more on swine flu

swine flu fear generates big money for pharmaceutical companies. the associated press reported that at least one financial analyst estimates that Tamiflu sales will jump to $388 million in the near future. Tamiflu, you might remember took a hit in sales because it caused many of the same symptoms as the flu itself. already, companies like gilead sciences have seen a rise in their shares of stocks in only one day! they are making money off of a mild case of the flu because they and the news media are over inflating our cause for concern. this is not the first time the public has been alerted to swine flu. it happened in 1976. their was a panic in this country and talks of forcing people to get vaccinated were bantered about. the swine flu pandemic never materialized but the flu vaccine killed more people then than the flu.

malaria kills about 3,000 people every day but is little more than a foot note on the nightly news, if it gets any press coverage at all. put things into perspective and relax. it is very difficult for a virus to mutate into a strain that is both deadly and easily transmissible. it rarely happens. this really is just another attempt for an elite few to make a lot of money in these hard economic times but they can only do so, if we buy into the fear.