Tokyo Shift

Much ado about swine flu in Japan

May 21, 2009 00:10

For me, this recent swine flu outbreak has triggered flashbacks of SARS in China which, of course, was where I lived prior to my "Tokyo Shift". At that time I was far more nervous than I am now, primarily because I never trust the Chinese media to report any (domestic) bad news accurately. Since then, things have gradually improved and the Internet has provided new channels where Chinese people can get reasonably accurate and up-to-date information.

In contrast, here in Japan, we're seeing swine flu media overkill, much like what's happening in America. I'm perfectly ok with this, as I'd much prefer that the media scares the be-jeezis out of everyone rather than try to "harmonize" or water down the fact that there are 266 cases (as of this posting) within Japan's borders. It does, however, make me a little nervous that today, Tokyo just confirmed its first case of A/H1N1 in Hachioji, just a few stations away from where I live. Yikes!

But there is reassurance to be found in numbers, and I do want to point out an interesting article which looks way back to the 1918 Spanish flu and puts this latest pandemic in proper perspective:

It's estimated that about 28 percent of Canadians and Americans contracted the Spanish flu. Worldwide, an estimated 2.5 percent of the sick died of complications... So, even if we had a repeat of the 1918 flu, the chances were seven out of 10 that you wouldn't catch it, and if you did, the odds were better than nine out of 10 that you'd survive (Vancouver Sun, via Boing Boing).

Those stats should help people relax a little bit. And by "people," I mean you, Mom.

Related: Capcom may not attend E3 due to swine flu concerns

Recent Comments

 

Most Discussed

 

Browse Archive