The swine flu continues to spread, especially in the wintry southern hemisphere countries, as expected. Even here in the U.S. and in other northern hemisphere countries, though, new cases are popping up everyday despite the summer weather. As of this post, for example, there are 7,500 confirmed cases in the United Kingdom, one of whom is a recovering Ron Weasley. Maryland reported 166 confirmed cases just in the last week of June alone.
In two new studies, one from the U.S. and one from the Netherlands, the H1N1 virus not only entered the lungs of ferret test subjects more deeply than the seasonal flu does, but it also entered the GI tract. The ferrets also lost more weight and displayed more widespread disease with swine flu than with seasonal flu, and all these results could mean that H1N1 sticks around for awhile. The one bright spot in the research comes from the U.S. study, which suggests H1N1 does not spread as efficiently as the seasonal flu does.
As I’ve been reading all this news and research, lately I’ve noticed the pendulum swinging all the way from panic over the swine flu to the other extreme.
I’m talking about deliberate, proud nonchalance, the virtual pats on the back people give themselves for staying calm and reasonable in the face of this pandemic. If you read blogs as often as I do or even if you have a Facebook account, I’m sure you’ve noticed the same trend, the same swine flu jokes, and the same blog posts from parents who brag they are still sending their kids to summer camp even with H1N1 going around.
Which, okay. If people aren’t worried, okay. That’s good. Great, even.
Plus, I recognize the coping mechanism of making jokes about the scary things in life. What bothers me, though, is the implied criticism in these sorts of posts, the smugness and the unwritten judgment that anyone not as cavalier about the pandemic as these writers are must therefore be neurotic or at least uninformed about the nature of this outbreak.
That, of course, is just not the case. I worry, and I can safely say I’ve read more and understand more about the swine flu that just about everyone I know. People who shrug off this pandemic casually are usually able to do so because they’re lucky enough not to have a reason to worry. A reason, for instance, like having a kid with asthma, one of those “underlying medical conditions” the newspaper keeps mentioning in the stories about swine flu deaths. Some of us don’t have the luxury of nonchalance.
Others that don’t have that luxury? Citizens of developing countries, where high incidences of other diseases like AIDS or TB and under-equipped health care could turn H1N1 into much deadlier crisis than it is here in my country. The danger level is so high in third world regions, actually, that the UN wants $1 billion to help them prepare.
I’m glad people aren’t panicking. I really am. As I’ve written a time or five on this blog, panic helps no one. And I’m happy for – if somewhat jealous of – those parents whose children don’t have a chronic lung condition that puts them at higher risk. However, there is a midline between blind panic and the “I’m not worried, so nobody should worry” judgments.
I want to thank you first of all for creating and keeping this fantastic blog. I have searched high and low for more blogs like yours, and found none. I’m 38 and only recently developed asthma about 2 years ago that’s in the moderate to severe range. It’s been kind of scary adjusting to it. I can only imagine how concerned I would be as a parent of an asthma sufferer. Regarding your post above, I cannot agree more and have been encountering the same smug, dismissive attitude from pretty much everyone. My husband even criticized me for taking it so seriously, but after getting more info now sees the danger all too clearly. I have read The Great Influenza. I don’t know what’s more frightening, the parallels to 1918 or the fact that we never seem to learn from history. I’m seeing a lot of media “cover ups” that tell me officials are anxious and trying to keep the public calm. So calm in fact they are asleep. The same thing happened in 1918. I sometimes feel like Richard Dreyfuss in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I honestly don’t understand why people are so dismissive. I think the truth may be just too scary and require too much effort to deal with. But we all know problems don’t go away just because we ignore them. I have created a blog – swinefluchronicle.blogspot.com – in an attempt to simply archive some of the news stories I’ve read. I welcome everyone to stop by and read them if missed. Best of luck to all!
My daughters aged 3.5 and 1.5 are both regular weasers and are on aerosols and steroid(montek) since their birth. I have been doing a lot of research on swine flu and asthma and hoping to find some news which gives me some reassurance.
I have been criticised for the extra concern I am taking (i have stopped my elder from going to school for the time being,and almost bordering on OCD on hygeine),I am unable to sleep thinking of if’s and but’s and worse case scenarios..I keep telling myself I am not going to let anything to harm my little ones,whatever it takes,but then I feel so damn helpless!
All I can do is to give them their dosage of medicines and do all that I can to ensure they are healthy within my limits.
Hi Veena, and thanks for stopping by. I hope you’ll stick around for awhile or subscribe to my feed so you can see when new articles come out.
My children (10 year-old asthmatic, 7 year-old non-asthmatic) will be attending school when it starts here on Aug. 24, but when my asthma kid was younger I actually never sent her to preschool because of her lung problems. I tried a couple of times, but she kept ending up in the ER and it just wasn’t worth it to me, especially since preschool isn’t mandatory, anyway.
I honestly feel like some people are brushing away concerns about the swine flu & criticizing people who ARE worried b/c they’re trying to reassure themselves it’s not serious and never will be. Of course, it’s easier to feel that way if they’re not dealing with a breathing problem.
I also feel like the main things we have to remember are not to panic and, because we DO have children w/a health issue, to do what we feel is necessary (within reason) to protect our family’s health, regardless of what other people say.