Swine Flu is here

[Robert]

Swine flu is now in Canada, with a half-dozen mild cases reported in Nova Scotia and British Columbia. But officials warn that more cases will likely be found and to expect a more widespread outbreak.

All the Canadian illnesses are linked to Mexican travel, including four patients in Nova Scotia who are students at King's-Edgehill private school.

In the media, it sounds like a cheap crappy Hollywood horror movie taking place in real life.

[marnold]

Anybody remember the Swine Flu epidemic in the 70s that affected an estimated 7 people?

[Jimi75]

The Swine Flu also reached Mallorca/Spain. Due to the fact that Germans travel a lot to Mallorca this Flu will reach us here pretty soon, too. Let us hope that this will be stopped soon.

[Spudman]

IF you do a little research you'll find out that many of the so called outbreaks amounted to much of nothing. Flu regularly kills many people every year. Mostly it is pneumonia that does the killing in those with weakened immune systems. The problem lies that the deaths from pneumonia are often linked to the flu and never tested for correlation. Many of those pneumonia deaths are attributable to things other than the flu.

http://www.flufacts.com/impact/statistics.aspx

INFLUENZA STATISTICS
The flu isn’t always thought of as a serious or life-threatening illness. Because of the dangers and complications it can have in older people, children, and people with health problems, the perception of flu severity is changing.

In the U.S., an estimated 25–50 million cases of the flu are currently reported each year — leading to 150,000 hospitalizations and 30,000–40,000 deaths yearly. If these figures were to be estimated incorporating the rest of the world, there would be an average of approximately 1 billion cases of flu, around 3–5 million cases of severe illness, and 300,000–500,000 deaths annually.


Flu-related deaths can result from pneumonia and from exacerbations of cardiopulmonary conditions and other chronic diseases. Deaths of older adults account for more than 90% of deaths attributed to pneumonia and influenza.I wouldn't get too worried.

http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/f/flu/stats.htm

Edit:
Added another link
http://www.intuitiveparenting.org/flu_statistics_overstated.html

[R_of_G]

I agree with Spud. It's nothing I'm all that concerned about. I find it's just another sensationalized story for the media to fill up their time with so they don't have to spend their resources covering..., hmm, how should I say this? How about "they don't have to spend their resources covering things we are not allowed to talk about here." There. That pretty much covers it.

[Spudman]

I agree with Spud. It's nothing I'm all that concerned about. I find it's just another sensationalized story for the media to fill up their time with so they don't have to spend their resources covering..., hmm, how should I say this? How about "they don't have to spend their resources covering things we are not allowed to talk about here." There. That pretty much covers it.


Ha ha.:rotflmao: Well said.

[ragnarpk]

http://xkcd.com/574/ :D

[R_of_G]

ragnarpk, thanks for that. that was hilarious!

[ibanezjunkie]

Swine flu is in scotland too. damn :L btw, whats swine flu?

[oldguy]

Remember the bird flu "pandemic" situation that caused such panic?

It was pushed onto the media hot and heavy by the people who wanted the vaccine purchased. IMO this is the same scenario. If you want to sell a product, you have to have a market. Should people get flu shots? Of course, if they need them.
To put it another way............. I live high on a hill and I don't have flood insurance.

[marnold]

Ars Technica (http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2009/04/dhs-cdc-and-who-gear-up-to-track-the-swine-flus-spread.ars) has a nice article on the situation. Basically the media's running a bit amok with it. The CDC is just gearing up to track things and to make sure that if things do get severe, that they could get a vaccine out. Seems like good, common-sense precautions. Here's a snip from the article on the disease's effects in the U.S. thus far:


The CDC's monitoring has allowed a number of cases to be identified that might not have otherwise come to light, as very few of the US cases have wound up putting people in the hospital; so far, all have recovered. As the CDC's Acting Director Dr. Richard Besser put it, "In terms of detection, what we're seeing in this country is mild disease—things that would never have been detected if we weren't ramping up our surveillance." It's not clear whether this represents the typical course of the infection or whether some environmental or genetic factor enhanced the severity of some of the cases in Mexico.

[R_of_G]

Maybe they'll start airing these again...

T_qJ2tOY7ss

[just strum]

This little dude isn't afraid of no stinking swine flu.

