Say Ahhhh

Lately, we have been reporting on the Swine Flu ad nauseum, a term I use guardedly. I wouldn’t want people to think I was nauseous from the Swine Flu and start avoiding me like….well, the swine flu (which, by the way is the term that I personally prefer over the H1N1 virus…..it just seems more romantic).

Ever since the first case in Mexico became the second, third and 45^th cases and began to spread to other countries, the media has been all over this like white on rice (or brown on rice, depending on your choice of carbohydrate). It’s got me wondering: what’s more dangerous, the virus or the hysteria created by the sometimes over dramatic coverage?

Let’s look at the numbers as of this writing. Not quite 800 cases in 17 countries worldwide with the number of fatalities at 20. I know that one person dying is one too many, but 20 out of nearly 6.8 billion, in the grand scheme of things, is tantamount to the wind blowing a few grains of sand from the beach into the ocean. The beach doesn’t change enough for anyone to notice and life goes on.

In Egypt last week, as a precaution, they slaughtered hundreds of pigs (who knew there were pigs in Egypt). The virus does not come from pigs. It is a hybrid evolution of one part pig, one part avian(bird) and two parts human virus. If the name is the reason for killing all those pigs, I suppose the genetic make-up would be reason enough for them to also wipe out all the birds and people there too. Egypt would be nothing BUT ruins with no birds to poop on them and no people to clean them and enjoy them.

The panic is spreading faster than the virus. Schools are closing nationwide. The kids are thrilled. They can go hang out at the mall and spread the disease to the general population rather than keeping it confined in the school. My daughter is upset because her school is the only one in our area that isn’t closed. I guess that’s why she spent Sunday at the mall.

You may not remember the Swine Flu panic in 1976, when Congress voted for and President Ford signed legislation to inoculate the whole country because one person had died of the virus. Consequently 25 people died from the inoculation. I guess, if nothing else, that story justifies my fear of shots, even in a panic situation.

I suppose we could thank the swine flu for the latest fashion statement….the surgical mask. They seem to have become all the rage. Everyone who is anyone is wearing one. I’ve even seen a website that has designer masks. One has a painted moustache, another has a butterfly on it, still another looks like the face of a skeleton. That one’s a bit too eerily prophetic for my taste. What people don’t seem to realize is that the mask is supposed to keep the infected person from expelling bodily spray on anyone else, not vice-versa. Besides, with everyone walking around in masks, how will we know who the bad guys are?

The media sometimes has a tendency to jump on a story with a mad vengeance in an attempt to be the first with the most and it easily turns into overkill. We, then, become more easily susceptible to suggestion. Now, if you will excuse me, I have been sitting next to my dog whose name is Porky. I think my throat is beginning to feel a little scratchy.

THAT'S HOW I FEEL WHAT CAN I TELL YA'