News media double standard on west nile virus

[Texashiker]

Why does the news media give so much attention to whooping cough, but has just about ignored west nile virus?

So far in 2012 there have been 21 deaths in Texas due to the west nile virus - http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/news/updates.shtm

In 2010, 27,550 cases of pertussis were reported to the CDC - http://www.cdc.gov/pertussis/outbreaks.html

The rate of pertussis is much higher then west nile, but pertussis is treatable.

There is no treatment for west nile virus.


10 people died in Washington, and whooping cough is declared an epidemic.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/story/2012-05-10/whooping-cough-epidemic-Washington/54884494/1

It's the first state to declare a whooping cough, or pertussis, epidemic since 2010, when California had more than 9,000 cases, including 10 deaths

West nile virus has a higher fatality rate then whooping cough, there is no treatment and no vaccine, and the news media sweeps it under the rug.

Maybe its because west nile is not hitting California or new york? As long as it stays in the southern states then its nothing to worry about?

 

[DrPizza]

I never thought about it before, but it's kind of weird that there isn't a *human* vaccine for West Nile. There is, and it's recommended that horses get vaccinated. Of course, if there was a human vaccine available, then we could have a thread with 3 or 4 regulars claiming how 21 out of 10's of thousands of people infected isn't much, and not ...

 

[DrPizza]

http://www.ksfy.com/story/19319373/west-nile-vaccine-under-development-at-okla-university Vaccine probably available soon. It's pretty hard to hype West Nile in the news, since the vast majority of those infected don't even know it. Symptoms are very mild for most, and for a few, particularly the elderly, it can develop into an untreatable form of encephalitis. (Which can be fatal.)

 

[monovillage]

West Nile Virus is in California and has been since about 1999. There's already been a couple cases in my county this year , let alone the State.

 

[K1052]

Maybe its because west nile is not hitting California or new york? As long as it stays in the southern states then its nothing to worry about?

I submit that the number of cases is proportional to total skin area per capita. Quit growing the fatties and it will clear itself up.

 

[Thump553]

Personally I haven't seen or heard a news story about whooping cough in a long, long time but just last week on two seperate nights Dallas' problem with West Nile virus was featured prominently in the NBC Nightly News that I watched. West Nile virus is also usually a big story in the newspapers around here, but for some reason the outbreaks having been as bad this year as in the past.

PS-it must be a pisser to have both a horrendous drought and a mosquito problem.

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

Why does the news media give so much attention to whooping cough, but has just about ignored west nile virus?

So far in 2012 there have been 21 deaths in Texas due to the west nile virus - http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/news/updates.shtm

In 2010, 27,550 cases of pertussis were reported to the CDC - http://www.cdc.gov/pertussis/outbreaks.html

The rate of pertussis is much higher then west nile, but pertussis is treatable.

There is no treatment for west nile virus.


10 people died in Washington, and whooping cough is declared an epidemic.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/story/2012-05-10/whooping-cough-epidemic-Washington/54884494/1


West nile virus has a higher fatality rate then whooping cough, there is no treatment and no vaccine, and the news media sweeps it under the rug.

Maybe its because west nile is not hitting California or new york? As long as it stays in the southern states then its nothing to worry about?

Because it's not all about how many deaths there are.

Also, there is no treatment for whooping cough. Erythromycin and cotrimoxazole reduce period of infectiousness, but they don't improve symptoms out outcomes. If you get it, you have to go through the whole thing.

Also, pertussis is mostly about babies, and people get very irrational where babies are concerned. I don't know who West Nile Virus tends to infect, we don't even have West Nile in New Zealand.

 

[Texashiker]

Also, there is no treatment for whooping cough. Erythromycin and cotrimoxazole reduce period of infectiousness, but they don't improve symptoms out outcomes. If you get it, you have to go through the whole thing.

????

Where did you get that from? Whooping cough is treatable with antibiotics.

http://www.cdc.gov/pertussis/clinical/treatment.html

http://children.webmd.com/features/whooping-cough-what-you-need-to-know

 

[nanette1985]

I've been under the weather lately so pretty much all I can do is watch TV. Yes, the west Nile story has been all over the news. Locally it usually starts out by pointing out that Connecticut has just had its first case of the year. Then the big story about Texas with emphasis on how people are upset about spraying.

Ick for west nile. hang in there guys, stay away from mosquitoes.

 

[hal2kilo]

Why does the news media give so much attention to whooping cough, but has just about ignored west nile virus?

So far in 2012 there have been 21 deaths in Texas due to the west nile virus - http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/news/updates.shtm

In 2010, 27,550 cases of pertussis were reported to the CDC - http://www.cdc.gov/pertussis/outbreaks.html

The rate of pertussis is much higher then west nile, but pertussis is treatable.

There is no treatment for west nile virus.


10 people died in Washington, and whooping cough is declared an epidemic.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/story/2012-05-10/whooping-cough-epidemic-Washington/54884494/1


West nile virus has a higher fatality rate then whooping cough, there is no treatment and no vaccine, and the news media sweeps it under the rug.

Maybe its because west nile is not hitting California or new york? As long as it stays in the southern states then its nothing to worry about?

Your local news affiliates must suck then because a I saw something on our local news and it specifically pointed out Texas as having a high number of cases.

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

????

Where did you get that from? Whooping cough is treatable with antibiotics.

http://www.cdc.gov/pertussis/clinical/treatment.html

http://children.webmd.com/features/whooping-cough-what-you-need-to-know

Neither of the links you provided refute what I said. The primary goal of whooping cough treatment is to prevent infection to others, it has little or no impact on the disease progression in someone already infected. So as I said, if you get whooping cough, you're stuck with it until you get better on your own. And the younger you are, the less likely that you'll get better.

 

[gorb]

I don't watch any tv and rarely check out news websites, and I've heard plenty about west nile in north texas.

 

[chowderhead]

If it is summer time and the media has nothing better to do ...it's time again to hype up the medical condition of the year.

anthrax
SARs
flu vaccine shortage
bird flu
drug-resistant staph
swine flu
West Nile virus.


I want more stories about heart disease or being obese killing hundreds of thousands of people each year. Instead we get these sensational stories that scares people into thinking things are going to be a pandemic.