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h16/auroraohio/untitled.jpg

[Spudman]

I had a ham sammie for lunch.:) Achoo!
http://www.cookedmeats.com.au/ham%20sandwich%20small%20web.jpg

[luvmyshiner]

Ohhhh nooooo! I have the swine fluuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!

I only have a 98.7465328765721098% chance of survival.:messedup:

[R_of_G]

http://www.alexross.com/FF8.jpg

[Bloozcat]

The problem with influenza viruses is that what they appear as when first detected is not a reliable predictor of what they may become as the virus proliferates.

The 2009 influenza (Type A H1N1) at this stage shares similar properties with the 1976 influenza and the 1918 influenza which became the deadly pandemic. At this point there is no way of knowing what it's going to do. It could through mutation, become a less virile strain and just peter out, or it could mutate into a more virulent strain and cause severe illness and a percentage of deaths. It's just too early to know right now, but in about two weeks it should show signs of which path it will take.

The really deadly danger though is not from mutation of the virus on it's own (although that route could still produce a nasty strain), but from reassortment. The virus is now in Asia when there have been many cases of H5N1 bird flu virus reported. As of today there have been no cases of human to human transmission of H5N1. However, in 2004 researchers in China found H5N1 in pigs. Pigs can carry human influenza virus strains. If an individual was infected with H5N1 and was then infected by this current strain (H1N1), the two viruses could begin swapping genes through the reassortment process and a novel and very deadly pandemic strain could emerge for which humans would have no immunity. This has been the concern with H5N1 all along - that it would combine with an H1N1 type virus and become a deadly pandemic.

When the 1918 influenza first appeared at Ft. Riley Kansas, it was a mild strain of H1N1 similar to the current virus. There was no pandemic at that time. What happened next was where the virus became the killer.

Troops from Ft. Riley were shipped to the east coast of the US and put on troop transport ships bound for the trenches of France. As carriers, the troops began spreading the virus to other previously unaffected troops on the ships, then to American, French, and British troops - and even enemy troops on the German side - when they arrived in Europe. It was in Europe that the virus either mutated into the killer pandemic or combined with another strain of influenza through reassortment. So little was known about viruses at the time that reaserchers aren't sure exactly how it happened. Viruses were too small to be viewed through the microscopes of the day. That capability wouldn't come until much later.

The 1976 influenza at Ft. Dix NJ was similar to what we're seeing currently, but with a major difference. The US Government was so fearful of another 1918 pandemic that a massive innoculation program was ordered. Trouble was, the vaccine wasn't ready for distribution. It hadn't been perfected and thoroughly test before release. The vaccine caused 500 cases of Guillain- Barre Syndrome (GBS), a neuromuscular disorder, which resulted in 25 deaths. A major blunder for certain, but the cynicism it spawned towards "government solutions" continues still today.

So, we're still in for an uncertain next few weeks (and maybe months) as this flu runs it's course. I'm hoping and praying that it gets tired and just quits. But even if it does, the fact that it's a novel virus that could resurface in the future still make reaserchers nervous. It could end for this year, but maybe not forever. And then the wait and watch begins again...

[wingsdad]

Remember the bird flu "pandemic" situation that caused such panic? ...
I was the Marketing & Public Information Officer for our local Community Hospital at the time of that scare. I attended a number of County and State (CA) planning & strategy sessions over the course of nearly a year. The Federal Gov't (CDC, FHA, etc) was also involved in 'advisory capacity'.

The worst-case scenario prediction was that our 2-county region (Riverside & San Bernardino) would likely face innoculating 250,000 people in 10 days. Do the math on that one...no matter what you read or hear in the media about 'adequate supplies' of the requisite vaccines: it's a lie.

The logistics of the plan were an 'End of Days' strategy. To put it bluntly and truthfully, what the public would NOT and MUST NOT know until that scene were to play out was that 'First Responders' (paramedics, triage personnel, etc) and their families would be first in line. High-ranking gov't mules and would be at the top of the list as well.

After that, like a mythical sinking ship, it would be young women & children first, those who could and should survive, the likeliest to be of some future value (read: taxpayers, high-ranking corporate execs, etc). Those who would NOT be innoculated and left to die would be the the shut-ins, who couldn't make it to the shot clinics that would be set up at schools and other major public venues, the already infected in advanced state of illness, but most of all, the elderly. Since they had the shortest live expectancy anyway, and would be a burden on the survivors, they would be relegated to collateral damage status. Some exceptions might be made when push came to shove (literally), but elderly on Public Assistance were dead meat.

