H1N1 Over Estimated? According to CBS, YES

I'm a little on pins and needles one moment when I hear about H1N1 mostly because I have two children that fall into the higher risk category and I already experienced a nasty cold turn into pneumonia due to some medical mistakes whereas my youngest nearly died last November and was intubated for well over a week.  So when I hear all these pandemic reports, it puts fear into me and I try to tell myself that it's partly due to misinformation and an overhyped media.  Now I'm reading it's been categorized as a national emergency so my government is overhyping it perhaps.

According to a new study by CBS:

A three-month-long investigation by CBS News, released earlier this week that included state-by-state test results, revealed some very different facts. The CBS study found that H1N1 flu cases are NOT as prevalent as feared. A CBS article even states:

"If you've been diagnosed "probable" or "presumed" 2009 H1N1 or "swine flu" in recent months, you may be surprised to know this: odds are you didn't have H1N1 flu. In fact, you probably didn't have flu at all."

Obviously CBS News and the CDC are completely contradicting each other. So who is right?

Well, CBS reports that in late July 2009 the CDC advised states to STOP testing for H1N1 flu, and they also stopped counting individual cases.

Their rationale for this, according to CBS News, was that it was a waste of resources to test for H1N1 flu because it was already confirmed as an epidemic.

So just like that virtually every person who visited their physician with flu-like symptoms since late July was assumed to have H1N1, with no testing necessary because, after all, there's an epidemic.

It's interesting to note that at the same time as the CDC decided the H1N1 epidemic warranted no further testing for cases due to its epidemic status, Finnish health authorities actually downgraded the threat of swine flu.

In late July the health ministry and the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) in Finland actually removed swine flu from a list of diseases considered dangerous to the public because the majority of cases recovered without medication or hospital care!

And, as the CDC continues to use fear to motivate and control Americans with their worst-case swine flu scenarios, they say nothing of the experience of those in the southern hemisphere, which just finished their flu season and found it was not as bad as expected.

I also just read a poll on another news outlet that shows that most Americans believe it's mostly hyped.  Tonight, Mike Huckabee is even talking about it on his show.

To read more on the CBS story, go HERE.

What do you think?  Are you scared or is it overhyped?

Fall Into Good Health Reviews and Giveaways: Infectigaurd - CLOSED & WINNERS ANNOUNCED!

CLOSED - CONGRATULATIONS TO:

Katie, Kngmckellar, Heather, SueE and Tera.

e-mail were just sent and each winner has 48 hours to respond.

Tera, I need your e-mail so please send within 48 hours!

Thanks for entering and thanks to Megan at Light Year's Ahead for this opportunity!

With fall and winter approaching, I'm dedicating a series of reviews and giveaways to good health.

Infectiguard by Dr. Fresh is a great new hand sanitizer that is effective in killing germs but not killing your hands.  It has a moisturizer built in to not alone protect your hands from germs but also against dryness unlike other hand sanitizer products. 

I used Infectiguard for a week and with having two medically compromised children, one with an immunodeficiency, I'm nearly an expert on using these type of products.  All the various products up until now, always dried my hands out and have strong alcohol odors to them.

What I also like about Infectiguard is the smell doesn't linger on for hours.  It's quick, you can tell it's working as you can still feel the same properties without the overwhelming smell and the drying out factor.

Infectiguard is even being deployed as the sanitizer of choice for all US military personnel.  Dr. Fresh is working with the Army and US Air Forces Exchange Service which is great news for me since I'm a military spouse and shop at the Exchange.

Straight from Dr. Fresh:

Infectiguard Hand Sanitizer does double duty killing germs and counterbalancing the drying effects of alcohol with moisturizing botanicals and vitamins. It contains 62% alcohol to effectively kill germs, along with aloe vera, vitamin E and other moisturizing ingredients. Unlike other hand sanitizers that have harsh and drying effects on hands, the pH neutral formula leaves hands hydrated, but never sticky. The base stores will carry a wide variety of Infectiguard sizes and formats, ranging from pump bottles, individually wrapped wipes, and portable sprays with carabineer clips, perfect for duty in the field.

Don't want to wait and want to try it yourself?

The Giveaway:

Five readers will be given one bottle of Infectiguard for their own protection.  With the flu season and the fears of swine flu, you won't want to miss this chance to try it!

To Enter:

Comment and follow my blog.

Extra Entries:

* Subscribe to my blog (leave comment).

* Follow me on Twitter (leave comment).

* Blog about this giveaway (leave comment).

* Tweet about this giveaway (leave comment).

* Leave a comment on any other post on this blog (leave comment - up to five entries for this per day please).

Giveaway ends October 31, 2009 at 10:00 PM EST

Winner chosen by random.org

Thanks to Megan at Light Year's Ahead for this opportunity to review Infectiguard.  I received one bottle for this review and was not compensated financially.

Click here for more posts on getting healthy for fall/winter!