At best, results still out on Swedish approach

I take issue with the letter published on May 2 "Sweden's strategy is better than ours." The assumptions made are likely to be false.

First, the assuption that Sweden's death rate is likely to be lower than that of the U.S. Sweden already far exceeds the U.S. in rate of COVID-19 deaths; that prediction is based on crossed fingers.

Absent the protection of any vaccine or successful treatment, the cost of achieving herd immunity is measured by loss of life. COVID-19 is dangerous in this regard in that its behavior is unpredictable. Sweden has tried to isolate those most at risk. Nevertheless their death rate is estimated as six times higher than the surrounding countries.

State epidemiologist Anders Tegnelli, one of the architects of Sweden's response has admitted that, "What has not worked out very well is our death toll and that's very much." There is no evidence that they will soon achieve herd immunity.

Like the U.S., their testing capability is limited by availability and questionable accuracy. The number of asymptomatic carriers in their population is unknown. At best, Sweden's program can be regarded as an experiment the results of which will not be available for some time.

Secondly, the comparison of tactics in COVID/HIV misunderstands the basic principles of dealing with epidemics. With a new virus, information on its natural history and epidemiology must be gathered simultaneously while pursuing both prevention and treatment.

HIV and COVID-19 are indeed different viruses, but the approach is quite similar. HIV/AIDS went from being a death sentence to becoming a manageable chronic disease in a remarkably short period of time.

Finally, to try to blame Dr. Fauci for the situation this pandemic has created is simply abhorrent.

Allen Saxon

South Barrington