Swine Flu, Seasonal Flu Alike in Severity, Lives Still Altered

There's been a big fuss about swine flue lately. Big fuss. Schools in Texas are closing and proms are being canceled, much to the chagrin of students looking to take their sweethearts out for that seminal moment of their teenage existence, or just those looking to blow off some steam at the end of the year and cut a rug.

However, not all of the recent swine flu news is all bad. For instance, schools that had been closed in New York have been reopened as of today. Particularly, the St. Francis Preparatory School in Queens, New York has received a scrubdown and subsequent reopening, and that institution was the origin of the very first case of the swine flu in the United States. And now, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is saying the swine flu isn't the threat many had taken it to be.

"What the epidemiologists are seeing now with this particular strain of U.N. is that the severity of the disease, the severity of the flu -- how sick you get -- is not stronger than regular seasonal flu," Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Monday as the worldwide number of confirmed cases of swine flu -- technically known as 2009 H1N1 virus -- topped 1,080.

It's too bad that 2009 H1N1 was not found to be as relatively un-life threatening as it is earlier, as the swine flu has touched - and altered - many lives just in the United States alone, and even individuals I personally know. Aside from school closings, prom cancellations and a dramatic escalation of the use of face masks in some areas, travel plans have suffered, as well. My current roommate was all set to enjoy a week of vacation in Cancun with his family in a few days, but was compelled to delay the trip until July due to the threat and worry over swine flu. He was quite bummed about the delay, but it seemed necessary due to the fact the first cases overall of the flu originated there. Health officials now believe the outbreak has reached its peak, and as of today Mexico City officials have given the green light for university classes to resume on Thursday.

Fortunately, my family up near the New York area have yet to suffer from a case of the H1N1 virus, despite their proximity to that hotbed of the flu here in the U.S. And with today's news of the relative tame nature of the virus, they - and I - can breathe a whole lot easier..... literally.

But Cancun? Yeah. Cancun will have to wait, all the same.

Penhaul, Vause, Magnay, et al., "Swine Flu No Worse Than Regular Flu, Napolitano Says", CNN.