The news media has attacked the Swine Flu with the kind of gusto usually reserved for Republican political campaigns. It is all Swine Flu all the time. Every newscast seems to lead with it and it dominates a big part of their non-commercial time. If I see one more interview with some poor Mexican that has lost a family member I may look for the virus myself!
Of course, this is a product of too many news outlets competing for your attention (and your money). They hype the sensational story to get you to watch their program, generating fear and dread in the process. They defend their 24/7 reporting as informational but how much time does it take to tell us that we need to wash our hands frequently and go to the doctor if we are sick?
Look, I am not trying to make light of the potential spread of a deadly virus. I am mocking the news media and their approach to any public health scare. Much in the same way they helped drive the economy into the tank by beating us over the head with how bad it was, they are driving most of their willing disciples into a corner into a fetal position from fear. Many people are becoming numb to their sensational methods of getting our attention, resulting in them being ignored. The danger in this is that there is some valuable information that needs to be communicated that may be overlooked.
Here are some facts about the flu viruses and dealing with them. Each year a round of viruses hit the world, accounting for thousands, if not millions of deaths. Like any predatory organism it is going to have it's greatest success against the weakest victims, the very young, the very old, and the medically compromised. Healthy younger people will still contract a flu virus, their immune systems just do a better job fighting it off. The big danger is that they will communicate it to people that cannot fight it off. So if you start running a fever the best thing to do is to stay home, if possible, and go to the doctor. The best way to minimize the spread is pretty simple; wash your hands frequently, cover your mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing. These are good practices all the time!
So is this Swine Flu for real or is it much ado about nothing? It has the potential for being a problem but can be managed. Mexico, the epicenter of the virus has had a total of 149 deaths from it. There are only 50 confirmed cases in the U.S. so far. With a population of over 300 million that is pretty negligible. The flu kills about 15,000 each year. The normal strains just don't have a catchy name like this one. Precaution is the watchword, not panic!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Actually, the flu kills about 36,000 a year in this country. I always laugh when people freak out about something like Mad Cow Disease, which kills hardly anyone. Flu is actually a pretty good thing to freak out about. But heart disease is even better!
I thought the 15,000 sounded a little low but that's what I get for believing what I read!
Post a Comment