Being advised to 'stay home if you've got it' is a helluva spin our Health Officials put on us. Sure, it minimizes the likelihood of spreading the disease. But it also minimizes the number of innoculations to be administered. Crowd Control.

Having been there, done that, I must tell you that, my friends,that very plan has almost surely been dusted off and updated to deal with this.

Make sure you line up your rides now and keep the car gassed up.

[Radioboy950]

In the media, it sounds like a cheap crappy Hollywood horror movie taking place in real life.

I'm in the media...and it drives ME F'n crazy!!!
We were talking with this local medical supply company about the run on surgical masks. Certainly the medical profession has a need for them, but I don't think individuals need to be running to the store to stock up.

Hey, I think I still have some generators, water and canned goods from Y2K :D

[R_of_G]

Hey, I think I still have some generators, water and canned goods from Y2K :D

:rotflmao: Exactly!

This is just the disaster scenario du jour. That people trend towards thinking every new alleged crisis is the end of the world never ceases to amaze me. It all makes for a lovely distraction from the things the news media should be covering.

[Robert]

Well, fear works. Fear sells. Fear is a powerful way to control people. Many examples come to mind...

[R_of_G]

I agree Robert, but it seems to me that it wouldn't be very effective if people didn't actually want to be afraid. Fear sells because people buy into the fear. If people decided to educate themselves and not simply fear everything they were told to fear... well, I can think of a lot of things that would be different.

"So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself -- nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance." - Franklin Delano Roosevelt

It's more than just a good quote. :D

[Bloozcat]

What it comes down to is this: We're all responsible for ourselves. Thinking that "the government" is going to save you (or even tell you the truth) is delusional. Educate yourself about the threat, formulate a personal plan for you and your family, and have the necessary preps in place before the crisis occurs.

I sent my wife off to work yesterday with her emergency supply kit should the worst happen. She'll probably be the only one at her work with N95 respirators, goggles, and nitrile gloves if/when the virus shows up. I know I'm the only one where I work who has them...and our company is supposed to have a "pandemic flu plan".

Better to be prepared and not need it than unprepared and SOL.

[ted s]

Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1961
"In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist."

[just strum]

Well, fear works. Fear sells. Fear is a powerful way to control people. Many examples come to mind...

If it drives down the price of Mexican Strats, than I'm all for fear!!!

Spread the word, you can get the swine flu from Mexican Strats.

[Robert]

Good point Strum. Maybe Burritos and Tacos will be the cheapest fast food ever soon?

[luvmyshiner]

One of the local lawyers is very concerned about the epidemic, because he slept with a pig last night.:messedup:

It's actually a step up for him . . . he usually sleeps with one-legged women because they can't run away.:eek:

[Spudman]

I pity the pig.

[R_of_G]

http://i41.tinypic.com/157kg10.jpg

[sumitomo]

One of the local lawyers is very concerned about the epidemic, because he slept with a pig last night.:messedup:

It's actually a step up for him . . . he usually sleeps with one-legged women because they can't run away.:eek:

Shiner this one-legged woman,her name wasn't Lean na was it:rotflmao: Sumi:D

[R_of_G]

A little responsible coverage of the so-called "epidemic" from the Chicago Tribune...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/la-sci-swine-reality30-2009apr30,0,5923718.story

(EXCERPTS)

In fact, the current outbreak of the H1N1 virus, which emerged in San Diego and southern Mexico late last month, may not even do as much damage as the run-of-the-mill flu outbreaks that occur each winter without much fanfare.

(...)

Just because the virus is being identified in a growing number of places -- including Austria, Canada, Germany, Israel, New Zealand, Spain and Britain -- doesn't mean it's spreading particularly quickly...

[luvmyshiner]

Shiner this one-legged woman,her name wasn't Lean na was it:rotflmao: Sumi:D


Don't know Sumi. I usually find that the less I know about that particular lawyer's private life, the better.:messedup:

[just strum]

Shiner this one-legged woman,her name wasn't Lean na was it:rotflmao: Sumi:D

Or Ileane. I hear she has brother with no arms or legs - his name is Matt. They also raise cows with no legs, ground beef.

[just strum]

Throughout our building someone put out PURELL and those disinfecting wipes. Well, I should say throughout, except the bathroom - go figure.

[ted s]

Or Ileane. I hear she has brother with no arms or legs - his name is Matt. They also raise cows with no legs, ground beef.

Matt has a cousin that floats around the ocean, his name is Bob.

[luvmyshiner]

And don't forget the other cousin playing in the pile of leaves - his name is Russell.

[Spudman]

We had the same guy show up at our front door. He never made it in so we just left him there and started calling him Matt.

[R_of_G]

My current "All Swine All the Time" playlist

Pigs On the Wing Pt 1 - Pink Floyd
Piggies - The Beatles
Piggy - Nine Inch Nails
Guyute - Phish (the song is about a pig)
Pigs (Three Different Ones) - Pink Floyd
Happy as a Dead Pig in the Sunshine - Kaki King
War Pigs - Black Sabbath
Swine - Elvis Costello
Pigs On the Wing Pt 2 - Pink Floyd

Any other ideas?

[Bloozcat]

For a potentially pandemic flu, this H1N1 isn't spreading very rapidly. And it's not sweeping through all segments of the population indiscriminently.

I can see five possible scenarios for this virus:

1) It continues to spread at the current pace and dies out as the weather grows warmer (northern hemisphere).

2) It continues to spread but mutates some, becomes more virulent, people get sicker, more deaths, but still dies out as the weather grows warmer.

3) It dies out (as in scenarios #1 or #2) but comes back next fall for next flu season as a stronger flu, but nothing much different than a regular seasonal flu.

4) Virus infects an individual in Asia who's already infected with H5N1 (bird flu), and the virus reassorts, swapping DNA and turning into a reall killer.

5) Virus infects a pig in Asia that's already infected with H5N1, reassortment occurs causing a deadly pandemic as the virus successfully finds a way to jump from pig to human (not a stretch if you look at this current "swine flu" alone).

It wasn't the initial H1N1 strain that infected the troops at Ft. Riley in the spring of 1918 that turned out to be the deadly flu. That strain was very similar to this current H1N1 strain. It was the mutated strain that came back from Europe with the troops in the fall and winter of 1918/1919 that was the deadly pandemic.

If I was a betting man I'd go with prediction #1 and hope and pray that #3,#4, or #5 never happen.

BTW: Purell and other hand "sanitizers" like it are pretty much useless against viruses of any type. The "kills 99.9 percent of the germs that make you sick" is very misleading. The term "germ" means an organism that can't be seen with the naked eye, and both bacterium and viruses qualify. But, bacterium and viruses are very different from each other. If the product doesn't specifically say "kills viruses" then it doesn't.

[Rocket]

4) Virus infects an individual in Asia who's already infected with H5N1 (bird flu), and the virus reassorts, swapping DNA and turning into a reall killer.
Logic (and simple arithmetic) dictates that combining pri H1N1 & sub H5N1 would have to result in the sub H6N2... which, luckily for all, there is already a vaccine for.
Crisis averted!

[just strum]

In regards to the US, they had an interesting statistic on the news.

Every year 36,000 people in the US die from the flu - so far this latest case of the flu has killed 1. Of course the news wnet on to show clips of a panicky America and interviews with Doctors.

[R_of_G]

In regards to the US, they had an interesting statistic on the news.

Every year 36,000 people in the US die from the flu - so far this latest case of the flu has killed 1. Of course the news wnet on to show clips of a panicky America and interviews with Doctors.

Haven't you heard the story of "The Boy Who Cried Pandemic"?

That's how the media works around here.

Fear sells. Facts are boring.

http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-sci-swine-reality30-2009apr30,0,3606923.story

(EXCERPT)

As the World Health Organization raised its infectious disease alert level Wednesday and health officials confirmed the first death linked to swine flu inside U.S. borders, scientists studying the virus are coming to the consensus that this hybrid strain of influenza -- at least in its current form -- isn't shaping up to be as fatal as the strains that caused some previous pandemics.

In fact, the current outbreak of the H1N1 virus, which emerged in San Diego and southern Mexico late last month, may not even do as much damage as the run-of-the-mill flu outbreaks that occur each winter without much fanfare.

[marnold]

This just in: stuff kills people. Film at 11.

