Illness

Have We Seen This Swine Flu before?

The current swine flu panic is actually not the first. Back in 1976, a 19-year-old soldier, Pvt. David Lewis, was killed by an influenza at Fort Dix. This particular strain had not been seen since the plague of 1918-19, which was responsible for half a million lives in the United States and 20 million worldwide. In a combination of panic (scary news coverage of the deadly swine flu), politics (President Ford's desire to win office), and capitalism (pharmaceuticals wanting to cash in on vaccine profits), a decision was made to immunize all 220 million Americans. It turns out that this national inoculation ended up being responsible for more deaths than the swine flu itself...