On my way to work today I was thinking about all of the Swine Flu/H1N1 coverage… while it may be hard… I was trying to separate myself from the “news” business and think about all of the information we are bombarded with as a “typical viewer” and the conclusion I came to was… the media is *not* scaring people or making too much of the Swine Flu and the potential complications that can come with it. 

The one bit of information that is most concerning to me from different national health experts that have been interviewed countless times is…. H1N1 is a new virus and while it may not seem to be ravaging the world like the pandemic of 1918 did… it is a strain of flu we have never seen and has the potential to mutate into something more dangerous.  Why does that concern me?  I can’t put my finger on it but it just does…

Swine Flu is a pandemic.  According to the definition I found.. it is:  (of a disease)  “prevalent throughout an entire country, continent, or the whole world; epidemic over a large area.”

When we talked about preparing for a pandemic in the past it seemed so abstract.  Everyone thought Avian/Bird Flu might spread from person to person causing a world emergency… it didn’t… we thought SARS was going to be the next pandemic and saw picture after picture of people wearing masks and living in fear of catching the severe respiratory infection… it didn’t…

Those illnesses seemed so far away from the United States and from Virginia for that matter.  Often we are not very concerned about things.. unless they are “in our backyard.”  Swine flu is not just in our backyard… it is in our homes… offices…schools… you name it…

When I talked to a representative from The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services about why Swine Flu is being treated differently that Seasonal Flu I received several different responses.

Below are quotes from Bill Hall, Director of the HHS News Division:

“Since this is considered a public health emergency.  Since everyone is susceptible to it we are executing the pandemic plan to do all that we can to protect American people.”

“Seasonal Flu is not considered a public health emergency.”

“It is a new flu virus to which no one has immunity.”

I asked Hall about the confusion many people have over all of the information that seems to change from day to day or from week to week he said:

“Yes, there probably is a lot of confusion among the public about why this is important.  It is a form of influenza that is new, that no one has any previous exposure to.  The only thing that is predictable about flu is that it is unpredictable.  It is always possible that it can change and mutate overtime and lead to more severe cases in people.  So far it is good that it has not changed, but our guard remains up.”

He also pointed out that the influenza virus is *always* gradually changing.  Because the virus changes from year to year scientists have to try to predict the strain that will cause the most seasonal problems each year when developing a new vaccine.  So not only is the potential there for Swine Flu to change but some might say it is inevitable that it will change to some degree.

While in the beginning I was skeptical about all of the coverage H1N1/Swine Flu was getting… I no longer am…

Perhaps it has to do with the fact that I was so sick last week I could barely get out of bed and the doctor I saw told me it was likely Swine Flu and then said there was no point in giving me a $220.00 test to know for sure because I was outside the 48 hour limit for Tamiflu…. Plus all he could do was treat my symptoms anyway.  He also added that he worked on the assumption that the majority of flu cases he was seeing now are H1N1 and treats patients accordingly.  I respected his honesty but would have rather heard a different answer.

Perhaps… the fact that the government is calling Swine Flu a “public health emergency” also weighs into my decision that the media is not making “too much” of the new virus. 

As with many risks in life we often find ourselves saying… “better to be safe than sorry.”  I personally would rather know too much about H1N1 than not enough.