The article I found on-line which was very interesting was published by The Boston Globe. The article was written by Marilynn Marchione titled Swine Flu May Be Less Contagious Than Feared and the tagline read, "Most households with illness keep it to one patient". This article can be found at this link: http://www.boston.com/news/health/articles/2009/12/31/swine_flu_may_be_less_contagious_than_feared/
The overall review of this article would be that through recent research it has been determined that this is not the most contagious of many recent diseases. It will not have such a devastating effect world-wide as other diseases. After this first study of how contagious h1n1 flu is in a family setting and it has been determined that the odds of catching the flu are 1 in 8 (far less than the Bubonic Plague we recently studied) the study also showed that children are more likely. This is the first time one such survey was taken.
This article is actually a summary of a resent publication in the New England Journal of Medicine. The research was done by the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Imperial College London specialists. A lot of interesting statistics were assembled, such as this: Swine Flu has infected one sixth of all Americans since it was identified in April. Also, around 60% of the people effected with Swine Flu have been children. What these researchers specifically did was follow 216 people with H1N1 and the 600 people they live with. It turns out that only around 10% developed flu-like symptoms. This shows a very low spreading rate than flus of the past. In an ordinary flu season (like, the seasonal flu) shows a spreading rate 5 - 40% in households. It was also discovered that children were twice as likely to be infected as older family members. This would be even more prevalent if they are under years of age. There was a lot of good news from this study the article said, "Nearly three-fourths of households in the study managed to avoid spreading the illness to any family members." It did not show a high level of children as super-spreaders which is a misconception often attached to how germs are spread.
As you can see, a lot of helpful information has been assembled because of this survey.
This article was written in a straight forward, informative way. It was easy to understand and very clear. I picked this article because it is very good in summing up our Swine Flu unit by bringing together some current research on this disease. I found it very informative and I hope you did too.
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Good pick! I was interested in it simply reading it. Ever since the Swine flu became a big commotion I never truly believed that it was all that it was hyped up to be. Meaning, I didn't agree that this sickness was as aggressive or contageous than it actually was. Every once in a while I would hear about a small outbreak in a town. For instance, my friend who lives in Onsted, Michigan played on a soccer team where almost 6 players were thought to have swine flu. I thought it was interesting but I still wasn't convinced. The difference in percentile for its contagiosity was especially intriguing and also satisfying in that I wasn't particularly shocked at its magnitude. I'm happy that something I always thought was actually studied upon. It assures me that my observations on society and the world I live in are not ludicrous, but genuine opinions that others have also identified. I think you did an awesome job writing about it and it was a great choice.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Gillian in her opinion that the Swine Flu is not as deadly and catastrophic as media and society have made it out to be. I think the facts in this article are good and will hopefully convince others to calm down about the flu and to continue to stay atleast a little cautious by washing their hands more than usual but nothing extreme like wearing face masks. It's great that 3/4 of the household managed to keep away from getting the flu, but that also makes me wonder if the reason they didn't catch it was because they were freaking out so much and took extreme measures to keep away from it.
ReplyDeleteI found this article to be very interesting. At the same time I am not very surprised at the results. Two months ago my five year old neighbor, who I babysit was told she had swine flu about two days after I had just babysat her and her brothers. I was extremely nervous that I as well would end up with it. Surprisingly I was fine and so was the rest of her family. I found this very odd considering she has two brothers who are three and eight. After reading this article things make more sense to me but at the same time makes me a little annoyed at the fact that H1N1 became this huge ordeal. I think more people need to see this article. Great article Izze :)
ReplyDeleteThis was really fascinating! I agree with Sharon-I wasn't very surprised by the results. When I worked at sleep away camp this summer, half the girls in m cabin got H1N1 but I managed to stay away from it. I guess that proves that it is mostly common/easier to catch for children. I think it's really great that this artcile is out, though. It's really important for the public to see it and acknowledge that H1N1 isn't necessarily out to get them, and it isn't the end of the world. It's important for people to realize that they don't need to be so paranoid about H1N1. I also thinks it's interesting that the the seasonal flu spreads more in a house than H1N1 does.
ReplyDeleteI never believed that the Swine Flu would become as horrible as it was made out to be. This article assured me of this. I was infected with H1N1 in November and none of the people I was in contact with caught my illness. It lasted about three days and was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. However, there are more severe cases.
ReplyDeleteThe media seems to over exaggerate at times like this, but maybe that is so they can get their point across. I recall the same hype about SARS and the Avian Flu. What will be next?
Awsome article! I agree with alot of the people who commented before me. I never really believed in the whole swine flu panic. I figured so many people die of the normal flu each year, why are they making such a big deal about a flu thats killing not nearly as many people as the normal flu. I loved how this article explained certain aspects of the disease and panic that the media did not tell you!
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