Mark Siegel, author of “Bird Flu: What You Need to Know About the Next Pandemic” (which I’d like to read soon but I don’t know how much pandemic literature I can stomach) wrote an article that I actually find comforting. Some things he mentions:
‘After the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services declared a public health emergency over the weekend and the World Health Organization raised its pandemic alert to level four on Monday and then to level five Wednesday…it sounded like we were gearing up for nuclear war. In reality, the term “flu pandemic” simply means a new strain is infecting and spreading among people in several areas of the world at the same time. It can be mild, moderate, or severe.
Today, the nervous general public should be comforted by the time of the year. It’s the end of the flu season – and that goes for any type of flu. These viruses thrive in the low humidity of winter, not summer, and it is very likely that this outbreak will die out as the warmer weather comes.”