Swine flu outbreak: financial conspiracy

By: Tyler Vogler

Posted: 4/29/09

Nonessential travel to Mexico from the United States has been restricted. Governments around the world are taking all kinds of precautions to stop the pandemic's spread, including Russia and China banning U.S. pork imports.

President Barack Obama stated the swine flu situation is cause for "concern," but not "panic," but you wouldn't know it by the amount of media attention the supposed-"pandemic" is receiving.

Get a grip. This is no pandemic - it is the business of fear.

According to a National Public Radio report Tuesday, only 149 people have died of swine flu, all in Mexico. There are only 48 confirmed U.S. cases, all of which are suspected to have contracted the flu while in Mexico.

These infection rates are extremely low, but the global reaction is branding any country with an outbreak as completely hazardous, no matter how small the numbers and how isolated the cases may be.

Remember SARS? Remember the avian flu? Both were touted as pandemics in the making, capable of killing millions and crippling world economies and governments.

After the initial media attention died down, however, both "pandemics" passed largely unnoticed. The current situation with the swine flu is just the next in a line of would-be

pandemics.

While some say the World Health Organization's actions are simply cautionary, the drastic measures the organization is taking are causing a global panic.

In any kind of medical outbreak situation, people look for the "silver bullet" cure-all pill that will make the problem go away. Unfortunately, one does not exist.

Currently, it is suggested that Tamiflu and Rolenza (oseltamivir and zanamivir, respectively) are the only antiviral medications to be used in swine flu cases to avoid drug resistance. Annual flu vaccinations do not protect against swine flu because the virus strains are different.

In response to the swine flu situation, Roche, the pharmaceutical giant that manufactures Tamiflu, have beefed up production rates of the drug. The WHO announced it has enough stockpiled to treat about 5 million cases.

Interestingly enough, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld served on the board of trustees of Gilead Sciences, the company that developed Tamiflu. He holds stock valued between $5 and $25 million in the company, according to a CNN article on his financial holdings.

With the drug's production and sales increasing, so will the company's stock and Rumsfeld's personal profits. Talk about being a profit hog, right?

Furthermore, Tamiflu is not all that effective against swine flu - or any mutation of the flu virus, to be honest.

As the flu virus replicates and infects more cells, Tamiflu's ability to combat the infection diminishes. Because of this, according to Epocrates, a pharmaceutical reference guide, Tamiflu should be taken within two days of the appearance of symptoms - the sooner, the better.

Even when Tamiflu is taken as early as possible, its effectiveness is debated. Some doctors believe taking Tamiflu at the earliest sight of symptoms will only reduce suffering for as little as 16 hours, according to an article in Nature Magazine.

Even knowing the Tamiflu's potentially uselessness, countries around the world have stockpiles of the drug in case of a potential outbreak. Texas Governor Rick Perry has already requested over 37,000 doses of Tamiflu in response to his state's swine flu sufferers.

At the height of the avian flu pandemic, South Asian doctors concluded Tamiflu was usless against that strain of the virus. Will the swine flu prove to be different?

In situations like swine flu, the first and most important thing to do is remain calm. Until mass numbers of people are dropping dead, I think the general population does not have much to worry about.

Erin McCarthy's article, "WHATEVER TITLE WE CHOOSE," offers a number of steps to protect against swine flu (and a number of other health problems in the process).

Instead of preaching doomsday in the face of a potential global pandemic or waiting in sterilization for a magic cure, just be smart and be healthy. Your body will thank you.