Swine Flu

Swine Flu! The cries of fear are so frequent to sound like an echo. You want to know why influenza has been a scourge to human populations for centuries; it mutates. This is what it does. And this is what it will do in the future.

So why the hysteria? The quick and easy, the corporate media needs headlines for its 24 hour news cycle. And as usual, we are left without answers to important questions. Influenza is a constantly mutating virus, so there is no pure vaccine. The flu shot only helps to minimize the symptoms if you are unlucky enough to contract it. It is spread the same way the cold virus is. Prevention is the best cure, so maintain regular hygiene practices.

"But 100+ people have died", you say. The mean annual US deaths attributed to influenza through the 1990's were 36,000! This illness is one that attacks the immunologically weak, i.e. the geriatric population. It kills tens of thousands every year.

Instead of flashing brand names of antiviral medications so stock prices for pharmaceutical companies climb, we need to have honest debate about our living circumstances. Its rapid spread is likely result from our overcrowded living, yet our cities are filled with high-rise, germ-incubating human barns?

Why has the disease spread so fast over North America? Perhaps it didn't originate in Mexico, but was already in the U.S. and Canada for weeks? For months?

What we need to do is wash our hands regularly, stop shaking hands as a culture, start "dapping" one another as a greeting, eat healthy, and "Don't believe the Hype!" Take this time to reflect and ask the tough questions.