Maria Blogs

I really don’t know. The last pandemic in 1968 ultimately killing 1 million people happened before my age group was born.

This new strain, A(H1N1) seems to be affecting more younger people (between the ages of 5 – 24) but pregnant women and those with preexisting medical conditions are also at higher risk.

With the new global pandemic declaration from WHO, it does not mean the virus has become deadlier and we have to panic. But it does mean that this stinking, potentially lethal virus is here to stay for quite some time and everyojne needs to be vigilant for the next year or so. It also mean that spread is inevitable.

For a mother of a young child this worries me a lot. Unlike in years past, virus travel faster and more efficiently these days and the threat of mutation or this strain jumping from human to bird to human again and becoming more potent (there are other prevalent viruses running amok right now, like the H5N1 bird flu which is widespread in poultry population).

Though a lot of people in the US remain nonchalant and dismissive about this new flu strain, “oh, the common flu kills more (about half a million each year) “, “.most sick people don’t even need medicine or get hospitalized“, and “the economy is more worrisome” misses the point. While we don’t have to panic, we should still keep in mind that the common flu often affect the elderly and those with preexisting medical condition, this new flu pandemic affects what is supposed to be the healthier segment of society and comes at a time when we have global economic crisis.

In the Philippines, the number of people infected jumped from 1 to almost 100 in just three weeks infecting mostly those in primary and high school. To have gone from 1 a day to 15 a day in less than a month and after thorough vigilance is something that is troubling, no matter what anyone says that the strain which hit us is mild compared with other parts of the world.

As always, good hygiene helps minimize virus transmission. Wash hands (sing twinkle twinkle little star to make sure you’ve scrubbed enough), cover your mouth and nose when sneezing or coughing, if your school or place of work issue a suspension in relation to a known case, for the love of common sense, STAY AT HOME instead of going to the mall, hanging out with friends and generally adding to the rest of the population’s risk of getting infected.

When not a lot is known about a disease, it’s unsettling. Let’s see how this play out in the long run. I hope it’s not as deadly as the last pandemic of ‘68 or even the devastating 1918 killer flu.