during the Carter Administration probably won't give immunity to what's now being called Swine Flu, which comes in several variations and has undoubtedly morphed into others in those 30 years. That scare resulted in more deaths and complications from the vaccine than the flu itself.
I think this episode is going to be fairly self-limiting, based on a great number of factors.
The best advice is still to practice good hygiene (hand washing and completely covering coughs and sneezes, followed by hand washing) and to avoid exposure to those who may be carrying the disease. Those with suspected flu should call in sick to minimize their exposure to others until they recover, and, if needed, seek medical attention. As for getting the immunization, call the county health department officer and discuss whether you're one of those who is at risk for complications.
It is called swine flu because this particular strain orginally comes from pigs and is transmitted to humans like the avian flu comes from birds and is transmitted to humans. It is now in a human to human transmission stage. You could eat pork products till they come out of your eyeballs and it won't give you swine flu.
You can't get it from pork, but because you haven't cooked your pork all the way thru-you're likely to get sick and some will think you have swine flu...so cook your pork well as well as your other meats and use some common sense...
Please note that if an influenza virus becomes pandemic, that everyone is at high risk, because there is no immunity-- That is the definition of a pandemic virus-- Not just the young and elderly. In fact, 20-45 years olds' are at very high risk of complications in a pandemic. Please check out www.pandemicflu.gov.
I get the feeling that this is not as serious as it's being made out to be. There are thousands of people who die each year from the flu.
I suspect there is something else going on that our own government does not want to be headlined so they're making this story even more serious as coverup.
It happens all the time. The Clinton Admin. did it, the Bush Admin did it, and now it continues.
Could it be they didn't want anymore coverage/investigation of the flights over New York City the other day? Or is it something else that's not even come to light yet.
Call me a conspiracy theorist if you wish, but people have in the past just to find out I was right a couple of weeks down the road when it came out something was covered up or delayed in reaching it to the press.
Just wondering.....
THE 5PM NEWS ON CH 13 ...LIVE FROM Balti.....the State Health Dept. said {live} they only have just over 4000 doses of vaccine for the swine flu, they purchased from the Fed gov, which hasnt arrived yet....
The average person with a normal immune system can get the virus and live, however small children, the elderly and people with a low immune system can die from it. The only person to die so far here in the USA was a small child.
I don't think we should over react however take the warning seriously, this isn't a hurricane that "May" hit shore, it's already hit.
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