What Happened To Influenza?

And a resolution to consider

Well, here we are on the other side of New Year's Day and the evening news shows no longer feature influenza stories. What happened?

Did it simply vanish, or was the intense "hype" just that? Actually flu didn't go anywhere. It's still out there somewhere waiting for a chance to zap us again, and it probably will do so before Spring.

In some parts of the country, weather was relatively mild for the season, people didn't crowd together indoors and didn't pass infection along efficiently. Schools were let out for a long holiday and kids weren't exposed to each other as much as usual. That helped a lot.

Some benefits of all the publicity were related to behavior. We simply got more careful, washed our hands better and more often, and sick people were generally kept separate from well ones.

And, with all of the media scrutiny, a whole lot of us who never intended to do so got immunized. Belated immunization beats none every time. An interesting thing will happen next year, and perhaps for a year or two after that. Demand for flu vaccine will be quite high. This response to an "epidemic" is common and predictable. After a couple of years, memories fade, and vaccine use goes back down to a relatively low level. That sets the stage for the next big episode.

As my farmer grandfather used to say, "'Twas ever thus."

Another item surfaced recently, very appropriately so after the holiday season. Recommendations for exercise for kids just got doubled to an hour per day. We have to stop the obesity epidemic and there isn't a vaccine for this one. If the average youngster is getting just half an hour of workout daily, there must be a huge number who get no exercise at all.

In our part of the country we see kids on bikes and skateboards all the time, and they are really going at it. So one active child balances out three or four sedentary ones and the average is half an hour per day. That's just pathetic.

Isn't it true that children will follow examples set by their parents and others they admire? Well then, Mom and Dad, get off the sofa and get out and do something fun with the kids. What, don't have a gym or a soccer field or a baseball diamond? Do you have a quiet street or a yard? Do you have a brain? It is ridiculously simple to entertain children with foolish (sometimes the dumber the better) and energetic made-up games which can involve all ages from toddlers to teenagers.

Slogan for a tee shirt or a needlepoint sampler:
"The family that plays together stays skinny together."

Now for the resolution: During 2004 I will make it my responsibility to keep one child free from the potentially devastating effects of obesity just as I keep him or her from measles, mumps and polio.