Will swine flu be a splash or a tsunami?

Time to put the current swine flu outbreak in its place. Though we might be seeing the beginning of a lull in the initial swine flu outbreak, flu experts predict the swine flu will continue to spread in the future, and will likely become much more prevalent in the 2009/2010 flu season. It is not uncommon for flu outbreaks to exhibit wave-like patterns. As we’ve no natural nor acquired immunity to this H1N1 strain, it could get ugly. How ugly?

This image puts swine flu into perspective. As recently as 40 years ago, over a million people died from a flu strain. That’s almost one in 3,000 people on the planet dead, a figure that belittles the current epidemic.

However, should scientists/governments/et al develop and manufacture enough reliable vaccine, this swine flu could remain a relatively mild flu outbreak. Unfortunately, manufacturing and distributing enough flu vaccine is challenging at best. What’s the motivation? Some say the a serious flu pandemic would hit the global economy to the tune of  more than three trillion dollars. ($3,000,000,000,000.00) That’s incentive.

Be sure to check the latest swine flu map. And become familiar with swine flu symptoms. Use the links at the top of this page.