According to Wikipedia, in 1976, an army recruit at Fort Dix (New Jersey) died from swine flu. Trigger happy public health officials convinced President Ford that every person in the United States must be vaccinated for the disease.
A little less than 33% of the US population voluntarily received the vaccination. Pulmonary complications killed about 25 people, so the vaccine killed more people than the disease did.
I don't want to downplay the potential threat of global pandemics, but seriously? Take a chill pill people.
A little common sense can help mitigate the chances of diseases like the common cold from spreading.
If you feel ill - quarantine yourself, and stay away from other people.
Wash your hands before/after you go to the bathroom, eat, touch your mouth, rub your eyes, etc. Use a paper towel to open the doors because you can't trust other people to wash their hands. Or buy a N-95 mask and wear it.
The picture you see to the right was taken moments before my Constitutional law final exam during my 1L year. I pixelated the poor victim to my left to protect her identity, because after her picture was taken next to an East Asian with a mask, she was suspected to be infected with the SARS.
In reality? I was afflicted with the common cold, and didn't want to cough on the poor soul in front of me and infect other stressed out law students.
Now I realize I could have quarantined myself, but the idea of having to retake Constitutional law was too terrifying and horrific. I also realize that the mask was not approved as a N-95 respirator, but I had the right intentions (and I did reduce the chances of aerosol droplet contamination).
Or you can listen to Vice President Joe Biden, and protect yourself from swine flu by avoiding all centrally air conditioned closed spaces.
4 comments:
You look too relaxed in this picture to have a cold AND be about to take your con law final! :)
I blame the old DayQuil capsules ;)
The classic East Asian wearing a mask scare tactic. Flashback to Organic Chem 321, and DPLK wondering why nobody sat next to her during that lecture, at the high of the SARS fear. Perhaps a number of people decided to skip class, or perhaps it was the mask.
Sadly, or blessedly, I do not remember my zone of inhibition due to the mask in class. I do remember getting weird looks walking around campus though!! But if you think about it, if people were scared of sitting next to me, I have achieved my purpose of quarantine and not spreading the disease, haha.
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