http://disqus.com/by/Linsey/enThu, 30 Apr 2009 03:15:27 -0000http://lateforlife.com/2009/04/just-how-worried-are-you-about-the-swine-flu/#comment-8855077<p>I think it becomes sort of a semantics issue when one reads in the news that "a pandemic is imminent". The sort of reaction that will ellicit is much different than if it was reported that a number of people have contracted and died from this swine-bird hybrid influenza. What's the motivation behind stirring people's fear? I agree it's probably money-related. To put it into context: in the U.S. alone, around 36,000 people die from flu-related causes every year. So far, the swine flu has only decimated one person--a baby in Texas that had come from Mexico City--in the United States, yet some people are in panic mode. I'm not one to ignore these threats as I have a weakened immune system and would probably not stand a chance against this newly identified illness, but I don't feel panicked enough to don a paper mask when I go out of the house. Unless all of Mexico's afflicted decide to storm California under cover of night, nursing their crepuscular contagion and deciding they're willing to unleash it on other innocents, I think I'm pretty safe.</p>LinseyThu, 30 Apr 2009 03:15:27 -0000