When Pigs Fly

My sister (not a lawyer) told me a funny joke tonight.

People said there'd be a black President when pigs fly. Well 100 days into Obama's administration and...Swine Flu!!!!

I find that very humorous. What I do not find humorous is what I consider the mediafication of this illness. I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on tv, but I don't get what the fuss is all about. According to various reports I've been reading, 36,000 people die each year in the US from seasonal flu, and upwards of 300,000 worldwide.

Now, no one wants to be sick, or die from the flu, but do we know that the people who died in Mexico were in peak health minding their own business, and boom caught the flu and died? I tend to doubt it. And I'm really annoyed that they keep talking about the "US casualty." It was a Mexican kid who came here to visit. For the DAY!!! How is that a US death from Swine flu? It's not! It's a Mexican death on US soil. Statistics are a tricky thing they can be used in so many ways.

I just read something that said over the last 30 years there may have been parts of this current strain in the flu vaccines that have been administered to the general public, and that's why people in the US are not so adversely effected by the virus. People may have built up an immunity, and that's why the cases are not so bad.

I understand that it's a little freaky the way it's traveling across the globe, but in almost every case it's traced back to someone who's been in Mexico, so really it's not as freaky as it may seem. The fact that we keep hearing about more and more new cases? Not really that odd either if you think about it, just generally speaking in the winter the media does not give a day by day blow by blow accounting of how many people caught the flu that day. Dude, it's the flu! It's catchy.

So get your designer flu mask, wash your hands for 20 seconds, and don't go to Mexico.

At least until the next news cycle finds something more exciting to hype out of proportion.