12 Monkeys part 2

The World Health Organization has declared the swine flu officially a pandemic (or alert phase 6) on June 11th. The first flu pandemic in 41 years and infections continue to climb in the United States, Europe, Australia, South America and elsewhere. The spread of the swine flu contagion has not yet reached scary "Resident Evil" like proportions, but I really think things will get pretty hairy out there! Even the famous Wimbledon tennis tournament is effected now, with a total of 28 staff that have been asked to stay at home with suspected swine flu! Surprisingly enough it is getting quieter in the press about the flu. As if the media collectively have decided that they do not want to cause a global panic?

Sure, when you look at the figures one might think "what's the big deal?" So far "only" 337 people died from A/H1N1 - or A(H1N1) - as it is officially called. But that 337 people where in 121 countries. Also the number of the total infected has now exceeded 80,000, a top official of the World Health Organization (WHO) said this Thursday. In other words: the virus spreads across the globe like wildfire! Most of the infected are young people. Schools and homes are the places where people are most likely to be infected. Also, the virus is more similar to H5N1 avian flu rather than the seasonal flu.

So far the main antiviral flu drug, Tamiflu, seems to be working well as long as people receive it within 24hrs after the first signs of infection are established. But it is unclear how governments would battle a new mutated virus strain of A/H1N1 when it hits like it has in Denmark: scientists have established the first case of the new H1N1 influenza strain showing resistance to Tamiflu. Off course the big pharmaceutical companies are all racing to develop a cure, but no one knows when that will happen, and if they can produce large enough quantities to battle the virus when it really hits.

What people should not underestimate, is the fact that the virus is five times more aggressive than the seasonal flu. When you're hit with it, the virus will penetrate the lungs deeper and as a result five times as much people will die of it. Another mayor problem is that the virus is airborne, making it really hard to battle. You know what: suddenly all those die-hard survivalists weirdo's do not seem so weird to me anymore! And I don't care what people say; I think I might prepare myself a bit better for a disaster situation in case the shit really hits the fan!

As always there a many, many resources on the web that deal with things like urban survival or survival in more rural areas. Here is a link to a PDF file telling you a bit about how to prepare for a case like this: Preparing for the Coming Influenza Pandemic, Grattan Woodson, MD, FACP, (c) 2005. I suggest to read it carefully and also get more information on how to survive problems like this one.

Maybe it's not a bad idea to get educated ;-)