Swine Flu, a Misinformation Pandemic

There is a lot of media attention and general concern over the current H1N1 outbreak. Much of the media coverage is of dubious accuracy and value, so it is difficult to see just how much of a threat the current pandemic is. Confusion runs rampant; a common example of such is demonstrated by entire nations culling pigs and banning pork imports, where much evidence, collected by the World Health Organization and others, indicates that pork products are safe and the disease does not travel from pig to human, although transmissions the other way have occurred.

A glimpse at the history of the H1N1 virus will shed light on the current pandemic and allow us to better understand its dangers. With recent outbreaks of epidemic flues, such as avian flu, public awareness of past outbreaks has increased, especially the 1918 flu. A third of the world was infected; between 50 and 100 million people died, more than in World War I. It is unsurprising that we should compare the 1918 Spanish flu with its genetic descendant now before us.

However, there are significant differences between the circumstances surrounding the 1918 outbreak and the current one. First of all, most of the deaths of the earlier pandemic were caused by a bacterial pneumonia taking advantage of immune systems stressed by H1N1. Though secondary infections are common in all flu victims, but the lack of good antibiotics during the 1918 pandemic meant few treatment options for pneumonia sufferers. Secondly was the lack of media coverage for the flu, at stark contrast to the media fueled paranoia today. Most nations played down the flu's impact in an effort to keep up morale during the war; only Spain, being neutral, reported freely, leading people to think that Spain was hardest hit by the flu, which was soon known as Spanish flu. Lastly were the conditions of war: poor nutrition, close quarters, and large troop movements resulted in increased transmission and mutation.

Though the current flu epidemic may yet prove to be deadly and virulent - much of a flu's deadliness comes from its ability to change unexpectedly - an outbreak like the 1918 one is unprecedented for several reasons: antiviral drugs, improved antibiotics to treat secondary pneumonia, better means of diagnosing the illness, and enhanced public awareness are set to reduce the impact of the disease. It remains to be seen just how deadly Swine flu really is - but efforts already made to combat the disease and common sense hand washing and doctor visits as needed, have started us on the right track should conditions worsen.