Flu
November 1, 2009
- The current media hyperbole around the H1N1 flu virus has a lot of people worried. I don't intend to belittle the suffering of those who have died from it, or lost friends and family. But so far this "pandemic" is a long way from being as serious as the Spanish flu 90 years ago which rode with troops returning from World War I. It is suprising how little this pandemic forebear is ...
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October 16, 2009
- The autumnal cold has settled in with its resulting plagues and flux, one of which has greedily taken possession of my lungs, joints and all systems that formerly functioned. Whether of the regular bubonic variety or the new chic piggy strain, I have no idea, but I’m dealing with it in a prudent manner. Lots of mindless TV, lots of plaid flannel, lots of Ben and Jerry’s, an enormous stack ...
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May 5, 2009
- Here we are, the new H1N1 virus. If you live in a small town. We have been told, if you are sick, don't go to the hospital, isolate yourself in your home. Don't send your children to school. Any one in your household can not go in public. Ok that is no problem, but how do you know it is not allergies, asthma, hay fever if you can't get to the doctor's. I think that if the W.H.O. wants ...
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April 28, 2009
- In 1918, at least 40 million people --some estimates double that figure-- died in a matter of a few months. The killer was a lethal form of virus: H1N1 influenza, dubbed "Spanish Flu" in the annals of an epidemic that has been largely forgotten.Until now, with a variant of H1N1 currently raising fears of another worldwide pandemic.In this broadcast radio interview I conducted (see ...
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March 2, 2009
- In the winter of 1999, I had my last flu. We had traveled home from London on a 767 full of weepy, snizzelly folk. Home two days, I collapsed in a pile of fever. The flu turned into bronchitis, which turned into pneumonia. Several weeks later, I was cured, but meanwhile, I'd had to go on living--being a mom, teaching, grading papers.I vowed that would never happen to me again. No more ...
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November 11, 2008
- Google Flu Trends brings us epidemiology through search analytics. The prevalence of certain search terms seems to be a good predictor of CDC flu reports a couple of weeks later. The New York Times has a story on this project.
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July 22, 2008
- A few weeks ago I was in my Wise Woman Johanina's office weeping about career disappointments, and she suggested that I consider my occasional but overwhelming periods of despair, envy, malaise, and disorientation as a kind of flu. "Treat yourself as if you were sick," she said. "Take good care of yourself.""But I don't want to wallow in it," I sobbed, scrabbling in ...
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