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Swine Flu - the pig strikes back
May. 1st, 2009 12:46 pmWe have swine flu. It's flu and a bit nasty.
No, there's no real need to panic. Yes some people will die - the die to regular flu as well.
Yes we should all look after our health. We should do anywhere. If you're sick, see a doctor. If you have the flu don't tough it out and go to work (assuming you have these options) because that just means you're sharing your pig germs with everyone else.
Keep clean, eat well. These have always been the best way to avoid disease. If you're filthy and a McDonald's afficionado then you're more at risk of illness - you filthy burger-muncher.
Are governments, the UN, WHO et al being a bit dramatic about all this? Yes
Did they overreact about SARS and Bird Flu et al? Yes
Did people panick with teh silly because of that? Yes
Should they stop? No... no no no
Because one day the next big squishy disease COULD be the ebola virus on steroids. It isn't now, but one day it could be. And in this age of planes, trains and automobiles a disease in one corner of the globe can reach pretty much every other corner of it in 48 hours. That is worth being a little paranoid about. It is worth playing safe.
See, I like paranoia in my emergency response. When I ring the fire brigade I want them to come, sirens blazing, hoses out, ripped hot firemen sweating (sorry, distracted there) even if when they get there they find that my toaster's on fire. I don't want them to think "Well, it may not be that bad. Do we really want to cause panic driving through the street like that? Can't we at least wait until a wall's on fire?" The same applies to the nice people trying to prevent the next Black Death. The fact that they seem to overreact makes it far far far less likely that the next scary plague is going to become worse than its hype.
Better to overhype them then ignore them... waaay better
No, there's no real need to panic. Yes some people will die - the die to regular flu as well.
Yes we should all look after our health. We should do anywhere. If you're sick, see a doctor. If you have the flu don't tough it out and go to work (assuming you have these options) because that just means you're sharing your pig germs with everyone else.
Keep clean, eat well. These have always been the best way to avoid disease. If you're filthy and a McDonald's afficionado then you're more at risk of illness - you filthy burger-muncher.
Are governments, the UN, WHO et al being a bit dramatic about all this? Yes
Did they overreact about SARS and Bird Flu et al? Yes
Did people panick with teh silly because of that? Yes
Should they stop? No... no no no
Because one day the next big squishy disease COULD be the ebola virus on steroids. It isn't now, but one day it could be. And in this age of planes, trains and automobiles a disease in one corner of the globe can reach pretty much every other corner of it in 48 hours. That is worth being a little paranoid about. It is worth playing safe.
See, I like paranoia in my emergency response. When I ring the fire brigade I want them to come, sirens blazing, hoses out, ripped hot firemen sweating (sorry, distracted there) even if when they get there they find that my toaster's on fire. I don't want them to think "Well, it may not be that bad. Do we really want to cause panic driving through the street like that? Can't we at least wait until a wall's on fire?" The same applies to the nice people trying to prevent the next Black Death. The fact that they seem to overreact makes it far far far less likely that the next scary plague is going to become worse than its hype.
Better to overhype them then ignore them... waaay better