HEALTH CARE: The Flu

We aren't really "public health" bloggers but given that today is flu shot day at New America -- a few quick thoughts.

First, Michael Specter had a good short piece in the New Yorker, the "Fear Factor." He notes that it is hard to strike that correct balance between "comfort and terror" and that "fear spreads as quickly as any virus."

Nobody can predict the ways in which a new influenza virus will mutate, or how virulent it may become... With too much reassurance, people ignore the threat; with too little, they panic. The W.H.O. decided, sensibly enough, to emphasize the risks of pandemic. Then the summer months arrived, and for a while, with schools closed, the threat seemed to fade.

That hiatus provided an opening for the anti-vaccine, anti-government, and anti-science crowd, and they stormed through.

 Also the ACP web site told us about this interesting program:

Emory University doctors licensed their interactive Web site to allow patients with potential H1N1 cases to self-screen using the same triage calculations their doctors and the CDC use. Questions about fever, symptoms and underlying health help patients determine whether they've got H1N1 flu, and what to do next -- rest, call their doctor or seek immediate treatment.

If you look at the site, you'll see plenty of information about privacy and opt-in and opt-out, and whether and how to make your information available to public health officials tracking  disease outbreaks.

Finally, we doubled our own health policy staff participation in the flu shot clinic. (Ok, from two to four of us. 100 percent increase. Or 4 out of 9 participating...) Not sure if the increase was from blog-peer pressure, or if their mothers called.