A Year of Swine Flu – What Have We Learned?
April 2010
One year ago, we began hearing about swine flu. Weeks before the “H1N1” label was assigned, we heard people were dying in Mexico, and infected pigs were responsible.
Within a short time we were constantly washing our hands, using hand sanitizer, and nagging our children to do so, too. Grandma’s advice about covering our mouths took on a new dimension when authorities suggested we cough into our elbows instead of our hands to reduce our chances of spreading those germs.
Caution and fear became a part of life. We avoided public places. Attendance was down at work and school. Activities were cancelled as more people got sick. The media was consumed with swine flu and all its facets, from local diagnoses to its global reach.
By June, H1N1 was labeled “pandemic” by the World Health Organization. Eventually 214 countries around the world reported outbreaks.
Then the question – to get a flu shot or not? At first only those at high risk had access because the vaccine could not be produced and distributed fast enough. Parents and children stood in long lines to get those potentially life-saving shots. Conspiracy theorists emailed specious tales of governments trying to take over the world by injecting toxins into the vaccine.
It was a long winter of illness. As of March 2010, 60 million Americans had suffered from H1N1 swine flu. Twelve thousand of them died.
Today we hear very little about H1N1. Yet it’s still making Americans sick, and officials fear a possible third wave may be overtaking parts of the Southeastern United States.
So what have we learned in a year of pandemic flu?
The good news is that it took a smaller toll in lives than we feared.
The bad news is that many believe Chicken Little was in charge of the swine flu. They expected more sickness and losses, and feel there was too much uproar from the government and the media. The sky never really fell.
Smart patients will look at it differently, though. We know that those steps we took to prevent the spread of H1N1 – washing our hands, coughing into elbows, using hand sanitizer, avoiding crowds and getting vaccinated -- are what prevented more people from getting sick, saving lives, maybe our children’s or our own.
Someday we’ll discover that a new virus is making people sick. Based on our lessons from H1N1, we’ll be smarter about the potential problems, and even better prepared to protect ourselves.
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Trisha Torrey
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