News-induced hysteria? Check.

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Okay, first, I know I should be thankful that the girls' school is so proactive. If this were something really scary, their diligence would be something I really appreciated. Especially if I wasn't their Patient Zero. So kudos to them for being proactive.

When I found out, on Monday, that I was positive for Type A influenza, I'll admit to feeling a bit of fear. This was early in the 'pandemic' hype, and all I knew was that there were a lot of folks in Mexico dying and only a handful of cases in the US. Early on it was thousands of cases and over a hundred deaths in Mexico, numbers that are being sanitized by testing and numbers that keep dropping. But on Monday, after several days of feeling like I'd been run over by a truck, I was worried that it was something that could possibly kill me.

As the week wore on, and the real numbers started showing up, it was less fear and more annoyance that I was feeling. Eh, maybe not annoyance, but some rueful 'whatever'-ance. I've had the flu before with absolutely zero of this kind of hoopla. No antivirals, no warnings to stay home, no thoughts of keeping the kids and people away. As the news kept blaring the "we're all going to die!" horn, my pragmatism was rapidly overtaking my fear.

Mexican officials are now comparing the mortality rate of H1N1 with seasonal flu; in the U.S. and other countries, the mortality rate is below that of seasonal flu, as only one death (sadly, an already ill toddler from Mexico) has occurred outside of Mexico. I am hoping that by Monday some of this hype will die down and, regardless of my test results, the girls will be allowed back at school. They tested negative for Type A on Tuesday, and Dave and I have decided that until my results come back, they'll stay with him or my parents (more on this in a minute), so the likelihood of them bringing anything into school is minimal.

And honestly, unless every student, teacher and parent that's associated has tested negative and is living in isolation, how much riskier are my kids than any of the other kids? Since we know it takes like 10 days to get results, how many potentially positive people are out and about, or were out and about before testing positive for Type A, now? I know I won't be living in a bubble until my test results come back, but I was good enough to stay home until I was asymptomatic and fever-free for 48+ hours - do you think everyone who tested positive for Type A did the same?

Okay, mini-rant over. I just find the hysteria a bit much for something that turns out to be less scary than the regular flu. I'm actually hoping I did have it, as flu season is fast winding down and some experts are saying this could come back in a more virulent form next flu season. A part of me wishes my kids had it this time around, too. Natural immunity and all that. Especially because I am *not* going to be enthusiastic about a vaccine they rush through production. I imagine Dave and I will go round and round about that one, as he's more vaccine-happy than I am.

So, here I sit, annoyed by the overreactions and missing the hell out of my kids. I haven't seen them in like 10 days. Poor Miss O. At least Bean can call me and knows what's going on ... as far as O's concerned, mommy has abandoned her :(
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