One distinction to make is that it is the press that is panicking (because it attracks audience/sells papers) not the CDC. The CDC recommended school closings when the flu appeared virulent, changed the recommendations when it turned out not to be. Both made sense. Schools that closed when the CDC suggested it were taking sensible precautions. Schools that close now are not.

The CDC recommended school closings when the flu appeared virulent, changed the recommendations when it turned out not to be.

What that says to me is that the CDC overreacted. I expect the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to not overreact. I expect them to be able to do more than make a guess as to the "appearance" of a disease's virulence.

Schools that closed when the CDC suggested it were taking sensible precautions.

That's not actually true, since the swine flu was never as virulent as all the panicked reactions suggested. They were following the recommended precautions, but those precautions were not actually sensible.

I was happy when generic Prilosec became available.

That helped, but it's still more than my copay would be with a prescription. When Prilosec went OTC, Kaiser stopped prescribing any of the related drugs. I swear it would be half the cost if they eliminated the wasteful and difficult packaging.

My main fear is that if we have too many viruses that cried wolf, people won't take recommended precautions when something really nasty gets loose.

Swine flu annoys me. They closed a bunch of schools around here. And because of that, cancelled field trips too. So our student matinees were sold pretty good, are now playing to 1/4 houses or less. And some schools are not paying/wanting refunds despite our cancellation policy. Not helping our battered bottom line.

The swine flu has infected something like 0.0002% of the worlds population. And of those infections, only some are fatal. Not a high percentage. The total infected is about as many people as was in my high school. In grand scheme of things. Minor.

What that says to me is that the CDC overreacted.

I don't know if that's fair. For that kind of tactic to work, you pretty much have to start before it's obvious that it's necessary. When it turned out clearly not be necessary, they revised. It's erring on the side of caution, but it's not telling everyone to stay home and duct tape plastic around their windows.

Feels good to be coming around to the fact that by jove, I ARE SMRTE PNTS!!

I know the feeling - at 30, having gone back to studying, I'm getting my first A's since I was 16. Delightful, isn't it? :) Congrats!

Swine flu annoys me.

The panic is awfully silly. There's been something like 16 cases over here (a rather tiny percentage) - and from what I hear, it isn't doing much damage. It's just flu, people. Unless you have a weak immune system, it really, literally won't kill you.

It's just flu, people.

Flu is a dangerous disease. It kills an average of 36,000 people a year in the U.S. and up to a half million a year worldwide, including young healthy adults. It mutates quickly and picks up other DNA promiscuously. One day it's going to pick up enough DNA from another species to get around current human immunities and then it's Katie, bar the door. The CDC guidelines were reasonable in the first stages of a newly discovered disease and were modified as a soon as enough cases were found to change the initial mortality stats.

That helped, but it's still more than my copay would be with a prescription. When Prilosec went OTC, Kaiser stopped prescribing any of the related drugs. I swear it would be half the cost if they eliminated the wasteful and difficult packaging.

You can still get generic prilosec by perscription. I do.

Feels good to be coming around to the fact that by jove, I ARE SMRTE PNTS!!

I'M IN UR HAUS OF LURNING
PASSING UR EXAMS

Feels good to be coming around to the fact that by jove, I ARE SMRTE PNTS!!

I'M IN UR HAUS OF LURNING
PASSING UR EXAMS