Friday, May 01, 2009

H1N1 Influenza Alert Upgraded to Level 17: "Bayman Has Concerns (But Mostly For Others)"

Why?
  • The number of lab-confirmed cases is still rising, with Bayman's personal hazard ratio jumping up to 367/6,706,993,152 today, up about 6-fold or so since a couple days ago.

  • This strain goes human-to human quite readily, something the wolf-crying bird flu never achieved.
  • It's killed quite a few young people in Mexico. However Bayman suspects its lethality is still waaaay lower than our old friend the bird flu.
  • Some flu people seem to think that making a vaccine could be difficult, as swine flu grows poorly in eggs.

The good news for Bayman: flu season in the northern hemisphere is almost over, so in all likelihood Bayman will get to sit this one out and see what happens in South America, before deciding whether or not to get really scared next winter.

Better information here.


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