Swine Flu Paranoia

The World Health Organization has reported 8,451 worldwide cases of swine flu, now termed H1N1, since April. The outbreak was reported by the Mexican government on April 23. Hysteria ensued.

“It really is all of humanity that is under threat during a pandemic,” WHO Director General Margaret Chan said after a level 5 alert was issued for the first time in the organization’s history April 29.

Travel advisories were issued for Mexico. When the flu did spread into the U.S., vice-president Joe Biden suggested riding planes and subways was not safe.

Seventy-two people have died worldwide, including 66 in Mexico. 187 people have been infected in Ontario with no deaths, in comparison to 500 deaths per year and 9,000 reported infections of the seasonal flu.

Paranoia can be hurtful and dangerous. Taking precautions to prevent the spread of illness is always wise and common sense should prevail. But those in Toronto remember the worldwide superstition that ensued during the SARS crisis. Tragically 44 people in the Greater Toronto Area died, but the magnitude of the virus was blown out of proportion. The city’s tourism industry never fully recovered, with or without aid of the Rolling Stones.

The danger of issuing alerts suggesting the world is on the brink of a worldwide pandemic if it is not, is ending up with the old example of the little boy who cried flu. When something close to the 1918 Spanish flu outbreak (something to really be scared of) occurs, the reaction may become, “we heard this before. Leave me alone.” Maverick U.S. congressman and former presidential candidate Ron Paul has noted in 1976 more people died from mass inoculations than the virus during that “swine flu” outbreak.

Sometimes it really can hurt to be careful.