Swine Flu in Japan
I just got back from Japan last week. Started my trip in Osaka, move on to Kyoto, and then up to Tokyo. Going to Osaka was sort of like the movie “Outbreak” where you’d see quite a few people wearing mask. As we moved to Kyoto, there were fewer people wearing mask and up in Tokyo even fewer.
The funny thing is that you would see people putting on their mask just before getting off the plane. It was like they wanted to show the people at the thermal imaging section that they were “making an effort”.
There are so many different strains of influenza that the vaccinations can only “guard” against a few every year. With the “Bird Flu” the CDC was recommending Tamiflu and now with the Swine or H1N1 influenza strain, they are again recommending Tamiflu. The push for the asian countries to stock pile Tamiflu is pretty remarkable to say the least. When I asked some of the Japanese about what they thought, many felt that it was just a hype. And, what’s up with this all purpose vaccine? Hmmm. Whatever you do, please do your homework before you decide to get vaccinated for anything.
