Swine Flu

So far, no cases in Alabama, but that's most certainly going to change. Modern traveling has all but assured an infection in one part of the world will spread quickly, so it's just a matter of time before we have our first case. The big question today seems to be is why the outbreak is so much more deadly in Mexico than it is here in the United States. While there are no Alabama cases, eight students at a high school in New York City have been diagnosed. Ironically, for me anyway, St. Francis Prep is housed in the same building that was home to the high school from which I graduated. The Alabama Department of Public Health has links to all the information you may need regarding the outbreak, and what precautions can be taken. When I moved to Alabama in 1976, another outbreak of the disease was underway and a lot of folks, myself included, received shots to "protect us" from the virus. Turned out some people were mortally allergic to the shots themselves and some 25 Americans died from Guillain-Barre disease. The shots were given in public locations...I remember going to a health department set-up in Century Plaza for mine. That's President Gerald Ford getting his shot that year. A 1918 outbreak killed as many as 50-Million people worldwide. In the U.S., it infected 28 percent of the population and killed 675,000. There's never a good time for a pandemic, but come on, don't we have enough on our plate already?