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The H1N1 virus hasn’t proven as deadly as first feared. A German epidemiologist named Wolfgang Wodarg says the WHO intentionally overstated the threat. Others blame the media. We asked The New York Times health reporter Donald McNeil, sociologist Eric Klinenberg, and the CDC's Glen Nowak whether the media overstated the threat or helped contain the virus.
About the only person who thinks Wodarg is an epidemiologist is Wodarg himself. His bio seems to indicate that his doctorate is in psychiatry. A literature search turned up no epidemiological articles in any of the established journals devoted to the subject. His main job seems to be that of a politician in the Socialist Democratic Party. A short discussion of his "critique" is available here: http://scienceblogs.com/effectmeasure/2010/01/fire_in_the_hole_wolfgang_woda.php written by a real, working epidemiologist.
Wodarg did train in epidemiology at Johns Hopkins, according to his own posted biography. But he has not had much of a career as an epidemiologist.
Clearly, however, he is trained enough to realize that the novel H1N1 swine flu virus did indeed cause sufficiently severe disease in certain age groups all around the world to qualify as an influenza pandemic -- fortunately a mild one, so far -- even under the previous WHO pandemic flu guidelines from 2005 and 1999. See "It's Not a Fake Pandemic, but WHO's Defence Lacks Candour" at: http://psandman.com/col/schnirring3.htm
According to my freshman microbiology textbook, which was published in 2007, well before these accusations that WHO rewrote the definition, a pandemic is a disease that is present in greater than usual frequency on more than one continent. This certainly describes "swine flu" (and a lot of other seasonal and epidemic diseases).
I was completely struck by the first story on this week's "On the Media," detailing the junk science behind the years'-long controversy over vaccines and autism. It was, of course, a controversy that was driven to a large extent by the proponents' links to attorneys suing pharamaceutical makers.
And I distinctly remember that the left-leaning media, including NPR, the BBC, the New York Times, the three major U.S. networks, and too many others to name, were among the most credulous consumers of the theory. For years.
I'd have thought that after years of unfair attacks and unjustified vaccine lawsuits, the pharmaceutical manufacturers might have gotten just a minimum of sympathy from Bob Garfield. Nope.
In this story, on H1N1, without any other link to a pharmaceutical story, Bob Garfield throws out the dubious and malicious assertion that "We live in a world where... the pharmaceutical industry is so corrupt..."
Hey Bob; if you are keen on exposing corruption, next week you might want to do a story on the intersection of junk science and the lawsuit industry.
The switch in name from "swine" flu to "H1N1" flu hides the fact that the flu did originate in swine. But what was barely reported was that Ground Zero for H1N1, La Gloria in Mexico, a few miles away from a Confined Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) for hogs named Granjas Carroll, owned by Smithfield Foods. While Smithfield Foods denies that it is the source of H1N1 flu, it is well known that CAFOs are breeding grounds for animal disease. It is likely that workers at Granjas Carroll who lived in La Gloria contracted the disease from some infected animals and spread it to the vulnerable 5 year old child who died there. See http://observers.france24.com/en/content/20090501-origin-h1n1-virus-la-gloria-smithfield-pork-pig-farm-contamination
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