Back in the USSA: H1N1 Swine Flu Epidemic

The 2009 strain of H1N1 swine flu is back, killing at epidemic levels since mid-January, according to the CDC. The young and healthy are most susceptible.

H1N1 flu returns, with people under 65 most affected

The H1N1 virus responsible for the 2009 global pandemic is back. State health officials from across the country say the resurgence is resulting in a dramatic rise in flu deaths in young and middle-aged adults and in children this season.

While the reported death tolls so far are only a fraction of what they were four years ago, they are significantly higher than last year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the flu has been killing at epidemic levels since mid-January.

H1N1 Strain at 'Near Epidemic' Levels

….The Centers for Disease Control have said this year’s strain of H1N1 is at near-epidemic levels. That’s the same strain that caused widespread death back in 2009.

Doctors say it’s much worse than the general strain of the flu and is infecting and killing patients who are otherwise young and healthy, like McDowell.

Wilson-McDowell said her husband died one week after he started feeling sick.

...“This is a virus that infects the lungs,” Dr. Thomas Rushton said. “It invokes a strong immune response and so we will see young people that are healthy. They are, in fact, so healthy that they end up doing more damage."

Just a few of the top headlines from the US and Canada:

H1N1 flu virus contributes to popular pastor’s death

Police Officer Dies From H1N1 Virus

Pregnant woman dies from flu

Saskatchewan reports two more flu-related deaths; bring total to 18 this season

Collins County, Texas: 3 More Dead From H1N1

I know in January was reported 21 deaths in north Texas. I'm sure its gone up since then. Some were from H1N1 but not sure if they all were reported as that strain.

Just propaganda.

There is no "epidemic". An epidemic is when large percentages of populations are infected with the same thing over a short period of time. How many cases total have there been? 25? 50? 100? Out of 350,000,000 people?

Will all the rhetoric, it would seem that another bubonic plague is on the loose... but looking around oneself, youll see no evidence of that at all.

Lets recognize this for what it is, propaganda and fear mongering, and move on.

When theres a real epidemic on the loose, you wont need the news to tell you about it.

May I ask what pandemic occurred?

(For a real pandemic look up the Spanish Flu.)

I knew 1-2 people that stated they got that flu, no real verification, and like every year they got over it. I did not see vast numbers of people dying. No one i have spoken to knows anyone that has died from H1N1.

WHO Influenza

Influenza epidemics occur yearly during autumn and winter in temperate regions. Illnesses result in hospitalizations and deaths mainly among high-risk groups (the very young, elderly or chronically ill). Worldwide, these annual epidemics result in about three to five million cases of severe illness, and about 250 000 to 500 000 deaths.

So please tell me how H1N1 is any worse than what happens every year during flu season.

For anyone interested....

FluView - Centers for Disease Control

That gives the text report and this week it's topped with this:

According to this week’s FluView report while influenza activity is decreasing, it remains elevated nationally. Flu activity is likely to continue for a number of weeks. Anyone aged 6 months and older who has not gotten a flu vaccine yet this season should get one now, especially if they are in a part of the country where activity started later. All flu vaccines are designed to protect against 2009 H1N1 viruses which are the most common flu viruses reported so far this season.

(Above link)

Another CDC page has weekly updates to a national map, showing spread and coverage as reported around the US.



it's certainly not pretty....but I don't know that I'd go so far as to suggest Epidemic at this stage. It looks like we're over the hump and Flu season is closing out...slowly, but surely. That's just my take on current medical assessments from those tracking such things.

Okay, here's how it works:

The teevee and newspapers are filled with ads from Halloween on telling you you have to go shopping for Christmas stuff and give presents away and go visit gramma and the kids and your friends, lots of parties. You go to busy shopping malls as well as work and school; then the parties start. Thanksgiving, hours spent in crowded airports or train stations, on tin cans sharing air with strangers from all over the world, who may or may not be coming down with something but they had an expensive ticket and so they get on board. Then you spend hours at gramma's and share germs with the little kids and the college students home from school and everyone else. Then everyone goes back to their work and school lives, and repeats the same process again with more shopping at crowded malls interspersed. The teevee and newspapers and every store you walk into tells you to get a flu shot, which means for several days afterwards you'll be shedding flu virus, but they never warn you about that, go out and mingle, now you're protected...

