re: #475 SixDegrees

Completely agree with this assessment. Current estimates are that the flu is all over Mexico; cases probably run well into the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, already. The death rate shrinks into insignificance as a result. Even the death rate is extremely questionable; few, if any, of these cases have a definitive confirmation as having been caused by the flu. Although discretion may be the better part of valor in such cases, it also leads to wildly inflated mortality rates.

Real numbers will emerge over the next week or two, and there is every indication that the threat of this latest strain will actually be minute.

But the government, media, and international health organizations are making sure to not waste a good crisis.
Even if this is mild, they’ll talk about how bad it could have been and how they need more money for the next one.