Within the last month, I participated in two conversations about the H1N1 virus that cause me some concern about the information that is being distributed on a nationwide basis.

In the first conversation, I was talking about the swine flu epidemic with a member of a county health department here in southwest Missouri.  During that chat, I asked about how sick individuals were determined to have swine flu.  He indicated that the symptoms of swine flu were pretty much the same as the regular “seasonal” influenza.  However, seasonal flu generally appeared later in the season, i.e., in January and February, so—if the symptoms were showing now—the health departments automatically classified it as swine flu.

The second conversation was with a board member of a community health center.  He indicated that the cost of each lab test to confirm swine flu was about $200 and, because of the cost, the lab test was not being utilized very often.  They were just classifying the illness as swine flu based on the same criteria above—symptoms appearing earlier.

Now, here are the symptoms that are listed in various websites for the different strains of influenza:

The symptoms appear to be identical for each strain of influenza.  It would seem that the lab test would clear up the questions of whether the illness is a common cold or the flu AND, if it’s the flu, is it the seasonal flu or the swine flu?

My question is simply this:  without the lab test for H1N1 or swine flu, how can physicians know with any certainty that what they are dealing with is a cold, the “seasonal flu” or the pandemic “swine flu?”

Since we had record cold temperatures in August this year, and—last year—had received our annual average amount of rainfall by the end of June, it is a real stretch to think that the regular “seasonal” flu might be showing up early this year?

I am about as far removed from a “conspiracy theorist” as you’re going to find.  I have strong beliefs in (a) the ability of humans to goof things up through mistakes and unintended consequences and (b) our national inability to keep secrets very long. 

However, our regional and local health officials are only as good as the data they are receiving from the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.  If that data is incomplete, lacking, or contradictory, they will be operating with, essentially, one hand tied behind them. 

We’re beginning to see that there has been some data manipulation at the national and international levels regarding the alarms about global warming.  I hope we don’t see similar evidence in regards to our national health.  That would certainly be “inconvenient.”