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May 1, 2009
Ummm - pandemic?
I spent a LOT of time in airports yesterday - yes, I am blogging from Chattanooga, TN, finally - and I saw a lot of coverage of the so-called Swine Flu epidemic. Talk about lowering standards! Then I saw a headline on CNN just now about "Lessons from past Pandemics."
Pandemics?
Do these people know what a pandemic IS?
Yes, I know the story is a backgrounder, but they are running it in such a way that it suggests this is comparable in any way to 1918. Puh-leeze. When people start dying on the streets while they're trying to take other people to the hospital, get back to me. THAT was a pandemic.
In 1918 there was no reliable way to stop diarrhea, little generalized used of anti-fever medication, no way to rehydrate people effectively using electrolytes. Let's face it - no one in the developed world who isn't (like say, me) already suffering from bad lungs and a systematically lowered immune system (yeah, those steroids are a double edged sword) has very little to worry about. That list is why old people and the very young tend to die more frequently. Megan McArdle and I need to watch out, but the rest of you should just wash your hands more frequently.
Posted by CrankyProfessor at May 1, 2009 5:18 PM
Comments
Pandemic or no, welcome back, Michael! Glad to hear that you arrived safely.
Posted by: Bruce at May 1, 2009 9:11 PM
When are you coming back to Geneva? We miss you!
.....Soon! I'll be there for Commencement! --MCT
Posted by: Lara at May 3, 2009 7:01 PM