Alan Pickersgill - The View From Here

(May 05) - Brangelina can’t be expected to have twins every time the world needs a bit of a distraction. The supermarket tabloids don’t have enough paper and ink to sustain it. Rogue asteroids bearing down on the planet are sometimes good for taking our minds off other problems. They are, fortunately, a distant distraction. There’s limited value in a threat we can’t see coming. An old-fashioned plague is always good for the system.

We obsess about our health. Those who are reasonably well want to stay that way. The others worry about exposure to anything that might make them worse. The mere mention of the word pandemic strikes fear in the hearts of both the hale and the frail. For good reason. New diseases are emerging with alarming frequency. A few years ago it was SARS. Then it was avian flu. Then listeriosis. Now swine flu.

The precautionary principle demands that we can’t simply mention that no one in Guelph has come down with swine flu. We always have to tack on the word “yet”. Health officials are waiting nervously for the first case to hit town.

The media loves it. Newspapers and television networks are weary of talking about the recession, the implosion of the auto industry and wars around the globe. Swine flu brought a chance to talk about something new, and they seized the opportunity with gusto. As I write this, the CBC website banner headline reads “number of confirmed swine flu cases in Canada now at 83.” You have to read down to the sixth paragraph to find out the cases are all mild.

It also gave governments the chance to look like they are doing something. While they issue dire warnings about a pandemic, they hope people will stop asking them about withering pension plans. There isn’t much they can say or do, though. The best they could think of at the start of the outbreak was to tell us to stay away from Mexico City. As the kids say these days, “well, duh!”

I would feel better if they used this illness to examine the effects of deregulation. The entire food chain, from production to processing to purchasing, is monopolized by a few large corporations. The treatment of animals on factory farms might be a good place for governments to look. Instead of that, they knuckled under to industry pressure to stop calling it swine flu. The sale of pork products might drop. It never struck me as a wise idea to rely on large corporations to police themselves. It’s a poor substitute for legal regulations. Now we can see why.

I’m not a doctor, but I used to watch Marcus Welby. Now I watch House. This training tells me the threat of disease is always serious, but we should try to keep it in perspective. A lot more people will probably die this year from regular flu than from this new strain.

It is always a good idea to be cautious and reduce your exposure to germs. Wash your hands regularly. Sneeze into your elbow. Follow standard hygienic practices. Watch what you eat. As much as possible, buy meat that was raised and slaughtered locally. Organically grown fruits and vegetables are always healthier than those that are trucked in from far and wide. The amount of preservatives and pesticides they carry will do you more harm than any number of trips to Mexico City.

Above all, stay calm. If you feel feverish, don’t assume the worst. Don’t rush into Emergency. Go to your doctor and take a few days off school or work. This too will pass.

# posted by Alan Pickersgill @ 3:46 PM