by Cory Hamlin

Created on: October 26, 2009   Last Updated: October 28, 2009

The United States is in an uproar over the swine flu pandemic, or epidemic. But is it really something we all need to worry about?

As much as I do agree it is spreading rather quickly, in my opinion the swine flu is not as bad as it seems. We have all heard the symptoms; unusual tiredness, headache, diarrhea, runny nose, sore throat, high fever, chills, shortness of breath or cough, loss of appetite, aching muscles, and vomiting, but don't this symptoms sound familiar? The swine flu, bird flu, and our other common strains of flu all share the same symptoms. So what makes this strain something to worry about? Now that the strain has been released it will be a common illness in years to come. The bird flu was the big epidemic last year, and is still around this year, but because it is old news the fear and news coverage has vanished its being treated like an illness that has been around for years. In my own opinion the bird flu has far worse and serious symptoms than the swine flu.

The government has declared an epidemic and in my opinion is just trying to make us aware and make us take precautionary actions to try to avoid getting and spreading the flu in the off chance it becomes more dangerous and the symptoms become more severe. By declaring an epidemic we in turn lessen the chances for actually having an epidemic on our hands.

Being severely worried about this strain of flu could cause bigger problems. Most citizens tend to go to extremes keeping themselves, their children, and their homes clean. Purell and GermX, Lysol and Bleach kill germs yes, but they kill the germs that help our body create immunities to dangerous illnesses. That in turn, actually makes it easier for citizens to get the flu. Honestly, most citizens in this country are probably either carrying the virus and passing it on, have already had it, or has it right now.

The H1N1 virus or swine flu may sound like a worldwide epidemic, but as we all know, the news tends to over exaggerate the truth. I'm not saying that the swine flu is no big deal, because any virus is a very scary subject, but I don't believe we need to be any more worried about his particular strain of flu than we are with any other common flu strain or any common illness. We need to do the best we can to not spread the virus to those who will not be able to fight the virus well. Keeping an eye on those of us who have the flu, especially children and the elderly should lead to a full recovery in no time and happy healthy Americans.

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