Bruno's Mauritian Blog

124 cases since beginning 2010 and 1 death on Saturday the 10th of July, H1N1 – no more referred to as the swine flu – is back in the limelight. Are we brassing ourselves for the massive hysteria of 2009 yet again? I don’t think so!

A vaccine against the dreaded Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is nearly there! A team of scientists from the USA have discovered a virus-like particle that mimics the CHIKV. CHIKV is a very infectious virus transmitted to humans via some species of mosquitoes. The re-emergence of the virus in Kenya, 2004, lead to widespread infection within the [...]

I do not, and never will, understand the panic in Mauritius right now. H1N1 killed a few people; so what? Flu kills, everyone knows that! We are not dealing with Spanish flu here; the mortality rate is not alarming. Actually, I think now is the best time to catch H1N1.

Most Mauritians I know are poor at Mathematics. They are even worse at making sense of statistics. Is this the result of our distorted educational system, where C.P.E. kids learn how to solve maths problem by heart? Where later on, UoM students learn programs by heart before going to the exams? Who knows, who cares?! [...]

This is not a joke; this is a serious post. The panic surrounding the H1N1 (A) flu in Mauritius is a symptom of a greater disease: the disproportionate fear of death in Mauritius. Of course everyone in every country is scared of death. Of course every country is anxious about the flu pandemic. But the [...]

This is my second post on the flu outbreak. Yesterday, I argued that a prevention campaign such as lave la main is productive. Today I will demystify some myths about this particular flu strain.

Another patient died from respiratory complications due to flu today. This is worrying news for all; however letting panic settling in is not an option. What needs to be done is to give the population practical advice on how to combat flu propagation. Unfortunately, the ministry has waited for far too long before launching a [...]