Keep it in perspective.
Says here that you are far more likely to die from your pyjamas catching fire
"Ignition or melting of nightwear = 6" than from H1N1...at the moment

http://www.nsc.org/research/odds.aspx
(Source: NSC)

http://thestatsblog.wordpress.com/2009/0...to-perspective/

Bear in mind that nothing sells media and media space better than a good scare story.
The financial crisis/recession is old news now so our informers in the media have to think of something else.

Did anyone else see that box on the MSN home screen on Monday entitled something like "World waits for spread for Swine Flu".
If they'd had more space, they could have written:
"We had been hoping for a truly exponential increase in the number of cases over the weekend and had been keeping this space especially for that. Now that hasn't happened we don't know what to write"

As for practical course of action, Mac is absolutely right.
But I live like that anyway:
- always wash my hands before eating/as soon as possible after shaking hands with someone (which is pretty well all the time here in France...)
- never touch any surface on the public transport network and avoid crowded train compartments/buses. In fact apart from in the summer, I always wear gloves on public transport.
- (and this is the really important one which is too often ignored) avoid touching your own eyes/nose/mouth unless you've just washed your hands.

I generally get between 0 and 2 common colds/year despite using public transport around 6 times/week.

Last edited by mglinert; 04/30/09 12:50 AM.
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