Swine Flu On Decline, Fear Still Spreading

The swine flu, or H1N1 as it is known by its politically-correct name, is in decline.

At least that’s what Mexican officials are telling us, although it could be because they’re sick and tired of hearing people call it the “Mexican flu.”

Of course, since there’s no public panic like a pandemic panic, the World Health Organization is raising its flu alert to the top of its six-point scale.

On the one hand, there’s nothing to fear. So says WHO head Margaret Chan:

“Level 6 does not mean, in any way, that we are facing the end of the world. It is important to make this clear because (otherwise) when we announce level 6 it will cause an unnecessary panic,” she told Spanish newspaper El Pais.

On the other hand, we’re all going to die. So says WHO’s pandemic disease expert.

The outbreak is only about 10 days old, and even if the illness is declining, it could return, said Gregory Hartl, the WHO spokesman for epidemic and pandemic diseases, at a briefing Sunday.

“I … would like to remind people that in 1918 the Spanish flu showed a surge in the spring, and then disappeared in the summer months, only to return in the autumn of 1918 with a vengeance,” Hartl said. “And we know that that eventually killed 40 million to 50 million people.”

Or 100 million, some say, but that’s not the point.

The point is that public panic is good – if you’re in the press or some health-related bureaucracy, or if you’re a questionable Cabinet nominee looking for an excuse to have your nomination fast-tracked.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, over 40,000 Americans die from flu-related symptoms each year.

The swine flu?

It has killed one person in America – and that was a Mexican toddler who was just visiting the country.

Obviously, we should take whatever reasonable precautions are necessary and prudent in dealing with the “swine flu.”

But panic over this “pandemic?”

Not us …