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April 28th, 2009

smeddley: (Beaker)
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009 10:14 pm
This is my obligatory post on the swine flu epidemic, and all I want to say is to remind people that, even in a 'good' flu year (no horrendous new strains, etc) approximately 60,000 people in the US die of influenza and pneumonia. Sure, a good percentage of those are elderly and very young, but in 2004 there were 185 fatal cases in people aged 15-24.

In that same year, however, 10,757 of those 15-24 year-olds died in traffic accidents.

So perhaps a little less attention on the CDC Twitter feed (I can't believe it, but there you have it) and a little more attention focused on the 2-ton weapon you're driving might be a little more helpful in reducing deaths.

...oh, and it's always good advice to wash your hands. So listen to that part. Just don't panic quite yet. Remember SARS and Avian Flu, and how those were going to be the next plague and kill us all, and yet a good deal of us are still here. And look on the bright side - you're far, far, far more likely to die driving to work tomorrow. There, don't you feel better already?