One would think that people were dying in the streets of swine flu. Now it turns out that the numbers are somewhat less dire.

The number of confirmed cases of the H1N1 virus stands at 331 people, the World Health Organization said Friday.

Confirmed cases of swine flu worldwide were 257 Thursday.

The virus, commonly known as swine flu, has spread to 11 countries, but the hardest hit areas were in the western hemisphere, the organization said.

"We have not seen sustained human-to-human transmission anywhere outside the Americas region," said WHO spokesman Thomas Abraham.

In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it had confirmed 109 cases of the flu with one death.

The largest outbreak was in Mexico, which had 156 confirmed cases, according to the WHO. It added that Mexico had nine deaths attributed to the virus.

However, Mexican officials said the death toll had risen to 12 and they suspect more than 150 deaths in the country are linked to the virus.

And friends, let’s remember that over 36,000 people die in the United States of regular influenza – which breaks down to about 700 a week. There are not even that many confirmed cases worldwide. So would someone explain the hysteria to me?

Posted by: Greg at 01:53 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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