H1N1: Another Update

For those of you keeping score at home:

Paul Donnelly - 1
Dr. Margaret Chan - 0

What has become clear in the five months since H1N1 raised its not particularly ugly head?

1) As predicted, the effected cohort has skewed young.
2) There have been few hospitalizations and even fewer deaths attributable to H1N1.
3) As with 2, this assertion is entirely based on anecdote. Anecdotes from dozens and dozens of hospitals and individuals across the country reported in numerous media. Most of those infected report symptoms indistinguishable from other strains of flu.

"Oh the humanity, the humanity!"

For my regular readers who may be forgiven for asking "why won't he let this go?" and new readers asking "what is he talking about?' (See H1N1: The Rant, 08/19/89.)

I won't let go because of my strong belief that creating needless fear and panic is never justifiable, always reprehensible and a spectacularly ineffective public health strategy.

I also remain astonished that the term "pandemic" refers to some obscure bureaucratic metric that is not related to number of infections, severity of reaction or number of deaths. Really. So the next time you see the term pandemic you can just yawn and turn the page.