lets be realistic, pigs are friends not foe

While the current pandemic of swine flu, or (now) properly called H1N1, is a concern and threat, people have gone to the extreme. Just tonight I read a Tweet from a frantic, concerned mother about the death and destruction this flu will cause. The problem is, people are too busy reading the headlines and listening to the blurbs on the news that they don't research what is going on.

Here are some facts that might put you at a little ease...

1. You CANNOT get H1N1 from pork. Bring on the bacon.
2. Mexico has a much higher mortality rate then the USA. Therefore, more people will die.
3. 36,000 people alone died from the "normal" flu this year in the USA alone.
   
4. Officials do not know how many people are infected with H1N1 in Mexico. There could be thousands. Before you run for your gas mask think of this...if thousands are infected, the ratio of death is not "as bad" as it seems.

I am not in any way trying to minimize the devastating effects of the deaths claimed by H1N1. What I DO want to stress is that we need to be realistic. The media loves to spread pandemics of fear to gain our undivided attention. Instead of rising to their occasion, lets research whats going on and how to take care of it.

Despite the scale of the alert, the WHO has stated that the majority of people infected with the virus make a full recovery without the need for medical attention or antiviral drugs.