This piece first appeared on the Wall Street Journal's site OpinionJournal.com.
The news is a-chatter about swine flu. Is a pandemic pending--where all of us are at risk of disease and death? There are more questions than answers right now. Here are a few of them:
¢What in heaven's name do muddled headlines like this one, based on government comments, really mean: "U.S. Declares Swine Flu Is 'Public Health Emergency,' a Term That Does Not Signal a Greater Threat."
Hard to tell from that if there is an emergency or not. The public may not realize that government "emergency" terminology is partly a function of disaster preparedness rules--calling an event an official "emergency" triggers, for example, increased availability of stockpiles of medicines--like preparing for a hurricane when you are unsure it will actually happen. Still, government should take care not to send mixed messages.
¢Why is the influenza in Mexico more virulent than the cases here?
The cases reported in the U.S. are much milder and less life-threatening--but this could be an artifact of inconsistent reporting.
¢Will the antivirals like Tamiflu be effective against the current strain of swine flu?
Data show that Tamiflu was basically useless against this current season's variety of influenza--but public health officials remain optimistic that a spectrum of anitivirals now available will work.
¢Will this year's regular flu shots protect us from the current strain of swine flu?
No--the current virus is a completely different strain.
¢Should we avoid eating pork?
No. Cooked pork products pose no threat to human health--even in a time of swine flu spread.
¢Do the non-surgical face masks we see everywhere in Mexico offer protection?
Not much, if any. The only masks that truly offer protection are the surgical variety--N-95 respirators--which need to be fitted daily and are used by medical professionals in contact with confirmed or suspected swine flu cases.
¢Should we panic?
No. But precautions are in order. We hear about the value of washing hands frequently--but you might want to go one step further. Don't shake hands. Shaking hands with an infected person and then touching your eyes and nose is a very efficient way of transmitting the virus.
The key role of the public health establishment now is surveillance: monitoring what is going on. Only through minute-by-minute data collection will we learn where this situation is headed.
