Nation suffers swine flu media exposure

Viewpoints

May 5, 2009

By Mitchel Olszak The Richmond Register Tue May 05, 2009, 07:45 AM EDT

Swine flu is sweeping the nation! We’re all going to die!

Well, not really, but this kind of lead gets the reader’s attention.

Considering the relatively few number of cases that have been confirmed, some of the worries about swine flu strike me as excessive. Yet the World Health Organization is on heightened alert and ranks this illness as just one level below a pandemic.

Of course, a pandemic — in technical terms — means that a lot of people around the planet will be exposed to a communicable disease. It doesn’t mean bodies will be lying in the streets, or guys with carts will be calling upon survivors to bring out their dead.

Yet talk about flu, combined with a possible pandemic, tends to mesh with the warnings many health experts have been sounding for years. Somewhere out there, they say, is a flu virus waiting to mutate into a truly deadly form. The worldwide toll, they say, will be in the millions when it strikes.

The current spread of swine flu has sparked concern because of the multiple deaths reported in Mexico, where the outbreak began. Yet those few Americans who contracted the flu seem to suffer relatively mild symptoms.

They become ill, and then they get better.

Why is this particular disease causing so much fuss? The typical flu that makes the rounds every year is a virus hosted by humans. It mutates regularly, which sometimes makes it more serious. But humans have considerable resistance to it.

The swine flu that began in Mexico is a sort a hybrid, with virus strains from pigs and birds mixed in with the human flu form. This raises concerns that human resistance may be weak.

And even though most people appear to suffer slight symptoms, this may be misleading. The virus could quickly mutate into a more harmful form.

From all the media coverage and public reaction, you would think this outbreak is far more serious than the evidence so far suggests. Swine flu has overshadowed the economy, terrorism, talk of climate change and just about everything else.

This has prompted a wave of fear. Even Vice President Biden suggested people should avoid flying or taking public transportation.

And, of course, the fact the flu began south of the border is being used as reason to renew calls for tougher border controls. Here’s a news flash: If we can’t stop human beings from crossing the border illegally, what chance do we have at stopping a virus?

Especially one that’s already here.

Despite all the publicity the swine flu has received, the chance of exposure for most U.S. residents remains exceedingly low. If you’re looking for something to worry about, try the drunk or distracted motorist that’s heading in your direction. Now that’s scary.

With no vaccine for the swine flu currently available, the question becomes, what is the average individual — bombarded with reports about this disease — supposed to do about it?

The answer, when you get right down to it, is strikingly mundane: People should make a point to wash their hands regularly.

It’s the best way to prevent the spread of swine flu, and other illnesses for that matter.\

Mitchel Olszak writes for the New Castle (Pa.) News.

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