Containing the Panic and the Pandemic

By now, unless you live under a rock or only visit this one site on the internet (which is both flattering and disappointing... there's a wealth of knowledge out there) you would have heard about the swine flu outbreak that originated in Mexico and has slowly been making it's way across the globe. Despite precautions being taken, it seems that some who have been exposed aren't recognizing the symptoms soon enough to take action and as a result, there has been one confirmed death from the swine flu disease in the United States. Now this pales in comparison to the hundreds who have already died in Mexico but already as the included map illustrates, the illness is spreading and people are trying to take precautions to prevent a further spread.

But how can it be contained? Part of the solution is by educating the population around the world to recognize the symptoms and encourage treatment if there is any sign of illness. However, that form of education comes at a price in that many in the media choose to educate through panic rather than calm and rational thought. One of the main drawbacks to having 24-hour news coverage now is that when there's not much else deemed 'worthy' to report, the media will beat an issue even more than a dead horse, they will beat it until it becomes glue and then keep beating it. What do I mean? Well over the last several days, if you turn on any news outlet you'll see hundreds of experts and talking heads chatting with reporters about the outbreak and what needs to be done.

These folks will often throw out words like pandemic and other words of that ilk meant to convey the severity of the illness and what would happen if it's not contained but they also tend to overplay just how dire the current situation is. I was seeing the news the other day when reporters were speaking with medical experts about the number of vaccinations available at this very moment and the experts expressed (with the appropriate amount of doom and gloom) that at this very moment, if the entire population of the United States suddenly and immediately was stricken by swine flu, there wouldn't be enough for every man, woman and child. Now this isn't a case like the "Titanic" where the designers knew there weren't enough lifeboats on the ship and they let it sail anyways. No, rather this is like trying to equate the situation the to "Titanic" when it really isn't.

What I mean is that the chances of every single person coming down with swine flu at the same time are astronomical. That doesn't mean I would go around kissing pigs (or putting lipstick on them) but it's not a fact that worries me as much as the media wants it to worry me. The medical community is aware that should this absolutely rare case occur they would need to manufacture more and given that knowledge, more vacinations are being prepared but what people need to understand is that while the outbreak is serious, it's becoming tough for medical practicioners out there to help contain the panic. Already there are reports of hospitals being inundated with patients complaining of symptoms despite the fact that the closest they have been to Mexico (or anyone else even remotely related to Mexico) was at their local Taco Bell.

Doctors warn that vacinating oneself without any symptoms being present will just make it easier for the disease to defeat the vacination. It's not like heart conditions where taking aspirin every day will help drive down the possibility of a heart attack. I think the media needs to take responsibility for educating the public but in a manner that doesn't convince people to run to the emergency room if all they have are pollen allergy symptoms. Educate and make people aware but don't scare them to death with constant images of doctors looking dour and children crying in ER's with people running around in surgical masks. As much as I enjoyed watching the old "GI Joe" cartoons I never thought the surgical mask over the face look was all that 'cool' so I don't think we need to force that trend by scaring people so much.