Then after the Christmas traveling and celebrations (was that someone from China you sat next to on the plane? Didn't they seem a bit under the weather? And weren't there several people sneezing and coughing in the seats behind you???) you go back home and the college students go back to their dorms and the nursery school kids go back to daycare and then the fun starts. Sick parents who can't afford to stay out of work now because they have extra bills due besides the usual big ones for heating and winter car repairs and stuff... so the snotty nosed little kids are dropped off at daycare and school to spread their newly incubating germs around to each other, and the college students who don't feel well are fending for themselves and trying to get to classes...

For some strange reason, after all this germ sharing, there's a huge increase in the number of flu cases and some of the people die, and if they aren't old people or very young people, it's alarming. And the newspapers and teevee news are filled with alarmist talking heads telling you how bad things are and it's a PANDEMIC! and you should be scared and nevermind that a mere month ago they were telling you spend as much time in public as possible and get your flu jab and Norman Rockwell turkey dinners with 30 relatives are mandatory to living the good life.

But not to worry, until they put up red quarantine signs on your house and people with guns are patrolling the streets and they're sending out garbage trucks and yelling 'bring out your dead' it's not really a pandemic.

And next year the same exact scam will happen, because the stores don't make money until Black Friday and capitalism is more important than anything.

Jeez. 2 modes: panic or denial. FYI - Diseases happen. I track disease activity. Lighten up.

reply to post by CaticusMaximus


I think you may be confusing H1N1 swine flu with one of China's bird flus. Forbes reports today:

CDC Warns Of Threat From H1N1 Swine Flu

...the CDC, which issued an urgent call for flu shots today, warning that this year’s flu season is turning out to be particularly deadly and still has weeks or even months to go. And if you’re an adult between the ages of 18 and 65, they mean you.

...a scary 60 percent of flu deaths have been among those 25 to 65.

If you prefer, direct from the CDC.

Update: Influenza Activity — United States, September 29, 2013-February 8, 2014

Pneumonia and Influenza-Associated Mortality
During the week ending February 8, 2014 (week 6), pneumonia and influenza (P&I) was reported as an underlying or contributing cause for 8.4% (1,023 of 12,180) of all deaths reported to the 122 Cities

reply to post by Azdraik


It's an epidemic, not a pandemic.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Flu season might be tapering down in California, but it's got a while to go yet in the rest of the country. And don't forget - the 2009 pandemic just got started in May.

...this year’s flu season is turning out to be particularly deadly and still has weeks or even months to go.

...Today’s numbers come from a national sampling of 122 U.S cities, but the CDC also issued a special report for California, where the flu has been particularly deadly in recent weeks. Flu deaths in California reached 243 on February 8th, the California Department of Public Health reported, but also said the peak season may have passed in the state (where spring comes early).

reply to post by signalfire

the newspapers and teevee news are filled with alarmist talking heads telling you how bad things are and it's a PANDEMIC!

Again, no one has called a pandemic. But H1N1 swine flu does seem to be hitting epidemic proportions in the USA, meaning there are more cases, and more serious ones than you'd find in a normal flu season.

Peak flu season may have passed in warmer parts of the US, but reports say it's just starting in colder climes. And don't forget - the 2009 pandemic began in May of that year. ....Mainstream authorities have no defence to offer except vaccines; others recommend alternatives (well investigated here on ATS).

The take home message: Whatever defence you choose, bump your efforts. This epidemic is probably not over yet.

Just reporting here. Local papers around the country are full of news about individual cases. Here's an overview.

As Death Toll Rises, the CDC Is Practically Begging Americans to Get Their Flu Shots

On Thursday, officials from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issued a statement warning that the influenza strain that caused the 2009 swine flu pandemic, H1N1, is back with a vengeance. Since January, the flu has contributed to “epidemic” numbers of deaths among middle-aged and young Americans. The CDC suspects that flu activity will continue for at least another few weeks….

….this year’s H1N1 strain is hitting younger people the hardest. ….The hospitalization rate for people 18 and 64 has doubled, now representing 61 percent of all flu-related hospitalizations. And more than 60 percent of this winter’s flu deaths have occurred among people between the ages of 25 and 65.

….In Arkansas, a woman lost her unborn child after coming down with H1N1, only to lose her own life a month later. Another pregnant woman in Los Angeles also recently passed away. In San Francisco, a healthy 47-year-old women who worked at a local ABC News affiliate died from the flu just a few days after she started feeling sick ….

The outbreak appears to be hitting California the hardest, where 243 people under the age of 65 have died from the flu so far this year. That’s a dramatic spike from last season, when just 26 people in that demographic had died by this point. Hospitals are overflowing in the Golden State, and medical professionals have been forced to set up makeshift tents to quarantine people with flulike symptoms. ….