Swine Flu scare- was it all a con?

[desprateseagull]

Report condemns swine flu experts' ties to big pharmaceutical co's | The Guardian

 

[Deleted User X18H]

It was certainly very over hyped. Especially the screaming Express headline 'Its out of control' and the Royal College of Nursing's press release stating 'all pregnant women and unborn children were at risk and should stay in doors where possible' that wasn't nice for us as my wife was third trimester at the time.

It did affect some people badly, but if you'd ever had regular proper flu, not just a bad cold you'd know exactly what to expect.

 

[Mellotron]

The level of scaremongering certainly was, the problem was if you "had" it you couldn't go to the docs to get it checked out, a lot of people thought they had it when they only had a sniffle. I had one mate who "got" Swine Flu but was back to work the next day. That's not Swine Flu.

There's a lot you can read into about the amount of power the big medical companies have both over here and in America, it's probably mix of genuine stuff and conspiracy theories.

Sars, Bird Flu, Swine Flu - give it another 6 months, there will be another GLOBAL PANDEMIC on the way no doubt that kills about 500 people worldwide.

 

[Deleted User X18H]

The level of scaremongering certainly was, the problem was if you "had" it you couldn't go to the docs to get it checked out, a lot of people thought they had it when they only had a sniffle. I had one mate who "got" Swine Flu but was back to work the next day. That's not Swine Flu.

There's a lot you can read into about the amount of power the big medical companies have both over here and in America, it's probably mix of genuine stuff and conspiracy theories.

Sars, Bird Flu, Swine Flu - give it another 6 months, there will be another GLOBAL PANDEMIC on the way no doubt that kills about 500 people worldwide.

500 are you being ironic?

 

[Mellotron]

500 are you being ironic?

I was being glib. You get my point though.

 

[Husty]

The idea was that it was used a warm up for if we ever get a pandemic of avian flu which has the potential to kill millions, in that way I think it was effective, lots of people made the trip to a collection point e.t.c.

It could however lead to a 'boy who cried wolf' situation where people are not as responsive when there is a true danger such as avian flu and no one starts taking notice until there is 100k dead bodies by which point its in the population already.

 

[Tricky Dicky]

I had the jab, I am in the category of people who could be badly affected if infected - I guess I had a choice but I generally take the Doctors advice on these things. Yes, we know now it was over-hyped, but the government would have taken a lot of stick if they had taken a different approach and it got as bad as people thought it might.

Anyway, look at it as good practice in these procedures for when something REAL happens.

 

[beorhthelm]

was it hyped? or was the reaction productive in containing and therefore preventing the spread?

i think the truth was there was poor reporting in the initial stages, some mexican village where there were supposed to be dozens of deaths in fact only had a couple. later on, docotors were prescribing Tamiflu for whole families when one got ill, making it look like there were far more incidents of flu. I blame the media more for transmitting the hype and fears of potential epidemic unchecked, putting undue pressure on authorities to (over)react.

 

[The Wizard]

I said at the time it was the same old same old whenever we have a virus outbreak, ITS GOING TO KILL US ALL ect ect.

 

[coventrygull]

Well someone made a lot of money.

 

[Tricky Dicky]

was it hyped? or was the reaction productive in containing and therefore preventing the spread?

i think the truth was there was poor reporting in the initial stages, some mexican village where there were supposed to be dozens of deaths in fact only had a couple. later on, docotors were prescribing Tamiflu for whole families when one got ill, making it look like there were far more incidents of flu. I blame the media more for transmitting the hype and fears of potential epidemic unchecked, putting undue pressure on authorities to (over)react.

Just being pedantic, but there isn't much difference between "hyped" and "Bad reporting" really is there ? Ok, one may have the air of deliberacy about it, but the result is much the same.

 

[withdeanwombat]

I had a free jab,so that's ok.Has it totally flown away now,or is it like homing flu,returning in time for the next flu season ?

 

[Tricky Dicky]

I had a free jab,so that's ok.Has it totally flown away now,or is it like homing flu,returning in time for the next flu season ?

I don't know the science, but I have a feeling nursey told me I wouldn't need that one again, unlike the yearly one I get. I may be wrong though.

 

[Albion Dan]

It was a complete con to make Pharmacuetical companies lots and lots of money. Also a handy tool to scare the public.

 

[Simster]

I'm not convinced by all the cyncism on here. If the warning signs had been ignored and flu related deaths had gone through the roof, I wonder what you'd all be saying now.

At the end of the day, the fact that it was well contained and precautions properly made shows that governments did a good job.

 

[Albion Dan]

It was well contained because it wasnt a big problem anyway. There was no precautions on the tube and there wasnt an epidemic of people falling down with it because of travel on there, which if it was real would have happened on a massive scale. 70% of reported cases are estimated to have been normal colds diagnosed as swine flu by the helpline. It was a complete con.

 

[Don Quixote]

Glaxo like to bring out a super bug that is going to kill us all every few years so we buy their drugs .