Comments on: Online resources for tracking swine flu

If you want more information about the swine flu, we have you covered with great Web resources and some social networking tips.

[ddhboy]

Thankfully our health care system is good enough to curb deaths unlike Mexico. It'll be a burden no doubt, but it probably won't be too lethal

[Michichael]

Isn't anyone else more than a little sick of the media "pandemic" spin on this whole thing? Last year we had West Nile virus. Before that we had Bird Flu. Before that, SARS. Before that, mad cow disease. Is it just me or is there every time we have a small resurgence (<10,000 people) of a disease the health organizations all freak out and put out media alerts. Oh and conveniently, the pharmaceuticals stock rises.

Seriously - who cares? If less than 1% of the world's population up and dies, it's not a pandemic.

[strobedumas]

It is a shame that you consider the lives of 10,000 people worthless . I guess the message drives home more clearly when the infections start happening in the neighbourhood right ?

[deanio]

Hey Michael,
You are absolutely right, I hardly hear anyone telling people that prevention is better than cure. OOps, there is no cure. Undersdtand that this is one of the strategies of phamaceutical companies, so that old and new "drugs" will sell. Think on this, have you ever heard of pharmaceutical companies asking for bailout? Doctors would rather prescribe a "wonder drug" for you before you can blink, rather than stress the virtues of preventitive maintenance.

[gmcbay]

A) 1% of the world's population is a LOT of people. Are you seriously suggesting that about 67 million deaths is no big deal?

B) You don't know what a pandemic is, obviously. The current swine flu outbreak is very close to being a pandemic right now and will almost certainly be classified a pandemic when the dust settles even though there haven't been reported deaths outside of Mexico. You don't need to have lots of deaths (you don't need to have any, actually) for an infectious disease outbreak to be considered pandemic.

[bhartman35]

I don't disagree with your conclusion, but that does beg the question: If no one has to die for it to be a pandemic, then why is the fact that something is a "pandemic" such a media-grabbing event? If one in 10 people on your block got the common cold, would your life be any different?

I'm not saying that this flu isn't important. All virulent flu is important, because people with compromized immune systems can get very sick and/or die. The problem is that the media is reporting it as if it was the ebola virus, rather than a run-of-the-mill virulent virus that people in special situations need to guard against.

[AlexanderNY]

Swine Flu public awareness initiative: http://www.jobrica.com/_RESOURCES/SwineFluAwareness.aspx
If you have some reliable updates on Swine Flu Epidemics, please share the information in terms of FACTS and NUMBERS:
1. Locations (as accurate as possible)
2. Number of Infected people
2. Number of Hospitalized people
3. Fatalities (if any)
4. Date of occurrence
5. Sources of information

[AlexanderNY]

Sorry for broken link; it should be www.jobrica.com/_RESOURCES/SwineFluAwareness.aspx

[swineflutrack2009]

Hi, Alexander,

I am very excited to find some people have the similar idea with me. Please visit my blog for Swine Flu Track 2009 Initiative via http://swineflutrack2009.blogspot.com/. Please let me know if you may be interested and we can work on this course together.

George

[phillyharper]

I wrote a piece on how to track swine flu online over at my blog. You missed a major trick by missing off sickcity.org from the list of places to check out what's happening.

Check out my blog entry...

http://bit.ly/ZgLqE

[Lenter101]

It's the latest media disease of the week. Let's see what is happening in one week. I suspect it will go the way of SARS, Y2K, West Nile and all the other things the media embraces with all the hysteria they can muster and then move on to feed on something else.

[openflu]

You can find more data(including XML for developers) & maps here: http://openflu.dyndns.org

[nhsUnlocked]

Health 2.0 web networks will also play their part if the pandemic really takes hold. At the moment it's level 4 which is just enough to propel a bit of twitter panic, but if it goes beyond this people will need more concrete networks to get solid information.

nhsUnlocked, a British Health 2.0 site has set up a Swine Flu group for this eventuality, with useful links and a twitter feed - it invites doctors to share the same online space as patients - which is important if things deteriorate. Let's hope they don't

[MrsLTorres]

I think they should just cancel all flights for the next several days, it just makes no sense it is getting worst because of the people that are traveling back and forth. To avoid it becoming really bad they REALLY need to cancel all flights until further notice. I know people have families to go back home to but at the same time we are losing alot of people because of this. This is crazy.

[nhsUnlocked]

sorry - the link to nhsUnlocked is http://nhsunlocked.org/group/swineflu

[pontogo]

I have been checking on this swine flu tracking website http://www.swine-flu-tracker.com/ on and off for the last couple of days now and its kinda scary seeing how it this strain of flu is spreading.

[DigitalBenjamin]

Here's a unique site I found today: It's a cool animated map that shows the spread of Swine Flu across the US.

http://www.swine-flu-map-animation.com/

[AlexanderNY]

Swine Flu (H1N1) updates as of 05/02/2009: cases confirmed in Florida, Missouri (follow the link bellow to see the map).
Swine Flu public awareness initiative maps outbreaks in North America and worldwide, constantly updating: http://www.jobrica.com/_RESOURCES/SwineFluAwareness.aspx
Stay safe and informed.

[AlexanderNY]

Swine Flu (H1N1) updates as of 05/04/2009: cases confirmed in 36 US States. Number of cases in the US: 286 (ref: CDC).
New York City, SO FAR, IS THE EPICENTER OF SWINE FLU INFECTION IN THE US.
Swine Flu public awareness initiative maps outbreaks in North America and worldwide, constantly updating: http://www.jobrica.com/_RESOURCES/SwineFluAwareness.aspx
Stay safe and informed.

[AlexanderNY]

Swine Flu (H1N1) in the US, updates as of 05/05/2009:
BREAKING NEWS: swine flu death toll rises in Texas. As reported by MSNBC (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30398682 ) "Swine flu claims life of first U.S. resident... Texas woman is the first U.S. death to be confirmed as a result of the swine flu...".
Other swine flu updates:
Cases are now confirmed in 38 US States. Total number of cases confirmed Nationwide: 403 (ref: CDC)
Three most contaminated States in the US so far: New York (90 infected), Illinois (82 infected), California (49 infected); Texas has 41 confirmed cases, placed 4th on the scale of swine flu infection in the USA.
Swine Flu public awareness initiative maps outbreaks in North America and worldwide, is constantly updating: http://www.jobrica.com/_RESOURCES/SwineFluAwareness.aspx
Stay safe and informed.

[AlexanderNY]

Swine Flu (H1N1) in the US, updates as of 05/06/2009:
BREAKING NEWS: ILLINOIS became the most infected State (122 cases confirmed), followed by New York (97 cases) and California (67 cases)
Cases confirmed in 41 US States. Total number of cases confirmed Nationwide: 642 (ref: CDC)
Swine Flu public awareness initiative maps outbreaks in North America and worldwide, is constantly updating: http://www.jobrica.com/_RESOURCES/SwineFluAwareness.aspx
Stay safe and informed.

[swineflutrack2009]

Share a website dedicated to chart cases on a time horizon. We are committed to update this website every day, and provide a visualized view of trend.

http://swineflutrack2009.blogspot.com/

[swineflutrack2009]

Share a website dedicated to chart cases on a time horizon. We are committed to update this website every day, and provide a visualized view of trend.

http://swineflutrack2009.blogspot.com/

[mrjohna]

Swine flu preparedness information and guides can also be found at http://www.pandemicinfosite.com