The Media and Swine Flu - After Spreading RW Attacks On Swine Flu As Democratic Fear Mongering

The media is now running stories criticizing the Obama administrations swine flu PR effort. In other words, the right wing media is attacking the Obama administration for not doing enough to rebut the spread of unsubstantiated fears about swine flu by the right wing media. You really just can't win. Can you imagine how Fox News would be acting if the Obama administration did aggressively fight the disinformation about swine flu being spread by the right wing media?

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2009/10/the-folks-who-publicly-said-they-would-rather-see-the-us-go-down-the-toilet-in-the-current-recession-rather-than-see-a-demo.html

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Media commentators Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh have apparently fallen prey to the loony websites of the anti-vaccine folks and have begun campaigning against the swine flu vaccine program, according to the liberal group Media Matters for America.

Beck said on one show that he would do "the exact opposite" of what the government recommended and that his inclination is to attend a swine flu party and catch the virus now before it has a chance to mutate. He wouldn't take the vaccine because "you don't know if this is going to cause neurological damage like it did in the 1970s" (Sept. 30)--a prospect that has, incidentally been totally discredited. He also said, "People just feel in their gut, 'I don't trust these people any more...' They think our government could be so incompetent that they don't have any clue as to what they are doing." (Sept. 29)

Limbaugh addressed Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, saying "I am not going to take it, precisely because you are now telling me I must....I don't want to take your vaccine. I don't get flu shots." Later, he added that if "you have some idiot government official demanding, telling me I must take this vaccine, I'll never take it." (Oct. 7) On the same show, he said, "The next time you hear, 'The government says...' don't believe it. You'll be healthier, trust me."

Both commentators are conservatives, but this is not a liberal versus conservative issue. This is a science versus nonsense issue. There are a ton of wacky websites out there--I know, I get e-mails from their readers all the time--telling folks that the flu is not dangerous, that the vaccine is experimental, untested, toxic, loaded with dangerous chemicals, and so one and so forth. Many of them even deny the efficacy of any vaccines, ignoring the fact that their use has virtually wiped out polio, smallpox and a host of other diseases and are universally accepted, along with sanitation, as one of the two greatest medical developments of the 20th century. A few claim that all you need to do is take supplements and live a healthy lifestyle--as though that would have prevented the polio epidemic of the 1940s and 1950s. Some even claim that the swine flu virus was created in a laboratory and released into the world so that pharmaceutical companies could make a fortune by selling vaccines. Others claim that the government is pushing the vaccines because former Vice President Dick Cheney and other government officials now own substantial portions of the companies that make them.

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Over half of their PICU beds are kids with H1N1, and they've had a few deaths.

Especially for adults, the adjutant is not an issue. Get the vaccination.

Two weeks later, the flu is spreading like wild fire through our kids' school. Who will hold the media accountable for spreading rumors and attacks about the swine flu vaccine, as well as charges that President Obama was over-hyping the swine flu as a way to drum up support for health care reform.

H1N1 is no reason to panic...but it's not something to ignore, either.

It's a relatively mild influenza that's more contagious than the average seasonal flu, meaning that the case fatality ratio is less than 0.5% but a LOT of people will contract it, so the number of deaths will be comparatively high.