Hysteria annoys and appalls me. Today at church, instead of greeting fellow congregants with a handshake or hug, it was suggested that we bow – to be sensitive to the people who are worried about catching the so-called “swine flu.”
First, this viral strain has as much to do with birds as pigs. It’s a hybrid pig-bird-human flu strain with no demonstrable link to pigs at all. The more appropriate name is H1N1. So let’s get some perspective on the H1N1 flu:
People in the world: 6,777,490,406
Confirmed cases of H1N1 world-wide: 900
Cases of H1N1 in Ohio: 1
Deaths from H1N1 in Ohio: 0
Deaths from H1N1 worldwide: 20
Incubation period of the H1N1 flu: one week
So unless you’ve been to Mexico in the last week – or interacted with someone who has – you have no mathematically rational reason to be concerned about catching H1N1. But apparently, many people are not rational.
Maybe the price of pork will go down.
May 7, 2009 at 12:31 pm
I totally agree! The news just takes thing into hyperdrive and creates chaos sometimes.