# 2899
I keep looking for a good enough argument against their being another severe pandemic so I can give up this blog and go sailing.
Today, Philip Alcabes, a professor of urban public health at Hunter College of the City University of New York offers an opinion piece in the Washington Post, where he claims that the pandemic threat is being overly hyped.
I'll only print the opening paragraph. Follow the link to read the entire editorial.
When you return, just a few comments.
5 Myths About Pandemic Panic
By Philip Alcabes
Sunday, March 15, 2009; Page B03
Winter is almost over, and it appears that we're going to make it through another flu season without a global disaster. That may seem like a miracle after the hysteria generated in recent years by SARS, avian flu and the World Health Organization's standing warning that it's "a matter of time" before the next influenza pandemic strikes. But the truth is that the threat is being hyped.
Professor Alcabes is not alone in his belief that the dangers of another pandemic are over stated - but among world public health professionals - he is decidedly in the minority camp.
Of course, contrarian opinions sell books.
And Professor Alcabes is about to release a book entitled: "Dread: How Fear and Fantasy Have Fueled Epidemics from the Black Death to Avian Flu."
While I could go point by point through this editorial piece and offer conflicting studies, and opposing opinions, I'm not going to bother.
There are nearly 2900 blogs available here, covering more than 3 years of research and opinions from the world's leading scientists, to refute much of what he says.
Professor Alcabes is entitled to his opinion, and in the interest of fairness on this subject, I'm going to let his article stand (or fall) on its own merits.
I'll only say that personally, his arguments - that the dangers of another pandemic are over stated - leave me unconvinced.
