Can we stop with the Swine flu?

none here.

Furthermore JMAC, the antivirals my work, but treatment should start early. This particular influenza strain is taking between 2-7 days to fully incubate to the point where it is noticeable. That reduces the effectiveness of the antivirals. Furthermore, the onset is very similar to the common cold or even allergies as far as the symptoms are concerned. The only two distinguishing factors are headache and fever, which can also be symptoms of far less threatening diseases. Where a pandemic of this type causes a problem is that you wind up getting a lot of people that present symptoms but don't have the virus in close proximity with a lot of people who actually do, because they all go to hospital or the doctor's office to make sure one way or the other. This can cause the further spread of the virus. Not to mention that antiviral stocks aren't nearly as high as stockpiles of antibiotics in this country. If they were, you'd probably see people popping tamiflu like the were z-pak.

Also, the small variety of antivirals means that you don't want to go around giving them out on a large scale due to the possibility of the virus developing a resistance. We only have 4 good antiviral medications right now. Of those, only two work. If this flu mutates (and viruses mutate rapidly) and becomes resistant to those drugs, you're pretty much at the mercy of your body's natural defenses which this strain is overpowering in otherwise young, healthy adults.

People are decrying the attention this strain is getting as "media hype" but there's a big difference between something that has killed 152 people and something that keeps you home from work for a few days. This sucker is strong, deadly, and with a relatively long incubation time, it has a very good chance at continuing to jump borders.