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NEWS > HEALTH > SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE LOOKING TO CATCH SWINE FLU FEVER
SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE LOOKING TO CATCH SWINE FLU FEVER
May 12 2009
Sao Paulo, Brazil – With the sensation that the Swine Flu outbreak has become in recent weeks throughout most of the world, it seems an odd thing that half the planet is looking at it a little sideways. With surgical mask sales at an all time high and widespread reporting of the flu far past epidemic proportions, many of those living in 
countries directly affected by the disease could be forgiven if they thought everyone was as concerned as they are. Of course that is not the case, particularly true across the southern hemisphere which is feeling a little left out of all the excitement.
In Brazil, the largest country both by size and population in the southern hemisphere, there isn’t a surgical mask to be seen. With over 11 million people in the city of Sao Paulo the possibility of a spreading virus could wreck havoc, but yet every day goes on like normal. The cacophony of car 
horns, the rumble of millions going about their daily lives, all of it goes unmolested by the fear of a global pandemic. The same is true all across the hemisphere, from Africa to Australia, but some are just waiting, waiting for their opportunity to join the rest of the world in the fever sweeping the planet.
“It’s an unfortunate happenstance that the southern hemisphere gets the short end so often. Whether its crippling poverty or annexation or out and out slavery, countries in the South have always been treated differently by the North,” said Scrape TV South American analyst Walter Pereira. “I doubt very much that there are many who bear great levels of resentment from the north, at least any longer, but every now and then something comes along to remind people that they just don’t receive the same treatment as the rest of the world, as is the case with swine flu.”
Hundreds have been infected throughout northern countries, mostly in North America. Thus far there have been no cases reported below the equator or in any continents that straddle the global divider such as South America or Africa. Experts have predicted that come winter the flu may make a comeback in the north and begin to spread southwards.
“People here are hoping, hoping to get some of that attention and excitement but if
the flu does come back and start killing people in the north, even if it’s months after it spreads in the south, there is a very good chance that the efforts down here will go
for naught,” continued Pereira. “The groundswell of economic growth that has occurred surrounding the swine flu is something people in the south could very much use. The economic decline has been especially rough in Sao Paulo and any chance of things coming back would be a boon to the economy.”
Swine Flu, officially H1N1 has had an approximate mortality rate of 10 per cent with the majority of those deaths occurring in Mexico. There have been two deaths in the United States which has much more modern medical facilities. No official data exists as yet, but it is expected that swine flu media coverage will reach many thousands more times than what most would consider reasonable.
“You can never account for such things or how people will get excited but that is 
definitely something in the south want to get a piece of. Many pretend as though they don’t care how the rest of the world thinks of them, but they are sometimes hiding a deep and pain and a longing to belong. Things like flu pandemics are a human condition, not something meant for just certain humans. Most in South America just want to be treated the way everyone else is treated,” continued Pereira. “With swine flu starting to wind down many are hoping that Brazil can be a kind of Typhoid Mary and bring it back for the rest of the world. Then maybe people will start to recognize the south.”
Winter starts in July for the southern hemisphere when temperatures will reach a chilly 20° Celsius, prime weather for swine.
Lauren Hebert, Health Correspondent
NEWS > HEALTH > SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE LOOKING TO CATCH SWINE FLU FEVER
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