Obama administration has 66% approval rating for handling of swine flu

[BirminghamExaminer]

Excerpt:

In a Gallup poll conducted Tuesday night, 66% of Americans said they approve of the way the Obama administration has handled the swine flu crisis. Only 16% disapproved and 17% had no opinion.

Gallup also found that only 22% of Americans are personally worried about getting swine flu but that may change in the coming days.

President Obama is being briefed regularly on the progress of the swine flu crisis. The World Health Organization (WHO) has raised their response level to the H1N1 influenza outbreak to phase 5.

From the World Health Organization: "Phase 5 is characterized by human-to-human spread of the virus into at least two countries in one WHO region. While most countries will not be affected at this stage, the declaration of Phase 5 is a strong signal that a pandemic is imminent and that the time to finalize the organization, communication, and implementation of the planned mitigation measures is short."

If you are unsure why the current swine flu is different from the seasonal influenza viruses that spread throughout the world every year, you're not alone. The reason the swine flu that is currently affecting so many in Mexico and spreading through the United States and other nations is of greater concern than the usual seasonal flu is two-fold and profoundly important. Influenza usually strikes hardest the elderly and or the very young as well as people with compromised immune systems. But the swine flu that has killed almost 200 people in Mexico is killing healthy young adults. And healthy young adults are much more likely to spread the disease than are infants or the elderly.

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