Don't go cuckoo over avian flu

Links to many great articles that put the Avian Flu Panic into a less than scary perspective can be found over on the Other Blog AltHealthNews.com. I especially like the one reprinted below.

Whittier Daily News
by Robert Rector
Jan 4, 2006

In a world that has been characterized lately by Old Testament-style natural disasters, unspeakably violent acts of terror, frightening economic uncertainty and, at least in Los Angeles, really bad baseball, comes now a new reason for concern: The avian flu.

It joins a long list of Things to Fear that has included West Nile virus, Ebola, anthrax, flesh-eating bacteria, swine flu, SARS and mad cow disease - all of which fell a bit short of eradicating the human race, despite predictions to the contrary.

That is not to say we should take the bird flu lightly. The Centers for Disease Control warns: "So far, spread of the virus from person to person has been rare and has not continued beyond one person. However, because all influenza viruses have the ability to change, scientists are concerned that the virus one day could be able to infect humans and spread easily from one person to another.

"Because these viruses do not commonly infect humans, there is little or no immune protection against them in the human population. If the virus were able to infect people and spread easily from person to person, an influenza pandemic (worldwide outbreak of disease) could begin."

So what are we to do?

First of all, don't turn to the Internet for aid and comfort. It's full of snake oil salesmen offering dubious advice. A sampling:

"Hospitals and emergency rooms will be overwhelmed. You will be turned away or taken to a warehouse to die. Nurses and doctors will be on all fours trying to breathe," warns a company hawking face masks.

"Corpses will pile up because mortuaries will be inundated. Where will the bodies be stored?

"The New York Stock Market will collapse. It's too crowded to come to work. Too risky. One sneeze and they all die."

Or consider this guy's advice:

"Here's another manufactured disease meant to mass control the people. Don't fall into the vaccine trap. Vaccines are the real mass exterminators. Consider fasting on your own urine, as urine has the most powerful antibodies."

Another firm promotes protection through, what else, chicken soup. Or Breathe Free Onion Syrup. Or three Mexican remedies for colds and flu, "including one supplied by the great-great-granddaughter of Geronimo."

Second, don't panic. Unless you're running a chicken ranch in Vietnam, chances are you're not going to be exposed, according to medical experts. And you're not going to catch avian flu from your parakeet. Or eating turkey.

Third, it wouldn't hurt to follow the CDC's common-sense public-health recommendations: Hand washing, covering your nose and your mouth when you sneeze or cough. If your child gets sick, don't send him to school. If you're sick, don't go to work. Avoid crowded places where people are confined in an indoor space.

As for me, maybe I'll try one of those Mexican cures. Pass me the tequila.

Robert Rector is associate editor of the Pasadena Star-News and a resident of Glendale.