Missing Guests at Hong Kong Swine Flu Hotel

I love the city of Hong Kong. There are not that many cities in the world that has the digital infrastructre that's seen in Hong Kong. Kowloon Bay at nigth is amazing. Well, enough about Hong Kong.

If this story (Missing Guests at Hong Kong Swine Flu Hotel) is true, then this is truly embarrassing. A hotel in Hong Kong is being quarantined because a guest was positive for H1N1. However, people have somehow escaped this quarantine and now officials are looking for these 50 people who never returned to their hotel. Meanwhile, 10 passengers who sat near the young Mexican passenger on China Eastern Airlines flight MU 505 from Shanghai and the two cab drivers who drove him around town have been located and their cases are being investigated, according to Thomas Tsang, controller of the Centre for Health Protection.

Why is a swine flu pandemic eminent? Because it's so difficult to enforce quarantine.

Is Swine Flu in Your State?

Have you seen the CDC chart that's tracking swine flu? People may think that the highest number of confirmed cases are in Texas. Wrong! New York already has 50 confirmed cases (as of May 2 at 11 am ET). Texas has 28 and California has 24. H1N1 is spreading rapidly. Every state that has a major metropolitan area will be on this chart within the next several days.

To view this scary chart, go here: http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/
Image source: CDC

AAN in Seattle is Over

The AAN (American Academy of Neurology) meeting ended in Seattle today. These types of meetings generally draw physicians and other healthcare professionals from all over the world. Now that the news about swine flu has spread globally, I wonder what these physicians will encounter when they return to their native countries. I hope they don't get quarantined at the first sign of a sneeze! Modern technology has made it so easy to travel these days. In turn, it's now so easy to spread germs across the globe.

Should We Really Be Worried About Swine Flu?

According to CNN, ERs are getting flooded with patients who think they may have swine flu. Overcrowding problems have forced some hospitals to set up tents outside for patients. We see people wearing masks everywhere. Are people overreacting? Are we in a panic mode?

Some may argue that swine flu really isn't a big deal. After all, 5% to 20% of U.S. residents get the flu, and more than 200,000 persons are hospitalized for flu-related complications each year. About 36,000 Americans die on average per year from the complications of the regular flu, so what's the big deal about swine flu, right? Let's take things into proper perspective here.

H1N1 - Mexico has reported 397 confirmed human cases of infection, including 16 deaths. We know that these numbers only reflect confirmed cases, so there are many more who are simply "unconfirmed" at this point.

Mexico's death rate is 4.0%. At this rate, if 15 million people get infected, 600,000 people could die and if 60 million people get infected, 2.4 million people could die. Compare that to the 36,000 deaths from the regular flu. Should we be worried about swine flu? I'm afraid that we have to be very concerned. Image source: CNN