Will The Swine Flu Get Us?

The Swine Flu might strike us hard this fall. History says it will. In 1918 the Swine Flu killed 50-100 million people worldwide. There's no place it didn't find. It almost wiped out the Alaskan Eskimos, and swept entire towns off the map. I lost two ancestors to the virus, and possibly two more that can't be proven. The H1N1 virus hit our country so hard in 1918 that mortuaries were quickly overrun and the stock of caskets ran out in the first week or so. By the climax of the pandemic, people were being buried together in long, hand-dug trenches in the big cities. Crazy stuff. And we had a lot less people back then, too.

The 1918 Swine Flu (sometimes called the Spanish Flu Epidemic) started much as our's has, as a normal-acting flu in the spring and summer. By the fall it had mutated and emerged as a killer, with a much higher mortality rate.

The 2009 Swine Flu has already killed about 300 Americans and it's not even flu season yet. When schools open in the fall and the air gets cooler, things may explode. If we have plenty of Swine Flu vaccines, that will help a lot. What will help the most is if people get in gear and prepare in advance for what will surely be a bumpy fall and winter. On our website, alltrailsleadhome.com, we have a terrific flu preparation book for sale. Check it out if you're so inclined.

Once in a while, we will post some information on preparing for a bad flu season, and taking care of someone with the flu. Do you have any ideas or pointers? Please feel free to post!!