[Bloozcat]

I'm not often moved to defend the Federal Bureaucracy, but you gotta admit they're in a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation on pandemic flu reporting. If the government downplays the threat and the flu suddenly mutates and gets real nasty, eveyone will scream, "where was the government, why didn't they warn us?". If they over-react it's, "oh yeah, cry wolf, just like 1976". And if it's a real, deadly pandemic flu that no one by God could stop, then it would be, "the government is useless, they should have been better prepared."

Now, as to the mainstream media and their over-hyping everything...I believe that there's a special place in the nether regions especially for them...:flamemad:

[marnold]

I'm not often moved to defend the Federal Bureaucracy, but you gotta admit they're in a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation on pandemic flu reporting. If the government downplays the threat and the flu suddenly mutates and gets real nasty, eveyone will scream, "where was the government, why didn't they warn us?". If they over-react it's, "oh yeah, cry wolf, just like 1976". And if it's a real, deadly pandemic flu that no one by God could stop, then it would be, "the government is useless, they should have been better prepared."

Now, as to the mainstream media and their over-hyping everything...I believe that there's a special place in the nether regions especially for them...:flamemad:
The Fed seem to be taking some pretty logical, reasonable steps for all of these things. I question the need for entire states to call of all sports and/or classes. The media is doing a superb job of making it worse than it needs to be.

[Childbride]

[...] :D

===

[sung to Carl Douglas' one hit wonder]

====

everybody was swine flu fighting...
the cdc was fast as lightning
in fact it was a little bit frightening
the who fought with expert timing

they were funky, Roger Daltry and Peter Townshend
they were spanking planks up and spanking planks down...

========

[just strum]

This just in: stuff kills people. Film at 11.

I knew it was only a matter of time before that "stuff" started killing people. Wasn't it George Carlin that first warned us?

JLoge6QzcGY

[Childbride]

texas is 2d next to new york right now with reported cases.

ask me if i'm worried.

it's the flu. stuff kills you.

we're going to the caribbean with another couple in june.

she was on the phone with me this week.

'you aren't going to cancel on us, are you?!'

i said

'honey, i don't care if primus is on the speakers, they serve us pork soda, there is a pig in my lap, and when the air masks pop down, instead of o2 they give us swine flu...

we're going on vacation...'

[Spudman]

Guess what I came down with (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjSjmw_7uIE) today?

[R_of_G]

Guess what I came down with (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjSjmw_7uIE) today?

Well, it was either going to be that or This (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RI1r-D2B3SI)

[Spudman]

Well, it was either going to be that or This (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RI1r-D2B3SI)
:rotflmao: :rotflmao:

[Bloozcat]

texas is 2d next to new york right now with reported cases.

ask me if i'm worried.

it's the flu. stuff kills you.

we're going to the caribbean with another couple in june.

she was on the phone with me this week.

'you aren't going to cancel on us, are you?!'

i said

'honey, i don't care if primus is on the speakers, they serve us pork soda, there is a pig in my lap, and when the air masks pop down, instead of o2 they give us swine flu...

we're going on vacation...'

You gotta love Texans....:AOK:

We've got a cruise planned for late June, early July from Boston, with stops in Maine, Nova Scotia, PEI, Quebec, and Montreal. We're going....

[sumitomo]

I am glad that I never have to worry about all this stuff that kills humans because my stepdaddy told me that I was $hit on a fence post and left in the sun to hatch!! Sumi:D

[Bloozcat]

Oh no....!

The SWINE FLU's MUTATED.....!!
http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/28/4b/1198024128a00529ef55f010.L.jpg

[Childbride]

You gotta love Texans....:AOK:

We've got a cruise planned for late June, early July from Boston, with stops in Maine, Nova Scotia, PEI, Quebec, and Montreal. We're going....


[tired sigh] just got back from gram's today. the school districts there are completely shut down until 5/11. we're talking massive shutdowns. i deleted this from an earlier post on this thread, but i'm irritated. you shut down hundreds of schools [literally, in that area], when a lot of parents are currently w/o leave or possibly laid off and searching for employment.

those kids go to the mall. to the movies. to the parks, they seek each other out. so much at containing the contagion.

we will get a vaccine. people just need to calm down. i had more of a chance of dying in austin traffic today than i do of dying of swine flu.

and yes, i am going on vacation. just try and stop me. :D :D :D Blooz, hope your trip is awesome. :)

[Spudman]

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/disease/us_flu-related_deaths.htm

Questions and Answers Regarding Estimating Deaths from Influenza in the United States

How many people die from flu each year in the United States?

