Swine Flu

Reuters has called it a Pandemic*.
Many news sources had also initially rushed into panic.

What they say: Swine flu is an extremely dangerous virus which is resistant to anti-viral medication.

The truth: It's easily treated if you go see a doctor the instant you feel you have a flu.

It's just another case of the press jumping on a story and then using fear to get people to read their stuff. I guess I'm a sucker too because initially I was fooled. I happen to have a friend in Mexico so I decided to shoot him an email trying to see if his family was alright. Turns out it's not a big deal and the press are just having a field day. According to him, it's 100% curable if you see a doctor and so far all evidence indicates that that is true.
Just today (Wednesday, April 29th, 2009) CNN.com released articles about why the only fatalities were in Mexico and that regular flu kills far more (with a capital F) annually than this particular disease. Perhaps they're baffled and disappointed that the Swine Flu did not prove to be major news after all.
Swine Flu is resistant to many anti-viral medication but all indications are that it is still weak to Tamiflu and Relenza. Yes, even in the world of major air travel, it can be contained and cured.

Swine flu is still more dangerous than this other bullshit that swept South Korea some time ago: Mad Cow Disease. Yeah, it happens, it's not easy to cure but the risks are so miniscule that if you're scared of Mad Cow Disease, you might as well live inside a styrofoam box (with NBC filtered ventilation).


Big Bullshit





Small Bullshit

How to avoid the vast majority of flu related viruses:
1) Wash often and wash well.
2) Use a hand sanitizer.
3) Don't be a filthy, lazy fuck. Take care of yourself, you're a fucking adult for fucks sakes!!

So there you have it. Swine Flu. All it did for my friend in Mexico was make the traffic lighter. More road for him!


* According to the free online dictionary (and many others), Pandemic means:

1. Widespread; general.

2. Medicine Epidemic over a wide geographic area and affecting a large proportion of the population.
So you might think "well what's the big deal?" The reason why the Press loves to use this word is because the front three letters "PAN" go well with "panic" and that's why the word has an additional effect that the journalists so desire. They will tell you that's not the case, but believe me, that is the art of manipulation.