Swine Flu Treatment and Pharma Companies

Just like popular fake illnesses such as mad cow disease, anthrax, bird flu and the HIV/AIDS conspiracy, the pharmaceutical lobby is now trying to sell 'Swine Flu' as a 'pandemic' and 'global threat' to governments, media and the gullible public, the world over.

According to the World Health Organization: "Every winter, tens of millions of people get the flu. Most are only ill and out of work for a week, yet the elderly are at a higher risk of death from the illness. We know the worldwide death toll exceeds a few hundred thousand people a year, but even in developed countries the numbers are uncertain, because medical authorities don't usually verify who actually died of influenza and who died of a flu-like illness".

Even healthy people can be affected by flu, and serious problems from influenza can happen at any age. People over 50 years old, very young children and people of any age with chronic medical conditions are more likely to get complications from influenza, such as pneumonia, bronchitis, sinus and ear infections. The Centre for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that more than 200,000 people are hospitalized and about 36,000 people die every year from flu related complications in the USA, itself. The symptoms of this regular human flu include body aches, fever, cold, cough, shivering and teary eyes and reddened face. Strangely, these symptoms are exactly the same as defined for Swine Flu.

What is the Swine Flu Hoax?

Varying media reports have stated that around 80 - 150 people are 'suspected' to have died of Swine Flu in Mexico while a total of 1000 - 1500 people are 'suspected' to be affected by Swine Flu in Mexico, USA, Canada and Europe. Use of words such as 'alarmed, deadly, pandemic, scare, global concern, worry' and so on are being liberally used in television reports, online articles and newspapers. These words are actually designed to create interesting stories, increase viewership/ readership and keep the audience hooked to increase revenues out of advertising. However, in actuality, it only serves only to create a false sense of hysteria over nothing and fatten the coffers of pharmaceutical companies.

Top Scientists such as Dr. Richard Besser, acting chief of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, have admitted to the Associate Press that -

- Scientists don't know for sure how Swine Flu is spread.
- It is a mystery why people are dying in Mexico. No one really knows just how many people in Mexico are dying of the Swine Flu strain, or how many have it.
- Only a fraction of the suspected deaths have been tested and confirmed as Swine Flu, and some initially suspected cases were caused by something else.


Treatment of Swine Flu

According to various media reports, Swine Flu, just like Bird Flu can be treated by two drugs - Tamiflu and Relenza. As the symptoms of Swine Flu, just like Avian Flu, are similar to regular human influenza, it is quite easy to bracket many cases of regular flu as being that of the dangerous 'Swine Flu' disease. Pharmaceutical company lobbies continuously work with health officials, the media and government officials to influence public opinion about the seriousness of this 'disease' . This is done to increase public spending on their so called special 'drugs' for combating the 'virus'.

Tamiflu, the commercial name of Oseltamivir, is an antiretroviral drug used to treat common flu (Influenza Virus A and B). It is an oral treatment developed by Gilead and manufactured by Hoffman-La-Roche (Roche). The company estimates that more than 50 million people around the world have been treated with this drug. The media attention, mass publicity and lobbying that follows reports of diseases such as Avian Flu and Swine Flu have also resulted in governments, corporations and private individuals stockpiling Tamiflu in different parts of the world.

Relenza is the commercial name and only type of Zanamivir, a neuraminidase inhibitor developed for the treatment of Influenza A and B. It is an inhalable drug currently marketed by GlaxoSmithKline. After some media reports of this having greater effectiveness in combating 'Bird Flu' compared to its main competitor Tamiflu, Germany purchased 1.7 million doses of the drug. The total sale of Relenza comprises only one percent of the growing flu drug market, basically due to faulty marketing policies. It is promoted by the medical fraternity as a drug that 'relieves' Swine Flu.

India had purchased a stockpile of one million doses of Tamiflu, when the Bird Flu Hoax was at its zenith. The Health Secretary of India, Mr. Naresh Dayal has said, ``These drugs have a shelf live of five years. So we may increase our buffer stock''. This means that after every five years, the old medicines have to be discarded and new ones need to be purchased in its place.

To promote their 'newly improved formulas', pharma companies often engineer fake 'epidemics' to scare the public and ensure strong sale of their drugs in the panic that follows. They are also able to charge unreasonably higher prices than before, because of the staged lack of availability of the drug and the increased public demand arising out of the 'fearful' reports in the media. This is exactly what is happening in the case of Swine Flu.

The current share prices of companies that manufacture drugs and testing kits to treat Swine Flu such as Gilead and Glaxo Smithkline have seen a sharp increase. The companies have been quick to claim that Swine Flu is 'sensitive' to their drugs, to spur further demand. Top financial analysts have said that assuming the stockpile of drugs will be replenished by most countries, it is estimated that Tamiflu will make up to $388 million in sales and Gilead will make around $70 million in royalties. If the outbreak escalates into a pandemic, a further increase in pharmaceutical stock prices, driven by retail demand for the drug is expected.

Feeding on fear to make big bucks....unfortunately, this is how the big pharmaceutical companies really work!