# 3103
(Thanks to Nedra for the title)
I stopped blogging, and researching, and conversing with people on the phone long enough last night to watch a local newscast. It was the first one I’ve seen since all this began.
It was distressingly bombastic.
They did everything but play the Theme From Jaws in the background as they reported on the THREE (almost) CONFIRMED CASES IN FLORIDA!
I know this is all new, and a little bit scary, but I think it’s time to dispense with this breathless `Countdown to Armageddon’ style of reporting.
Instead of worried reporters interviewing distraught citizens about the possibility that someone in their community might have swine flu, we simply need to say that if it isn’t in your community now . . it will be soon.
And then go about telling people what it is, how to protect themselves and their families, and what to do if they get sick.
I’ve no problem with relaying the facts. If there are cases in a community, people need to know that.
The evening news shouldn’t be over-dramatized to the point that it looks like you are watching a made-for-TV disaster movie.
But of course, that sort of reporting won’t draw viewers like flies to a dung heap. And that’s what a good crisis is for, isn’t it?
I genuinely fear what happens to the reporting if a full pandemic is declared.
And there is a pretty good chance this Swine (err, A/H1N1) Flu will become a pandemic. It could fizzle out, but it seems to be spreading pretty efficiently.
But even so, it could be a mild pandemic.
Right now, this new H1N1 virus appears to generate relatively mild symptoms in most people. Sure, some people will suffer severe illness, and some will likely die.
Influenza is a serious illness.
Each year seasonal influenza kills tens of thousands of Americans and hundreds of thousands of people worldwide.
But as of today, except in Mexico, the fatalities we are seeing from this new flu appear to be low.
On a par with seasonal flu.
Now, flu viruses mutate. And so that could change.
The pandemic we start out with may not be the pandemic we end up with. In a month, or three, or six we could see a more severe version of this virus. That’s what happened in the 1918 pandemic, and that’s what some scientists worry about today.
Anybody who thinks they know how this virus will evolve over the next year or so is just guessing.
In the meantime, I consider the steps being taken by the CDC, the WHO, and public health officials around the world to be prudent.
I also believe that everyone should get prepared, and stay prepared, to deal with a wide spectrum of possible disasters.
They should follow the advice offered on pandemicflu.gov or Ready.gov to GET A KIT, MAKE A PLAN, and BE INFORMED.
In that way, if this should become a bigger problem, they will be ready to deal with it. Or with a hurricane, or a tornado, or a flood . . .
Disasters happen. Even pandemics.
But with a little common sense and preparation . . . we can be ready for them.
