Swine Flu -- Deja Vu?

It's worth posting this resource here too, KT.
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Google Maps H1N1 Swine Flue Map
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Check it out:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&t=p&msa=0&msid=106484775090296685271.0004681a37b713f6b5950&ll=32.639375,-110.390625&spn=15.738151,25.488281&z=5

Its also worth pausing a moment to remember the pandemic preparedness funds that were stripped from the stimulus bill after the GOP pitched a hissy fit and the MSM acted as enablers.
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http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/430261
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Those silly partisan liberals trying to prepare the country for an emergency. What were they thinking?

I just read that about Susan Collins on the other thread.
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The timing! The timing.
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I think I'm gonna be sick...

KT:
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One thing I've noted in the article about the Swine Flu fiasco (I remember it vaguely) is that the technology was far less certain then than it is now. Misidentifications back then I don't think are likely to be a problem now.
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I think that what they should do is two things:
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Ramp up production of the vaccine (they have a seed stock on hand) to some middle level and distribute in outbreak areas, as, in this case, there are deaths.
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It seems that one of the reasons we aren't seeing deaths yet here is that it is being caught earlier, before the patient has become an advanced case.
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If it gets worse, ramp up to pandemic levels.

Oh, I forgot:
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The second one?
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Run you local Republicans out of town...

In addition to any need for swine flu vaccine, we're already in need of a big anti-lie inoculation. The worst nutbars of the Right are already blaming the anticipated (hoped-for?) epidemic on the president, based on a claim that he has rejected (for liberal political reasons, of course) a CDC recommendation for outright closing of the Mexican border. I'm pretty sure no such recommendation has been made.

Rest assured, this new lie will engulf the Loony Right while the truth is still putting on its shoes.

Yes, and lets not leave out how the GOP conservatives are still holding up confirmations of the HHS Secretary. Hmm now luckily, the Obama administration was set up in such an intellectually elegant way that even the obstacle game being played by the GOP is not preventing him from being on top of this potential pandemic.
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How long ago was it that under the Bush administration we had a major flu outbreak and discovered we had the wrong flu vaccine on hand and had to buy vaccine from European sources and wait for them to get here and be distributed or should In say rationed before we could even think about saving lives. Thank god for the Obama administration that has already moved anti-viral drugs in geographic position in case its needed. Elections do indeed have consequences.

FO:
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It will convince the ones who are True Believers. You know, dittoheads and all.
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I can imagine them trying to defend their position right in the middle of a pandemic. I have a sneaking hunch that we might see Republicans run out of town on the end of a pitchfork.
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BTW:
http://www.cdc.gov

"But one thing is clear: Our capacity to deal with a public health challenge of this sort rests heavily on the work of our scientific and medical community," the president said. "And this is one more example of why we cannot allow our nation to fall behind."
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Odd. On the other thread we were just discussing anti-intellectualism and the cultural pressures to "fit in' rather than excel academically. It would appear that our Presidant feels rather strongly about that issue as well.......

BTW the secessionist Governer Rick Perry of Texas has now asked for "foreign aid" from the federal government. I thought Texas didn't need any help from the oppressive facists. Can't they just defeat swine flu with the sheer patriotism of their citizens?

Obama's response may be flawless, but the angry right will find some way to blame Obama for the entire thing.

Maybe he created swine flu to kill of conservatives? That's it!

http://www.political-buzz.com/

I'm sure that Obama will get blamed if he doesn't singlehandedly cure this disease.
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On the other hand, if he does singlehandedly cure this disease, he'll get blamed for wasting resources on something that never was a threat.

Unrelated, but Holder is touring London torture site:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30420040/
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What could that portend, pray tell...

sg:
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Can't we just airdrop aid to Texas?

As I recall, Obama recently shook hands with not only the president of Mexico, but the president's dog!
That bastard!

I could NOT resist!
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http://gretawire.foxnews.com/2009/04/26/swine-flu/comment-page-9/#comment-4695051
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I apologize, everyone, but I had to drop my load in the only toilet nearby...

This is all the fault of the dirty, stinkin', disease infested illegals.

Hideous!
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Commies and pinkos and gays! Oh no!
Commies and pinkos and gays! Oh no!

KT:
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After having read this piece, I'm having trouble answering some basic questions brought up by the piece, and I'm wondering if that's because the article descends into rank He Said/She Said, or if it's because I have trouble with reading comprehension.
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Here are some of my questions related to quotes from the article:

Although most agree that it was a public relations disaster, health historians still debate the merits of the 1976 swine flu vaccination campaign.
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Critics call it one of the worst medical boondoggles in modern history. Defenders say it's a classic case of aggressive public health mobilization that saved the nation from a modern plague.

Q: Would the aggressive remedial action of the Federal Government have saved lives, if the contagion in question were to have been pandemic? Is the debate over what officials did, or is it over whether there should have been anything done at all? Who are these "critics"? Who are these "defenders"? What are the agendas of each side? What are the interests of the debate's participants?

