The most important thing to know about the avian flu pandemic is that it probably ain't coming, argues this brisk debunking of the latest medical scare story. Siegel, an associate professor at the NYU School of Medicine (
False Alarm: The Truth About the Epidemic of Fear), cites evidence that the death rate from avian flu could be much lower than the reported estimate of 50% and it will probably not mutate to be readily transmissible between humans. And unlike the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, Siegel contends, a new bird flu pandemic would face effective public health measures and medical treatments. Revisiting the West Nile virus, anthrax, SARS and bioterrorism panics, Siegel sees bird flu as the latest "bug du jour" hyped by government and media alarmism. Meanwhile, he complains, attention is diverted from far more deadly diseases like AIDS, malaria and regular flu. In his own lapse into medical panic, he insists that stress induced by medical panics is itself a serious medical problem. Siegel accessibly presents the facts about avian flu, together with colorful anecdotes about his own panic-stricken patients whom he advises to simply eat right and exercise. Siegel's exemplary bedside manner makes this dose of common sense go down easy.
(Feb.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Owner Reviews, Ratings, Comments and Criticism
While I'm not going to be travelling anytime soon to a bird flu type area, you still hear so much about it in the news and everyone has a different opinion that you don't know what's true and what's not. I know that Dr Marc Siegel is meant to be highly regarded as a doctor and I thought that this would clear up the fact from fiction. I found good info in here. He doesn't think we should ignore what we hear in the news, but at the same time it might be a little over-hyped. Personal stock-piling of Tamiflu etc might be of no good at all when you don't need to be taking it. That's when people become resistant to these drugs and when you do need them, your immune won't accept them. He thinks more should be done to immunise the birds themselves. It is heavy reading - so much more to talk about than what my review will allow for, but it's really interesting - even if you (like me) won't need to worry about being in a bird-flu area. At least after reading this, you will have a much clearer idea about this disease and form your own opinions on your own health regarding this and even just with the regular flu. You'll be more concious about your chances for either catching flu in general or if you have it, spreading it to other people. He also speaks in laymans terms which makes it so much more easy to understand and absorb. Good book.
