Don't think of me as the guy who glosses over the so-called danger of swine flu, or the death it has caused.
But do think of me as the facts guy on H1N1.
U.S. Deaths from swine flu, 2009: 1
Mexico deaths from swine flu: 19
U.S. deaths from non-swine flu, typical calendar year: 36,000
Total hospitalizations in U.S. due to regular old flu flu, typically: 200,000
Total cases of swine flu in Mexico: 506
Total cases of swine flu in U.S.: 226
Quote from Center for Disease Control chief Dr. Richard Besser:
"The good news is when we look at this virus right now, we're not seeing some of the things in the virus that have been associated in the past with more severe flu. That's encouraging, but it doesn't mean we're out of the woods yet."
Mexico Health Secretary Jose Cordova on the lethality of H1N1: "The attack rate is not as broad as was thought." Only about 1.2 percent of those hospitalized with "acute respiratory symptoms" were dying, he said.
More info: CDC page on swine flu is right here.
Just so you and I have the facts.
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