...Army doctors said they were looking at an outbreak of swine flu.
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At the time, epidemiologists believed that a related strain of swine flu had been responsible for the great "Spanish Flu" pandemic of 1918-20, which killed more than half a million Americans and at least 20 million worldwide.
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That's not so clear today. A recent genetic reconstruction of the 1918 virus by a team of public and private researchers suggests that it was a strain that never actually passed through swine but jumped directly from birds to humans.

Q: Were scientists, medical professionals and politicians at the time foolish for conjecturing a link between the 1918 holocaust and the outbreak in 1976? Is it possible or likely for public health officials to make such calculations without error in a timely fashion given the circumstances?

"While the manufacturers' ultimatum reflected the trend of increased litigiousness in American society, its unintended, unmistakable subliminal message blared, 'There's something wrong with this vaccine,' " Sencer and Millar recalled.
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"This public misperception, warranted or not, ensured that every coincidental health event that occurred in the wake of the swine flu shot would be scrutinized and attributed to the vaccine," they wrote.

Q: How does that happen, exactly? How did an "unintended" yet "unmistakable" message become a "public misperception, warranted or not"? What was the press doing during all of this? How were our professional fact-distributers covering the story? Were their stories headlined with unhelpful questions like "Is This Swine Flu a Case of 1918 Déjà Vu...or is the government-purchased vaccine a defective health risk?"

Critics say the program was too hasty and ill conceived -- and that it ultimately undermined the public's confidence in the nation's public health apparatus.
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But Sencer and Millar, who were in the thick of the fight, said they had no regrets.
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"When lives are at stake, it is better to err on the side of overreaction than underreaction," they wrote. "Because of the unpredictability of influenza, responsible public health leaders must be willing to take risks on behalf of the public."

You know, KT, it occurs to me that the same sort of declaration could be made concerning the professionals who wrote this piece.
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These writers (and their editors) must be very satisfied at the refuge from criticism they were able to take by putting out this exemplary He Said/She Said. They could never have been accused by anyone of error, since they were scrupulous in their avoidance of the risk inherent in taking sides in a public debate.
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Perhaps they should have been creative enough to consider Sencer and Millar's statement in light of its applicability to their jobs as such:
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"When lives are at stake, it is better to err on the side of taking sides than promoting confusion". "Because of the complicated nature of technical, legal or scientific debate, responsible journalists must be willing to take risks on behalf of the public."
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Thanks for reading and considering this, KT.

Thank God for "moderates" like Susan Collins of Maine who single-handedly stripped support for fighting pandemics out of the stimulus plan
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http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/4/27/724835/-Collins,-Republicans,-Killed-Off-Enhanced-Pandemic-Preparedness-
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She actually brags about it on her website.
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We should also thank the milquetoast "moderate" leadership of the Senate (Reid, Schumer, Durbin) for allowing know-nothings like Collins, Bayh, and Nelson to run over them.
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Here is a tip for Reid. Your job is not to placate the opposite party or to protect the feelings like Evan Bayh, Susan Collins or Orrin Hatch. Your job is to pass effective legislation that protects and promotes the health and welfare of the citizens of the United States.
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What is so frustrating about this is that we are facing the worst crisis in living memory. And yet, despite everything, the Senate still cannot act unless it is to protect the interests and ideology of those who got us into this mess.
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One would think that the results of "thinking" displayed by the Republicans and the Blue Dogs in the Senate would be enough to have them displaced from positions of influence. And yet Reid and Schumer continue to allow the bad ideas to have influence. It is an incredibly sorry situation. No wonder Hillary is smiling.

Stu-You are back! Thank you. Please never leave again. Thank you.

Choska-I mentioned Schumer in another post. Thanks for reminding us about the blue dogs in all of this.

Welcome back stuart! Unconditionally!

chsoka:
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How popular do you think Susan Collins might be if we reach pandemic levels?
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Also, how long before any references to her blocking the CDC money are removed from her website?
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tick tick tick tick

Thanks, Gunny.
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Thanks, 53_3.
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Somebody got in touch with me, so yesterday I went back and read some of the incredibly supportive posts regarding my decision to leave the forum, and reconsidered in favor of returning to commentary.
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It's quite an amazing thing, actually. I'm very, very appreciative of so many compliments. I'll try to do a better job of commenting here.
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It's highly encouraging to see that folks with whom I've had substantial --even heated-- disagreements (like my fellow prolific commenter 53_3) agree with me that the opportunity for such debate is a good thing. It's great.
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This is the best pro-journo-based commentary forum I can find. The commenters here --right, center and left-- are committed to helping the professionals help them. There is so much valuable commentary from everyone involved --and now almost all the pros are commenting on their own threads-- so it's been exciting to be a part of for the past two years.
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This is Journalism 2.0, and it's quite a good thing to keep going.