by Lynn Dancey Rudkin

Created on: April 30, 2009   Last Updated: May 15, 2009

Quick: Name the top twelve carriers of viruses, including swine flu.

Answer: all ten fingers and two palms. Parents for generations have lectured their children ad nauseum to Keep those hands clean, and that Cleanliness is next to Godliness.

That advice seemed to work for containing swine flu, also known as H1N1, as it does with other viral strains. Apparently swine flu cases can be held to a minimum through simple methods that cost little or nothing except time: washing hands constantly with soap and water or scrubbing with an alcohol-based agent, and developing and using healthy practices that require only a bit of patience and effort.

To contain the spread of swine flu in April 2009, the U.S. declared a national health emergency as a precautionary measure due to the emerging cases that started in Mexico. The World Health Organization (WHO) days later increased the pandemic alert level to Phase 5 indicating that an increase in the intensity is expected. Within days, results were analyzed showing the swine flu wasn't as dangerous as initially expected in the United States.

Why the hul-la-ba-loo over a tiny germ that mimics typical flu symptoms of fever, body aches, headache, tiredness and cough, and sometimes sore throat, runny nose, vomiting and diarrhea?

Flu kills thousands of people every year, primarily the elderly, children and those with weak immune systems. The new, devastating mystery disease had the potential to spread quickly, creating fear of worldwide epidemics. Even more frightening, this flu strain's audience increased to include people in their 20s to 40s with healthy immune systems who were typically safe from the flu. The WHO raised the alarm because healthy individuals of all ages were stricken and sometimes dying in Mexico where the virus apparently started.

Pandemic or panic? The sheer hint of pandemic proportions to anything drives people to question whether or not we're precautionary or overly reactive. We fear the unknown.

The origin of pandemic (aka epidemic), which indicates that a disease is prevalent over a large geographic area, dates to1660, and the human race still survives, so common sense would dictate caution, not "the-sky-is-falling" fright. With a never-before-heard-of-strain of the disease, safety had to come first. But the situation called for precaution, not terror, if for no other reason than that lives were at stake. With any pandemic, a bit of precaution, not

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