H1N1 - I wonder

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By Clara Broten, Oct 31, 2009

I wonder how many of the people standing in line for vaccines have already been exposed and are at the stage of being contagious before symptoms appear.

I wonder how people with arthritis who are dependent on paratranspo or the kindness of friends for transport are supposed to stand in line in the rain for three hours without having serious flare ups of their condition.

I wonder how people who are dependent on transpo, paratranspo, or the kindness of friends for transportation are supposed to get a number and come back in two hours when it is often an hour wait for Paratranspo, or an hour trip on OCtranspo to get anywhere.

I wonder how perfume sensitive asthmatics who are in the risk category are suppose to tolerate standing in line with dozens of people wearing 3 or 4 scented products each (laundry deturgent, fabric softener, shampoo, makeup, aftershave, hand sanitizer etc etc etc) without having a major asthma attack.

I wonder how much greenhouse gasses are being created moving hundreds (thousands?) of children to clinics for vaccines instead of moving a few nurses to schools to vaccinate in the gyms.

I wonder how many hundreds people who have already had H1N1 are being vaccinated because the symptoms were so mild they didn't know they had it.

I wonder how many people with the virus are still going to work or school because they don't really have the option of staying home for a mild illness (deadlines, too many other people ill, etc., exams, small business, no sick days etc.).

I wonder what the contagion rate really is, since most people don’t even bother going to their regular doctor with flu symptoms, and those who do are automatically being classed as H1N1 without actual testing.

I wonder what the death rate really is since most places are only testing who are ill enough to be admitted to hospital so we don’t know the actual contagion rate (I have seen numbers tossed around in the media from .05 to 10% mortality).

I wonder how much more hype the media can create over a disease with a death rate reportedly similar to normal seasonal flu. Note that the death rate for heart attack in 2004-5 in Canada was 11%, and 18.8% for stroke. http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2006/06/07/cardio-mortality.html

I wonder who’s version of ‘the truth’ I am supposed to trust.