Tuesday, May 5, 2009

When Pigs Fly

With all the hype about the swine flu, I could resist posting this ...



... and at the left-uppermost are the news media, who have consistently over reported the seriousness, and failed to retract their errors when they later get it right, allowing the bad information to keep circulating. I actually heard one local news anchor give one estimate for the number of deaths in Mexico, and then just a few minutes later giver another LOWER number. Is it a pandemic, not a pandemic, and we should be appropriately cautious. Hysterical new media sources don't help things one bit.

[From GraphJam, of course]

*** Update ***

Greg Laden has much more extensive comments on the swine flu and the real reasons we need to be concerned. Greg has a great Bill Maher clip too.

*** Another Update ***

This editorial from Nature.
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2 comments:

  1. Bravo. This new flu is apparently not any more serious or infectious than the ordinary flus we live with every year. Yes, people have died. But people _always_ die, every day. A little perspective!

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  2. My favorite epidemiology student informs me that the CDC is not so concerned with the effects now, but is hoping that it won't become too widespread before schools let out for the summer. This would allow time for an effective vaccine to be ready for the next flu season.

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