Is it Possible to be Prepared for the Big One?
By Michael
We are fatigued from hearing about natural disasters, terrorism, war, inflation, the energy crisis. Do we have the fortitude to deal with the Big One?
The influenza pandemic of 1918 has to be considered as one of the greatest scourges ever to afflict humanity, resulting in a death toll greater than all the wars of the 20th Century combined," argues Dr. David L. Katz, Director of the Prevention Research Center Yale University School of Medicine. On Tuesday October 4th it was scientifically proven that the 1918 flu was an avian flu which genetically mutated and jumped to humans.
The 1918 Flu was devastating. It whipped around the world 3 times in less than 6 months, before the advent of jet passenger liners. The world population was less than 2 billion, yet nearly 1 billion were incapacitated from the flu and somewhere between 20-40 million dying including 675,000 Americans.
Dr. David Nabarro , the U.N. coordinator for avian and human influenza, had warned that the "range of deaths could be anything between 5 and 150 million" creating a pandemic. Dr. Michael Osterholm, director for the Center of Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, has suggested a death toll upwards of 360 million. The World Health Organization believes the estimate of 2 million to 7.4 million deaths, based on a study by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "is the most reasoned position." Some reports estimate less than 50,000 deaths many orders of magnitudes removed from 360 million.
Because we have a history of pandemics, which almost appears to be cyclical, many argue that preparations for a pandemic is really simply a race against the clock.
An economic analyst at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated in a 1999 article that a pandemic flu could cost the U.S. alone $71.3 billion to $165 billion.
Even if we triumph over this current race against the clock, what is required is completing the monitoring and first line health infrastructure so that as planet and as a species we are able to defend against these threats.
Will the economy dodge this bullet? Will we be able to declare a historic and remarkable health victory?
We are fatigued from hearing about natural disasters, terrorism, war, inflation, the energy crisis. Do we have the fortitude to deal with the Big One?
The influenza pandemic of 1918 has to be considered as one of the greatest scourges ever to afflict humanity, resulting in a death toll greater than all the wars of the 20th Century combined," argues Dr. David L. Katz, Director of the Prevention Research Center Yale University School of Medicine. On Tuesday October 4th it was scientifically proven that the 1918 flu was an avian flu which genetically mutated and jumped to humans.
The 1918 Flu was devastating. It whipped around the world 3 times in less than 6 months, before the advent of jet passenger liners. The world population was less than 2 billion, yet nearly 1 billion were incapacitated from the flu and somewhere between 20-40 million dying including 675,000 Americans.
Dr. David Nabarro , the U.N. coordinator for avian and human influenza, had warned that the "range of deaths could be anything between 5 and 150 million" creating a pandemic. Dr. Michael Osterholm, director for the Center of Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, has suggested a death toll upwards of 360 million. The World Health Organization believes the estimate of 2 million to 7.4 million deaths, based on a study by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "is the most reasoned position." Some reports estimate less than 50,000 deaths many orders of magnitudes removed from 360 million.
Because we have a history of pandemics, which almost appears to be cyclical, many argue that preparations for a pandemic is really simply a race against the clock.
An economic analyst at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated in a 1999 article that a pandemic flu could cost the U.S. alone $71.3 billion to $165 billion.
Even if we triumph over this current race against the clock, what is required is completing the monitoring and first line health infrastructure so that as planet and as a species we are able to defend against these threats.
Will the economy dodge this bullet? Will we be able to declare a historic and remarkable health victory?
posted by paradigmventures @ 11:45 AM
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