Flu Watch Nov. 14 – What Swine Flu ISN’T Doing This Week

Yes, even as the media twist and turn the numbers in the new CDC estimate (about which I’ll be publishing an article) the evidence continues to come in that swine flu in the U.S. has peaked and is sliding down the right side of the epidemic slope.

Here we see a sharp decline in both new deaths and hospitalizations.

Last week there was a massive decline in samples submitted to the CDC surveillance labs and a small decline in those testing positive. This week the bottom fell out. Samples submitted have gone from about 26,000 to 21,000 to just 13,000. Almost 39% of those samples were positive two weeks ago; now it’s just 30%. Put another way, the CDC labs received 10,076 positive samples two weeks ago, 7,557 last week, and just 3,834 this week. That’s a plummet of positive sample of over 60% in just two weeks!

Even hysteria seems to have peaked – if only ever so slightly. Last week just under 8% of all emergency room visits were for those ubiquitous “flu-like symptoms.” This week, it’s just under 7%. Not exactly a 60% drop in the last three weeks, but then the media are laboring mightily to prop up those figures.

College infections have are still essentially flat.

In other countries, at least, it seems people are starting to catch on. London’s Independent newspaper asks: “Pandemic? What Pandemic?” It gives the following figures:

65,000
Number of deaths in worst-case scenario for Britain published in July

19,000
Revised worst-case scenario outlined in September

1,000
Revised worst-case scenario last month

154
Number of deaths in Britain so far

4-8,000
Average annual death toll in Britain from seasonal winter flu

But in America we remain with wool firmly pulled over eyes. Still, some are having fun with all this. Check out this neat swine flu music video, “The Swine Flu Blues!”