Panderia

There's no question that there is a very real threat of a swine flu pandemic (p.s it's officially a pandemic now) and it might kill a large number of people. One of the biggest killers, in fact, the second biggest killer of under 5's in Africa, is diarrohea. This is because ordinary people do not understand that washing hands after going to the toilet and changing a baby's nappy, or sterilising water can prevent it. Mostly they don't even have access to safe drinking water, let alone tissues.
Tuberculosis, complicated by HIV, is another infectious disease brought about by overcrowding, poor hygeine and lack of knowledge about how droplet infection can spread disease.It usually occurs in poor uneducated people.
Despite these being massive killers that no flu epidemic could ever match, the message of hygiene has still not been impressed upon people.
I heard a BBC World service interview the other day- a doctor was saying that it was vital that governments prepared people for the eventuality of swine flu. People must be told how to prevent person to person infection by washing hands regularly, avoiding overcrowded places, using tissues and disposing of them correctly. This all involves the principles of infection control. It also requires a safe supply of drinking water

If it takes swine 'flu hysteria (panderia) to impress upon people about hygenic practices that prevent infection of any sort then it is a positive thing- perhaps it will help to reduce diarrohoea, malaria, TB and HIV too. Perhaps people will get into the habit of washing their hands and it will have a knock on effect.Sadly, swine flu is much more sexy and there is lots of money to be made out of vaccines, so I doubt we will have time to see it.