Theproblem with a state of emergency is that it sounds so urgent.
So whenGov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declareda state of emergency last Tuesday due to swine flu, it immediately bestowed theoutbreak a greater sense of urgency than it had at that point. Or has at thispoint, for that matter - there still are only 14 confirmed cases in the state.
The declaration was astrictly bureaucratic move - something the governor had to do to requestfederal money and to allow better response coordination among county and stateagencies.
Yet some view "emergency" as synonymous topanic.
Hospitalsin some parts of the state have seen 50 percent spikes in emergency roomvisits. Patients have included one woman whose son took her in after she had ahot flash - but no fever.
"Iam concerned about it," the son told The Modesto Bee. "I have a5-year-old son in school. It is good to be cautious about it."
Cautious,yes. Ridiculous, no.
"Iwould say half the people we are seeing are afraid they have swine flu," adoctor told The Bee. "They don't have the trio of symptoms -- fever,respiratory illness and a connection to Mexico."
Talkabout mass hypochondria based on something that does, after all, happen on anannual basis.
It'scalled the flu. Someexperts think the swine flu strain isn't nearly as virulent as what we seein an average winter.
Yes, thisone is later than normal and, no, the vaccine distributed last fall won't fullyprotect you from it. Not that the vaccine has ever fullyprotected patients from all strains of the flu. The mix is based on theprevious flu season - viruses being what they are, they tend to mutate andchange over time, often making past patterns irrelevant.
Part ofthe panic is a side effect to living in the information age, where news can flyaround the world far more quickly than the virus is spreading.
And whenthe news breaks on a slow news day - as did the Centers for Disease Controlannouncement Sunday of a national state of emergency - ittends to dominate coverage that day and on into the start of the work week.
The WorldHealth Organization's hyperbolic language isn't helping much either. Wednesday,WHO changed swine flu's status to Phase 5, meaning officials believe aninternational pandemic could be imminent.
"Influenzapandemics must be taken seriously precisely because of their capacity to spreadrapidly to every country in the world," the WHO director general said ina news release. "On the positive side, the world is better preparedfor an influenza pandemic than at any time in history."
It seems that people who have read "TheStand," Stephen King's post-apocalyptic novel about a superflu thatdecimated the world, a few too many times are missing the second part of thatstatement.
Theofficial response - in California, the United Stateand worldwide - is appropriate.
Thursday,as one of her first official acts at health secretary, Kathleen Sebeliusannounced that the government would buy an additional 13 million flutreatments, There already are 73 million stockpiled.
Schwarzenegger,though, already had made the most common sense move of all: Cover your mouth ifyou cough or sneeze, wash your hands and stay home if you're sick, he advised.
Folksmust have missed those points in their rush to stockpile surgical masks.