While I’m usually content to confine my writing to matters related to education, and up until now, I happily considered subjects related to infectious diseases outside of my jurisdiction, I just read that Fort Worth, TX closed its entire school district affecting about 80,000 students. Then I read somewhere else that more than 300 schools closed across the country as parents are being forced to keep more than 170,000 students home in 11 states. So it seems that since the wonderful world of education is not immune to the swine flu, neither is my blog.

To be honest, my biggest worry right now with respect to this disease is how worried I should be. Because right now, I’m actually not that worried. I ran around doing my usual errands yesterday evening, brushing past people in the aisles of stores, pushing shopping carts, and turning door knobs. Not once did I think to myself that maybe I should be more careful, avoid touching things as much as possible, or even just pay attention to the sound of anyone coughing so I can make sure to stay away. Should I have? Possibly. But so far, the scariest thing to me about the swine flu is its name. And its newest label: IMMINENT PANDEMIC.

Here’s the thing: I know that if I or anyone in my family begins to experience flu like symptoms, especially ones that involve fever and coughing, I/we will go to the hospital, get the necessary medications, and be on our way. Every year, the old garden variety seasonal flu kills about 36,000 people in the United States, including between 75 and 100 previously healthy children, but we don’t close schools during flu season. Which makes me wonder whether the death of one toddler due to swine flu, as awful as that is, should have prompted the nationwide closing of 300 schools. And how long will these schools stay closed for? Until the number of newly infected cases stops growing?

Dr. Paul Offit, chief of infectious diseases at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, makes a very interesting point.  He says that just a few years ago, the swine flu would have been “lost among the sea of routine sicknesses.”  The only reason it’s even getting noticed this year is because of recent improvements to our national flu surveillance system.

Call me crazy. Call me irrational. But as of this very moment, I’m just not that worried. Are you?

(Photo: jere-me’s flickr photostream/Creative Commons)