Swine Flu Still Not a Major Threat

Reuters is still beating the drum for the World Health Organization on the A(H1N1) flu virus, also known as the Swine Flu, declaring that it looks and acts much like the 1918 virus that killed between 40 million to 100 million.

Setting aside for the moment that there is a huge discrepancy between 40,000,000 and 100,000,000, I concede that 40 million is a big number.

And I would agree that the potential for the Swine Flu to turn into a 1918-style pandemic killer is there. No doubt it's already pandemic. It's the killer part that has yet to take place. Even WHO admits that of the 1 million infected so far, by their estimates, only 500 have died.

Yes, every death is a tragedy, but when you are mobilizing government action on vaccines, you'd better do good analytical work on the probabilities and the cost-benefit analysis.

In my non-scientific but common sense opinion, the best thing that could happen to you today is to contract the swine flu. It's weak and if you've been getting out in the sunshine a bit to naturally produce Vitamin D, which is vital to maintaining your immune system, you are strong. If you get the flu, your body produces antibodies that can ward off further attacks, even if the virus mutates.

However, if the governments of the world produce a vaccine based on this weak Swine Flu, and it naturally mutates into another, more lethal form, the vaccine probably won't do much good. Millions will have been spent in a fruitless endeavor (which is about what we expect from government these days).

Common sense tells us to eat well and do what we can to build up our immune systems. That's good advice even when no pandemic is present. Don't wait for government to save you. Save yourself by being smart.