I still think this thing is significantly over hyped but if it does turn out to be really serious like the SARS outbreak a few years back or worse, we could see an interesting trading day come Monday.
Oh, I dunno. If you believe the numbers they're throwing around 1000 sickened, 68 dead, that's pretty bad. Almost 10% if you want to look at it that way.
A report on NBC said there are 2 drugs that will work. One is tamiflu and I did not catch the name of the other one. I think Roche makes tamiflu, so there is little chance of a move in that stock on this unless things get very ugly. A lot of the small biotechs that are working on "flu" vaccines were bid up nicely Friday, but most only have drugs in development stage. Some of these could have nice pops if you have risk tolerance or at least keep tight stops. Here are a few to check out: NVAX, DVAX, GNBT, and AVII.
this is BAD! this flu seems deadly and contagious. previous chicken flu cases were deadly but not very contagious. but it won't have any effect on monday trading since the news was known last week and is priced in. what happens going forward will depend on the number of casualties.
People do not realize how many flu related deaths there are each year. The following is from a FDA news item. Vaccination remains the cornerstone of preventing influenza, a contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses. According to the CDC, every year an average of 5 to 20 percent of the U.S. population gets the flu, more than 200,000 are hospitalized from flu complications and there are about 36,000 flu-related deaths. So in comparison the swine flu is not major yet, but the hype is building quickly. The world is overdue for a pandemic that kills tens of millions and will happen eventually. Here is the link for the above FDA report. http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2008/NEW01872.html
That may or may not be true because the new swine flu is a mix of swine, bird and human flu strains. Tamiflu was not found to be effective against previous outbreaks of avian flu. The new swine flu strain is a serious concern since the swine flu is attacking healthy young people unlike the usual routine of the flu and older, weaker people. The other antiviral drug is Relenza. It's and inhalant which is an advantage if you're heaving your guts out (Tamiflu is taken orally). I don't know about Relenza but Tamiflu must be taken within the first 48 hours. If you have the flu, get it. It's a miracle drug. Instead of feeling like you want to die, you'll just feel like crap the flu runs its course
IT IS HERE ALREADY! LOS ANGELES, April 25 (Reuters) - A seventh case of the swine flu that has killed dozens of people in Mexico was confirmed in California on Saturday, involving a woman who was hospitalized in intensive care but has since recovered. The 35-year-old Imperial County woman became ill on April 4 and was hospitalized for a week, the most severe case of swine flu yet found in the state, said Dr. Bonnie Sorensen, deputy director of the California Department of Public Health. The woman, who was not identified, has since fully recovered, Sorensen said. She was being interviewed by health authorities to determine how she may have been infected but had not traveled abroad or handled animals. "None of the seven cases in California have recently traveled to Mexico and none had any direct contact with pigs, so all of these folks must have caught it from someone else," Sorensen told Reuters. The woman was diagnosed as part of stepped-up testing in California following the swine flu outbreak that showed signs of spreading as the World Health Organization warned it could become a global epidemic. All seven of the state's confirmed swine flu cases have been found in San Diego and Imperial counties, which share a border with Mexico. Four of Mexico's suspected cases have been reported in Mexicali, which is on the border with California. http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN2546290520090426
This is a perfect opportunity to shut down and severely limit entrance on the boarders between Mexico and US. The current administration needs to act quickly, regardless of the outcome, protecting the citizenship is the 1st priority.