There have been three possible cases of the Swine Flu in my county, and at least one of those has been confirmed. There are another few suspected cases in neighboring counties. Schools are closing all over the country. And there is no shortage of mass hysteria. Hypochondriacs are having a field day with this.

So what is the Swine Flu? It’s something that is seen in pigs, usually during the fall and winter. It’s actually not that different than the regular flu. The symptoms are diarrhea, vomiting, a runny nose, and some stuffiness. Basically it’s a combination of a stomach bug and a cold. Occasionally, very occasionally, it turns into a respiratory infections, which can be deadly if it is not caught and treated in time. But this is typically only seen in individuals who already have problems with their immune systems. These are the same people who have to be careful about catching any virus; it’s not just the swine flu.

Maybe people are worried that there is no vaccine? Well, we do have a flu vaccine. But even that is hit or miss. The yearly flu shot is created to prevent the strains of flu that researchers think will be most prevalent that year. There’s really no guarantee there, either. But that doesn’t cause a lot of mass hysteria.

The government is probably not helping things. With all of the constant warnings, the states of emergencies… My husband, Mark, of course, believes that there are one of two things going on:

1. All of the mass hysteria is really just hype to take the pressure off of the budget, ect. for a while. Let people worry about something else for a while.
2. The government isn’t telling us something about the Swine Flu. That is why there are so many precautions against getting it. He is predicting a zombie outbreak.

I think he is secretly (okay, not so secretly) hoping for the zombie outbreak. What is it with men and zombies? Being a woman, I just don’t get it…

Until this whole thing settles down, I recommend you all stay in your homes, with the doors and windows locked. Protect your loved ones!

In the mean time, I will enjoy the considerably less busy roadways and stores. I hate shopping in a crowd.

Seriously, people. Calm down.

I don’t mean to brush off some very real concerns. I understand that this could turn into a huge problem. But for most people, it will just be a bad flu bug, not a life sentence. So wash your hands a little more than usually, and be a little extra viligent when the kids bring home a stomach bug from school. But don’t stop living your lives. Don’t spend hours a day glued to your television or computer, watching for updates. Get out of the house. Go to the park, go to the library. Go to the mall for a few hours.

Just bring hand sanitizer.

And don’t kiss any pigs. Which is generally good advice, don’t you think?