Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
“It is sometimes called the Great Swine Flu epidemic and sometimes the Great Spanish Flu epidemic, but in either case it was ferocious. World War I killed twenty-one million people in four years; swine flu did the same in its first four months. Almost 80 percent of American causalities in the First World War came…
As I predicted, the H1N1 influenza virus has returned to the U.S. this fall. FluTracker gives a visual representation of the spread of the disease. In response to the spread of H1N1, President Obama declared the H1N1 outbreak a national emergency. The declaration will “allow a hospital to set up a make-shift satellite facility…
The Washington Post reports that most Americans are not very concerned about swine flu. Should they be worried? Maps from the New England Journal of Medicine and RhizaLabs detail that swine flu is still a problem. The CDC reports that “from April 15, 2009 to July 24, 2009, states reported a total of 43,771 confirmed…
Let us assume that our null hypothesis is that when someone is sick, it is not swine flu. A type I error is a false positive. That is, we claim that the person has the swine flu, when actually then do not. A type II error is a false negative. This means that the person…
Daily Kos has an interesting post on what should be the threshold to close a school. A second American died from the swine flu. Hong Kong hotel quarantine. Will the swine flu become drug resistant? Although pork is safe to eat, many people still fear eating products made from pigs. Hog farmers may face significant losses…
U.S. School Closures, Online Learning Fort Worth closes Schools. Nearly 300 schools close. October 2006: Ohio proposes online learning as a substitute for classroom learning during a flu pandemic. Did these proposals actually get implemented? San Mateo County poses using the website Moodle for online learning during flu pandemics. Marketplace, however, says that the…
U.S. has its first swine flu death. “The L.A. coroner’s office said this afternoon that further testing indicated neither of two flu-related deaths being investigated in Los Angeles County appeared to be linked to the swine flu.” – L.A. Times. Slate has a great article which answers the question “Why does the swine flu seem to be…
The World Health Organization increased the epidemiological alarm level from 3 to 4 (out of 6). Closing public spaces may be a good idea to stop the spread of the flu: Public Health Interventions during the 1918 influenza pandemic – Healthcare Economist How (and How Not) to Battle Flu: A Tale of 23 Cities –…
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared Swine Flu to be an international public health emergency. MÉXICO La Jornada claims that there swine flu has killed 81 people in México and infected 1324. The entire country of México has closed schools until May 6th according to La Prensa: “El gobierno federal ordenó la suspensión de misas, clases–hasta el 6…
In Mexico, there has been an outbreak of swine flu which has lead to 20 recorded deaths and likely 40 more. The newspaper el Universal reports that, the Secretaría de Educación Pública suspended classes in the Distrito Federal and the Estado de México. This means that in the Mexican capital, 5,201 public schools and 3,965 private schools…