The number of influenza-associated (i.e., flu-related) deaths varies from year to year because flu seasons often fluctuate in length and severity. CDC estimated that about 36,000 people died of flu-related causes each year, on average, during the 1990s in the United States. This figure includes people dying from complications of flu. This estimate came from a 2003 study published in the Journal of the American Medication Association (JAMA), which looked at the 1990-91 through the 1998-99 flu seasons [10]. Statistical modeling was used to estimate how many flu-related deaths occurred among people whose underlying cause of death on their death certificate was listed as a respiratory or circulatory disease. During these years, the number of estimated deaths ranged from 17,000 to 52,000.

In 2009, CDC published additional estimates of flu-related deaths comparing different methods, including the methods used in the 2003 JAMA study. The seasons studied included the 1993-94 through the 2002-03 flu seasons [9]. Results from this study showed that during this time period, 36,171 flu-related deaths occurred per year, on average.

How did CDC estimate that an average of 36,000 people die in the U.S. each year from flu?

This statistic came from a 2003 JAMA study by CDC scientists [10]. The study used statistical modeling to estimate that during 9 influenza seasons from 1990-91 through 1998-99, an annual average of 36,000 flu-related deaths occurred among people whose underlying cause of death on their death certificate was listed as a respiratory or circulatory disease. A 2009 study that appeared in the journal Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses made a similar estimate for the 10 influenza seasons from 1993 to 2003 [9].

What are flu-related deaths?

Flu-related deaths are deaths that occur in people for whom influenza infection was likely a contributor to the cause of death, but not necessarily the primary cause of death.

Does CDC know the exact number of people who die from flu each year?

CDC does not know exactly how many people die from flu each year. There are several reasons for this: First, states are not required to report individual flu cases or deaths of people older than 18 years of age to CDC. Second, influenza is infrequently listed on death certificates of people who die from flu-related complications [12]. Third, many flu-related deaths occur one or two weeks after a person’s initial infection, either because the person may develop a secondary bacterial co-infection (such as a staph infection) [1,8,11] or because influenza can aggravate an existing chronic illness (such as congestive heart failure or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) [3]. Also, most people who die from flu-related complications are not tested for flu, or they seek medical care later in their illness when influenza can no longer be detected from respiratory samples. Influenza tests are only likely to detect influenza if performed within a week after onset of illness. For these reasons, many flu-related deaths may not be recorded on death certificates. These are some of the reasons that CDC and other public health agencies in the United States and other countries use statistical models to estimate the annual number of flu-related deaths. (Flu deaths in children were made a nationally notifiable condition in 2004, and since then, states have been required to report flu-related child deaths in the United States through the Influenza Associated Pediatric Mortality Surveillance System).

What proportion of pneumonia and influenza deaths, respiratory and circulatory deaths and all-cause deaths are attributed to influenza?

For pneumonia and influenza (P&I) deaths, CDC estimates approximately 8,000 deaths are associated with flu. This represents 9.8% of P&I deaths. For respiratory and circulatory (R&C) deaths, CDC estimates approximately 36,000 deaths are associated with flu. This represents 3.1% percent of those deaths. For all-cause deaths, CDC estimates that approximately 51,000 deaths are associated with flu. This represents 2.2% of all deaths.

[Bloozcat]

It's interesting to note the absence of infections in those over 50 from the current round of H1N1.

Scientists are beginning to believe that there might be some link between past H1N1 viruses and this current one...even though this one is technically novel.

"The phenomenom called cross-reactive antibody, does not mean that older people were infected in the past by this exact strain of flu. Rather, their blood contains proteins that were produced by their immune systems when they were infected by a different strain of H1N1, and that also react more weakly to the current strain."

"...H1N1 was the dominant strain of seasonal flu from 1918 to 1957, when it was replaced by the H2N2 strain that caused the 1957-58 pandemic."

In 1986 I had the only case of the flu that I can verify as a flu, and it was something awful...it was the sickest I'd ever been (I may have had some C strain flu's, but they presented like nothing more than a bad cold). That was an H1N1 strain that had re-appeared as the dominant strain once again three years earlier.

So, as a typical 50+ individual, I've been exposed directly and indirectly to several H1N1 strains of flu over the years. I'm hoping that the current train of thought turns out to be true...:AOK:
http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/swineflu/news/may0609age.html