Well, this feeling sucks. It’s a feeling that haunts you, that you can’t put your hand on, that constantly jeers at you.

And it’s real.

Life just got real.

And I’m done chasing it.

And I’m done with it.

Fuck it.

If every ripple and every wave was something that changed my life, you would be a tsunami, sweeping me off my feet and carrying me into the great beyond.

And if every moment of happiness you bring me represents a star in my sky, my nights would be brighter than day.

For all these reasons, and more, you are the love of my life.

Let’s look at Malaysia, a relatively small country, miles away from the United States; also my home country. As of August 17th, 2009, (4 months into the discovery of the virus) there are 3,857 cases of confirmed H1N1 cases and 64 confirmed deaths from H1N1. That gives us a mortality rate at about 1.66%. and makes us the country with the 21st highest mortality rate among all the countries worldwide. Under that pretense, the government has put everyone in a heightened security mode. I have a friend who was “(un)kindly asked to leave” the bank when he told the teller that he just returned home a day or two prior. Refusing us service after coming “home”? Bollocks.

As a biologist, I can’t help but to be critical about all the claims and statistics released by the MoH (if you’re a Malaysian, you’ll understand what I’m talking about).

The main critique I have regarding this is the testing employed by officials to “confirm” H1N1 cases. To understand why I am questioning this, we will first have to understand the different methods currently available to test for the virus. The quickest way to test for H1N1 employed worldwide is the use of rapid influenza diagnostic tests (RIDTs). These come as kits and allows detection of a subtype of influenza virus within 30 minutes. It is sufficient to say that these test kits, at most, can only differentiate between influenza type A or influenza type B. H1N1 is a novel strain of influenza type A; one of many subtypes that cannot be distinguished by these kits. The seasonal flu, which affects more than millions worldwide every year, is a subtype A influenza virus. So, the RIDTs tells the patient either;
1) you have the seasonal flu -or-
2) you are infected by the H1N1 virus (oh, did I also mention that there is a H1N1 strain that originates from humans as well? Help! It’s the homo sapiens flu!)

These kits are 10% – 70% accurate for the H1N1 flu and are employed only for quick detection, and do not qualify as conclusive results. A more accurate method to detect the novel H1N1 virus is the use of RT-PCR. In RT-PCR, the samples are obtained from the patient (mucus or oral swabs) and sent to the labs for diagnosis. The technicians will extract RNA from the samples and amplify it for regions of the RNA that are novel to the H1N1 virus. It has a 24-hour turnover time. Most physicians (as recommended by CDC and WHO) would order the test, even if the kit shows a negative result, to be safe.

With that said, it makes me wonder about the apocryphal figures released by MoH – are they preliminary results or are they results confirmed through RT-PCR? If they are preliminary results, then are we just roping normal flu into the mix? How about cases that are not detected via the RIDTs?

To make matters worse, I read an article two days back about the test results for H1N1 flu virus in Malaysia. 95% of all tests turn out positive for H1N1. In other words, 95% of ALL flu cases in Malaysia are H1N1? I am tempted to say no but I will give them the benefit of the doubt. Although, I would still love to see how their tests are done and if different results are produced if the samples are sent to international, WHO-recognized, contract companies that specialize in such testing (assuming of course that everything is done locally).

It is true that this novel strain of H1N1 is replacing driving out the seasonal influenza virus – so doesn’t that just make it the new seasonal flu virus? It’s a new, relatively mild, seasonal flu virus that many people’s immune systems have yet to encounter. That explains its ability to infect people. In most cases, the symptoms are mild and our immune system eventually overcomes the infection, giving us immunity to the new H1N1 strain. At that point, I believe, this H1N1 variant will be nothing more than the seasonal flu. So, is it really that serious? Potentially. Keyword, potentially.

Unforunately, most people are misinformed about the virus, believing that it is a serious matter at hand, requiring exigent action – that is never always a good thing. For example, a teenager was recently misdiagnosed with H1N1 flu when she had tonsilitis. Sadly, she was given the wrong treatment and passed away soon after when her lungs collapsed. [Read it here]

In addition, there are much worse pandemics than the H1N1 flu! [Read more here] The seasonal flu (yes, that is a pandemic) infects anywhere between 2 – 5 million people every year and causes 250,000 – 500,000 deaths a year (that makes it 83,000 deaths in 4 months, as opposed to 2,307 for H1N1). In the defense of H1N1, however, the flu season has yet to arrive in the Northern Hemisphere, which will tell us for good how serious the problem may be. On the other hand, Malaysia is a tropical country – there are no flu seasons. It is flu season all year round (which may help explain the huge infection numbers compared to many other countries) there, so this rate of infection will stay pretty constant throughout the year. That means, in Malaysia, the number of mortalities from H1N1 isn’t even close to the numbers of the seasonal flu. In addition, most of those mortalities occur in patients with underlying symptoms. More than half of the unfortunate patients who are hospitalized have underlying symptoms.

Why is everyone so afraid? Up to the point to turn people away. It is counterproductive. It is ridiculous. It demands the most pithy disabuse.

Addendum: I stumbled across this and I think it is hilarious. It’s called Unconventional Methods to Prevent Influenza. The best part is; the Malaysian newspapers actually buy it!

As many scholars would agree, knowing is better than not knowing. Parents who decide to avoid discussing high risk behaviors with their children will force the bright young minds to resort to another source to discover the truth behind their backs. With the prevalence of internet and other forms of media today, these young minds will find ample information to satisfy their curiosity. The problem here is that without parental guidance, children are free to discover what they want to and there is no telling what they may stumble upon. They may engage in high risk behaviors such as taking drugs and unprotected sexual activities and, in the most unfortunate of situations, parents will only find out when it is too late. Quotidian reports of teenagers facing societal problems should provide more than enough evidence of this.

On the contrary, if parents were to be open and honest with their children about these behaviors, the parents can limit the amount of information they pass onto their children and how the children will perceive these behaviors. Children that can actively engage with their parents will find less need to explore the subject of discussion themselves and will approach their parents with probity. At the same time, parents can also cast a different light onto a matter than it would be portrayed through popular media. For example, drugs are perceived by many teenagers as cool and hip, and parents have the opportunity to change that view if they get to their children before their peers and popular media does.

In addition, through active conversations, parents can choose impart advice on certain behaviors to their children. Children are impetuous by nature and their curious young minds will not be satisfied until they experience the different experiences that life has to offer. Parents can only do so much to prevent these behaviors. By allowing a healthy exchange between the children and themselves, parents can discuss the possible dangers of high risk behaviors and at the same time offer sound advice that will deter complications that may arise in the future.

From the reasons stated, I believe that parents should be honest and open to their children about behaviors that they are uncomfortable to share. Just as a bird does not belong in a cage, a child’s mind should not be closed away from learning all that life has to offer. They need guidance, and who is a better candidate to guide and mentor them than the parents?

36 minutes. 522 words.