I started listening to my swine flu playlist well over a year ago. At that time, the WHO was already ready to pounce on this sucker by labelling it a "pandemic". Nobody wants to hear the word "flu" and "pandemic" in the same sentence.
Getting my H1N1 vaccination was a no-brainer. My whole family got one, it was a simple risk/reward analysis. As it turned out, the swine flu epidemic never materialized. In fact, the swine flu killed fewer people than the annual seasonal flu varieties, about 12,000. This is good news.
But... this is also bad. The next time there's a potential pandemic, how many people will ignore warnings from governments and public health officials? You know the types who don't believe in flu shots and think they know better than medical doctors... they'll say "yeah, sure there's a bird flu coming... just like the swine flu, right?"
I'm just worried about the next time governments and public health officials ring the alarm. Fewer people will be listening, unfortunately...
