There's an app for that?

We must be feeling really catty today because we weren't going to comment on this story but when you think of what our mission is - our mission is to correct what's incorrect in the news. Headlines: "New Application Aims to Detect Flu Outbreaks Faster" "iPhone users have a new means of monitoring the spread of swine flu and other disease outbreaks." Nothing really incorrect with this story. There is an app for that. We just have to ask - Why?

It's been on ABC, USA Today, US News & World Report you've seen it. We thought that that was our job. Except knowing where the outbreak is is sort of like knowing who has the virus. It's not the flu that needs to worry you, we think. For us its what treatments are available to keep you from dying from the flu.

This app and the others like it turns you into a video game character. What are you supposed to do run from uninfected area to uninfected area? We don't want to turn you into a frogger character. Information that informs should inform. We aren't hating! Really we aren't hating!

We think of the flu as a bad bad cold that kills whether its swine or pneumonia. Dead is dead. We're not jealous but don't allow yourself to be misdirected. Everyone who gets the flu will NOT die. It's not a death sentence. There is an available treatment to make us both resistant and able to recover from the infection. Swine Flu - there's a treatment for that!

The Last Canaries

We could guess their names since none of our local jurisdictions will tell us. While the department of health hides their deaths and uses the privacy laws to keep them from being recognized it's not hard to determine the names and in some cases the faces of the individuals who like coal mine canaries died to alert us to the coming trouble. Only Maryland is still publicly informing us of the growing numbers but as they reveal only the swine (H1N1) flu deaths it hides the growing pneumonia, influenza or other virus related deaths.

It's not too late and according to the World Health Organization (WHO) if we use the treatment of the vacine on the very sick and dying then they and we survive. As far back as 2000 and in 2006 both UNICEF and WHO said: "Pneumonia is the leading killer of children. Pneumonia kills more children than any other illness -- more than AIDS, malaria and measles combined. Approximately 2 million children under five die from the disease each year, accounting for nearly one in five child deaths globally. ...It is estimated that 26 per cent of neonatal deaths, and 10 per cent of under-five deaths, are caused by severe infections. And a large proportion of these infections are caused by sepsis/pneumonia. If these deaths were added to the overall estimate, pneumonia could account for up to 3 million, or as many as one-third (29 per cent) of under-five deaths worldwide..." "...immunizing children (especially with measles, Hib and pneumococcal conjugate vaccines), and ensuring adequate nutrition, including zinc intake and breastfeeding. Reducing indoor air pollution may also play a role. But once a child develops pneumonia, prompt treatment with a full course of effective antibiotics is life-saving because most severe cases are caused by bacterial pathogens. And since access to health services is limited in many developing countries, prompt treatment may also require training health workers to diagnose and treat children with pneumonia in the community." "...Studies show that community health workers can effectively manage uncomplicated pneumonia. Case management includes classifying suspected cases based on breathing rates and lower chest wall indrawing (where the chest retracts during inhalation), treating non-severe pneumonia cases with antibiotics, and referring severe pneumonia cases to health facilities, where possible."

Remember to wash your hands often!