Hitting close to home
It's been too easy to get a little flippant about the recent spate of stories about outbreaks of swine flu around the world.
We say to ourselves, "Oh, that's happening somewhere else." We assume the cable news channels are blowing the problem out of proportion, because that's what cable news channels do with every other trumped-up "crisis." We try to laugh it off and go on with our day.
But when we hear that it's happening near us, it's not funny any more.
Nobody is laughing in Park City, where (according to this report by the Tribune's Heather May, Lindsay Whitehurst and Christopher Smart) three students got sick with symptoms that resemble those of the swine flu.
One of the students got sick after returning from spring break in Mexico, according to a Park City school board member
The Park City School District is acting fast. All schools there have canceled classes at least until Tuesday. (Monday is a scheduled day off in the district.) All school-related activities are also canceled - including the prom at Park City High School.
Utah health officials won't know until Friday afternoon, at the earliest, whether the three cases are of the new H1N1 strain of flu. Samples have been sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
So far, according to this AP report, the strain of flu has been blamed for 168 deaths in Mexico and one in the United States. Cases have been confirmed in 11 states, as well as Switzerland, the Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand, Britain, Germany, Spain, Israel and Austria.
And, as happens with any serious news event, the flu outbreak has also caused a flare-up of Vice President Joe Biden's recurring foot-in-mouth disease. The vice president's office had to backtrack remarks Biden made on NBC's "Today" that he was advising his family to stay off commercial airplanes and subways.
The main weapon against a flu outbreak is information. Here's the CDC's information page about the swine flu outbreak, and here is a handy FAQ sheet that includes this common-sense bit of advice: "First and most important: wash your hands. Try to stay in good general health. Get plenty of sleep, be physically active, manage your stress, drink plenty of fluids, and eat nutritious food. Try not touch surfaces that may be contaminated with the flu virus. Avoid close contact with people who are sick."
We say to ourselves, "Oh, that's happening somewhere else." We assume the cable news channels are blowing the problem out of proportion, because that's what cable news channels do with every other trumped-up "crisis." We try to laugh it off and go on with our day.
But when we hear that it's happening near us, it's not funny any more.
Nobody is laughing in Park City, where (according to this report by the Tribune's Heather May, Lindsay Whitehurst and Christopher Smart) three students got sick with symptoms that resemble those of the swine flu.
One of the students got sick after returning from spring break in Mexico, according to a Park City school board member
The Park City School District is acting fast. All schools there have canceled classes at least until Tuesday. (Monday is a scheduled day off in the district.) All school-related activities are also canceled - including the prom at Park City High School.
Utah health officials won't know until Friday afternoon, at the earliest, whether the three cases are of the new H1N1 strain of flu. Samples have been sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
So far, according to this AP report, the strain of flu has been blamed for 168 deaths in Mexico and one in the United States. Cases have been confirmed in 11 states, as well as Switzerland, the Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand, Britain, Germany, Spain, Israel and Austria.
And, as happens with any serious news event, the flu outbreak has also caused a flare-up of Vice President Joe Biden's recurring foot-in-mouth disease. The vice president's office had to backtrack remarks Biden made on NBC's "Today" that he was advising his family to stay off commercial airplanes and subways.
The main weapon against a flu outbreak is information. Here's the CDC's information page about the swine flu outbreak, and here is a handy FAQ sheet that includes this common-sense bit of advice: "First and most important: wash your hands. Try to stay in good general health. Get plenty of sleep, be physically active, manage your stress, drink plenty of fluids, and eat nutritious food. Try not touch surfaces that may be contaminated with the flu virus. Avoid close contact with people who are sick."
posted by Sean P. Means @ 9:55 AM |
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home