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this whole swine flu thing has got me so out of whack--one minute i'm terrified, the next i'm not, and after that i'm just pissed off. just hearing about a potential case here in chicago doesn't scare me so much as tire me now. it really all comes down to pure confusion, though.
i don't like the idea of illness. i don't want to deal with it, don't want to feel like crap, don't want to worry about whether or not my body can handle it, don't want to die. all the fear mongering of the media obviously works--i try to avoid detailed things because of my hypochondriac tendencies, but i'm also morbidly curious and just can't help but look. all kinds of articles and supposed experts saying it's going to get worse and this and that--how can you not be even just a little concerned? but then you really pay attention to the statistics and you realize pieces are missing and things really don't sound that bad. or maybe that's just me saying that to ease my own fears?
for example, they're saying there are 60 some cases here in the states. the regular yearly flu puts something like 200,000 people in the hospital. all but one death has been in mexico but, out of 150ish, only 7 were confirmed as due to this strain while the regular flu kills roughly 36,000 a year and you never hear about it. everybody's gossiping how this strain targets otherwise healthy people (particularly those around the 25-50± age group), but isn't that really who usually gets sick from everything else anyway? you're fine and then uh oh--you feel a cold coming on, for example. all the cases i've heard the most from are about kids high school aged or less. majority, if not all, new york cases? high school students who went to cancun for spring break. kid that died? 23 months old--if your age is given in months, your body's probably not going to be able to handle a lot. kid that supposedly started it all? 5 years old and now recovered.
i'm not even sure anymore if these numbers include people who have recovered since this blew up in the media. take the previous example of the possible case here in chicago--the kid (12) has apparently already recovered. also have to remember that the media has blown all kinds of things out of proportion in the last decade or so: avian flu, sars, mad cow disease, anthrax, west nile virus... i feel like it's being blown waaaay out of proportion, but at the same time worry that this may be the "big one" we're due for.
on the plus side, i'd like to believe it would make people more aware of protecting themselves and others from communicable diseases. it's common courtesy in many asian countries to wear face masks, particularly if you're sick, to prevent spreading it. but over here, wearing a mask just isn't done. people just have such questionable hygeine practices the world over. and how many people go to work/school sick? unless you can't even move, you likely just go and spread the "love". but that's not our fault when we're only allowed so many sick days and/or time off in general.
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