August 15, 2005
Resistance
Why is it that almost all of my dear and close personal friends and relatives think I am crazy when I mention the possibility of an avian flu pandemic? That, or they cannot bear to hear about it. No one that I know of has read the material which is posted on the WHO website and Flu Wiki. If a hurricane were forecast, we would be glued to our weather channels, wouldn't we?
Why is it more unbearable to prepare for this possibility than any other sensible disaster preparedness we practice, like buying insurance, or taping our windows when a hurricane is predicted, even though it may pass us by?
I read today that reporters have been having difficulty getting folks to understand the severity of the problem because of the name "flu". Since everyone has had a little case of the flu at one time or another, and survived quite nicely, the avian flu seems like a minimal threat. However, this H5N1 strain bears more resemblence to ebola, than to the usual ache and sniffle variety. That kind will be around too, so don't pass up your regular flu shot this fall.
Of course, I hope and pray that it passes us by, and that my local food pantry receives a whopping donation from my larder next year -- it would be my greatest pleasure. In the meantime, I bought myself a little insurance. Besides, a girl can always use an extra case of red wine and a bunch of AA batteries. I don't know what I'll do with the elderberry syrup yet -- pancakes?
Speaking of red wine, somewhere on The Flu Wiki forums, (which I can't find anymore due to computer troubles), I read that we should all be drinking it daily now to build up the resvertroll levels in our bodies, and thus improve our capacity to resist this virus. Upon a cursory googled glance, a New York State Pinot Noir seems to be the selection of choice. For those who do not consider this intervention a pleasure, resveratrol is available in capsules and in it's natural form, red grapes. I'm uncertain whether grape juice has enough resveratrol to make a difference, but you can google that yourself.
I'm going to get myself a big bag of onions and a string of garlic for my larder, they're antibacterial I think, not anitviral, but they'll do alot to perk up plain rice, at the very least.
Photo note: No enlargement due to the blurry quality of the original. Those big birds move too fast -- guess that qualifies this shot as a methaphorophoto.
Posted by Dakota at August 15, 2005 05:59 PM