We are not getting the whole story of the Swine Flu

It has been a long time since I have seen so many older people so concerned about a world situation. I have friends and acquaintances who are worried to go out of their houses because of the Swine Flu reports. At the other end of the age spectrum, a younger friend went to the store to buy sanitary wipes for her family (out of an abundance of caution) and found the store's supply completely wiped out (intentional).

I have one major question, who is benefiting from this absolutely incredible reaction to a disease that hasn't even proved to be serious yet?

Look at the statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As of May 1, 2009 at 11:00 am Eastern Time, the whole U.S. had 141 confirmed cases of the Swine Flu. Actual flu cases are in the low to minimal range. For example, the weekly Influenza Surveillance Report from the CDC showed 997 positive tests for flu during the 2008 calendar year, which included 804 cases of Influenza A (H1). During 2008, one pediatric influenza-associated death was reported. Did you read about all of this in the newspaper? Did the President comment on the one flu death in 2008?

Look at the statistics. What is really different about the present flu outbreak? Maybe someone felt we needed to forget the economy for a while? Maybe, they needed to stop people coming and going to Mexico? The war in Iraq? Afghanistan? What is really the reason why this flu outbreak is front page news with schools being closed. Please note, there was not one school closed last year because of a flu outbreak.

My opinion is not that there isn't a real disease, it is just that the present reaction is so completely out of sync with the real statistics. Why aren't we getting the real story?