Death by Media? Flu Panic Can Kill

We’ve all had the flu before. By and large, you feel like crap for a few days and then it passes.

Occasionally, a particularly virulent strain emerges that can pose a real threat. And while it's possible that could end up being the case with this bug (H1N1), there’s little evidence to suggest that we’re facing anything of the sort thus far (all the cases outside of Mexico have been run-of-the-mill bouts of the flu — see Cervantes’ post below).

That hasn’t prevented media hucksters from dragging everyone into the tent and putting on a massive circus. From CNN to the New York Times, it’s wall-to-wall flu-steria! And it’s totally overblown — flu virus doesn’t do well in warm temperatures, and with a few dozen non-life threatening cases in this country, coming this close to the end of the season, this outbreak of flu should be a page 15 story (as Cervantes points out).

But here’s the thing with what are known in public health circles as “catastrophic infectious disease outbreaks” (CIDOs): the disease itself is only a small part of the bigger picture. It’s the ancillary effects a CIDO can have on an entire society — but especially the health care delivery system and other vital services — which have historically caused as much death and suffering as the underlying infectious disease organism that caused the outbreak.

With the media stirring up a frenzy of panic over the flu, hospital emergency rooms are going to be jam-packed with people suffering from head-colds, some providers may be overwhelmed and shut down if the number of cases increases significantly, and it’s entirely possible that someone will die as a result of the crunch. If that should happen, it’ll be murder by media hype, although nobody will be held culpable for approaching The Big Story with anything less than complete and utter hysteria.

Here’s an excellent and rational post by Cervantes, writing on Stayin’ Alive — a public health policy blog. I think it’s worth reprinting in full:

Flu Schmlu

Yes, it is prudent to assume that someday, somehow, an emerging infectious disease pandemic will cause major global problems. I've said it a million times. However, contrary to the famous motto of Faber College, it is not always the case that Knowledge is Good, if it leads people to do stupid stuff.

Influenza is a common disease and a continual pain in the parts. The virus reproduces very sloppily so new strains keep emerging, which means we don't get the lifelong immunity we do from bouts with most viral diseases, which means that we can keep getting the flu year after year. Fortunately, for the vast majority of us, the vast majority of years, that means nothing worse than a few days off from work or school feeling like crap. (I highly recommend ginger tea.) It's a bummer, but that's the human condition.

We hear that something called "influenza/pneumonia" is the cause of about 63,000 deaths in the U.S. each year -- 10% of the number attributed to heart disease -- but that's highly misleading. (The reason they lump them together is that most of the time, it isn't clear whether people had the flu or not. Some of the people who die of respiratory infections did, but we don't generally have laboratory confirmation. People who are said to die of "influenza" for the most part die of bacterial pneumonia secondary to influenza or a different viral infection that appears similar.) The vast majority of these people are already sick and debilitated; many have advanced dementia and death from pneumonia is a mercy. Tragically, a small number of children also die each year from ordinary seasonal influenza. It would be nice to be able to stop that from happening but it's nothing new or different or strange.