The swine flu appears to have come to Virginia, and the flu continues to spread, along with the hysteria associated with it. Additionally, The World Health Organization decided to stop calling it the swine flu altogether because of the unfortunate associations people draw between eating pork and getting the flu (there is no association). It is now the much more benign-sounding H1N1 virus.
Despite the fact that the number of deaths related to the flu remains low, especially in the United States, people continue to fear flu-related decimation of the population. Keep in mind that the number of deaths in the United States related to the ordinary flu is about 36,000, which dwarfs the miniscule number of swine-flu fatalities thus far (as of Tuesday, there was one death in the United States).
While we're at it, here are some other numbers to help keep things in perspective:
• An estimated 600 people die of tuberculosis in the U.S. each year
• About 1,400 people die from strep throat in the U.S. each year.
• And 2,704 people die from a common asbestos-related lung cancer in the U.S. each year.
Those statistics came from ABC News, and if they don't balance out your view, try this:
• There were 37,248 deaths due to car crashes in 2007, according to the Fatal Analysis Reporting System Encyclopedia.
So wash your hands and avoid the sneezers, sure, but don't forget to buckle up. And while we're at it, take care of your heart:
• Coronary Heart Disease, the leading cause of death in the U.S., killed 445,687 people in 2005 according to the American Heart Association.
There are more things in this world to fear than swine flu, and we overlook many of them every day. So watch your health, in every way.
Stafford County Sun editorials represent the opinion of the managing editor. Other columns, letters and cartoons on his page express the opinions of the authors and not necessarily the Stafford County Sun.
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