Swine Flu Resurgeance?

This post is in response to the New York Times Science article "College Seasons Begin and Swine Flu Threat Enters Locker Room" written by Katie Thomas and published on August 28th of 2009.

The link below should take you to the article.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/29/sports/ncaafootball/29swine.html?_r=1&ref=science

To briefly summarize the article, Tulane University's football players experienced a flu epidemic, which triggered concerns over a possible outbreak of the infamously pandemic Swine Flu. Swine Flu also known as the H1N1 virus. Tulane University's public health officials have undertaken measures to minimalize the spread of the flu by canceling several of its sporting events this season. The total number of reported ill students, thus far, has been 31 football players and 6 volleyball players according to the New YorkTimes article; however the Tulane University website states that 46 student of its athletes have experienced "flu-like symptoms." The article then goes on to give a brief rehash of the tragic history behind the swine flu epidemic which began around April of 2009. The primary concern of the colleges seems to have been spun around the notion of missing out on participating in key sporting events, which generate revenue and reputation building.

I'm not entirely sure that this article should be viewed as a science article. There is very little scientific information being reported. Only a few links are present, which lead to a brief explanation of the influenza virus itself. I have a great deal of disdain for this article simply because it attempts to be more shocking than informative or intuitive. It insinuates that all of these students had contracted swine flu instead of focusing on the 2 test results, which showed that only 2 students tested positive for H1N1. I was expecting the possibility of serious cause of concern for the health and well being of students across America. An upside is that the online article possessed several links which would allow you to gather more knowledge on the viruses in question. The information they possessed was acurate when compared with the Center for Desease Control. The University of Tulane has a research study background that lends some validity to concern. The Links below help.

The Times Link
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/i/influenza/swine_influenza/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier

The CDC Link
http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/qa.htm

For those readers whom, like myself, have never heard of Tualane University try this link.
http://tulane.edu/about/

The irony of Tulane University is in its name.
http://www.sph.tulane.edu/pressroom/fall2009/news01.htm