Potential pandemic or garden-variety flu? No agreement among experts
Saturday, May 2nd, 2009
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CBC News
May 2, 2009
Medical experts and world leaders seems to be at odds as to the severity of the new H1N1 virus, with some experts saying it’s no worse than your average seasonal flu.
In Mexico, where swine flu is confirmed to have killed at least 16 people, the health secretary voiced optimism that the infection rate was levelling off. Of 219 relatives in contact with 86 suspected swine flu patients, just four have turned up as probable cases.
“Apparently, the rate of attack is not as wide as was thought,” said Jose Angel Cordova, Mexico’s health secretary.
Peter Palese, a flu expert at New York’s Mount Sinai Medical School, said he saw no reason to believe the virus was particularly lethal and said it was behaving more like a garden-variety flu that strikes every winter.