The Burning Questions

  So far there are more than 80 people are suspected to have died from the swine flu in Mexico .  There have been 20 cases reported to date in the United States, with the most recent case reported being a nine year-old boy from Lorain County, Ohio who recently returned from Mexico, the source of the outbreak.  World officials are saying that we are “well prepared” for this outbreak of the deadly virus.  Officials in Mexico and elsewhere are handing out surgical masks in an effort to help individuals protect themselves and others from contracting the swine flu, a strain of influenza attributed to contact with pigs.  Places that are reporting cases of this bug are getting priority shipments of the available drugs such as Tamiflu to combat the ailment, but their effectiveness is still under scrutiny.

So I guess The Burning Question is:  How many people will die from the Swine Flu?  No one here on planet Earth knows the answer to that question as of yet.  There have been limited numbers of deaths linked to this virus in the past, but this strain’s resilience is still unknown.  There have been a number of outbreaks of influenza virus that have graduated to plague proportions in the past, killing millions.  Could we be on the verge of another pandemic?  Possibly so.

There are a number of things one can do to avoid contraction of such a horrible illness, though.  Washing hands is the number one thing.  The second is to avoid congregating in public places.  Using public restrooms is probably not a good idea either.  If one must go into a place where people gather, wearing a surgical mask will lower the odds of contagion. Finally, DON’T travel to a place where a known outbreak or pandemic exists.  These things will help to keep one safe from pandemic, but in this world there are no guarantees that anyone is safe from sickness or disease.  That’s just how it goes.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS