Wednesday, November 4, 2009

H1N1: Is it a hoax?

With all the hype surrounding H1N1, I figured I would blog about the flu. A few months ago, I received an email from my father that raised questions about whether or not the flu was being overblown. One of the things that it discussed was symptoms of H1N1, which include fever, sore throat, coughing, chills, fatigue, body aches, headache, and occasionally vomiting and diarrhea.

Considering these symptoms, one has to wonder how you would ever be able to tell the difference between H1N1 and the regular flu, a fever, a cold, strep throat, etc. The list could go on forever. This is part of the reason I am so skeptical.

Another reason for my skepticism are the profits that drug companies are yielding from this "pandemic." According to a press release from Kalorama information, "few areas of pharmaceuticals have seen the fast-moving developments in the marketplace that the vaccine market has." The statistics for vaccine revenue are shocking.

Although I'm sure the families directly affected by H1N1 would disagree, the illness seems to have been blown completely out of proportion for the benefit of pharmaceutical companies and the government.

A friend of mine, a nurse, has even opted not to have the vaccine. She worries that the trial period for testing the vaccine has been to small. Historically, she argues, drugs that have been given tiny windows for testing and are still administered to patients, often result in serious side effects years later. The birth control method, Depro-Provera is a good example of one such drug which has been discontinued due to its damaging side effects.

Overall, I am looking at this flu from a perspective of suspicion. Perhaps I'll change my mind when I'm directly affected by H1N1. I'm sick right now, though. My symptoms include coughing, a sore throat, fatigue, aches and pains. So...does that mean I have H1N1?

3 comments:

  1. If you do have H1N1, stay the hell away from Gracie. She's too cute to get sick.

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  2. Isn't that ironic... hope you are feeling better and you are pig disease free!

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  3. I've often wondered if H1N1 is an experiment at times.

    I've said in class but think about this
    IF H1N1 vaccines could be used a vector for distribution for anything and people would blindly accept without question, why would you NOT use them.

    I'm not a big fan of the government and believe in some of the conspiracies but you never know...trust no one

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