Why We Overreacted to an Ordinary Flu

In an online newsletter recently some mad housewives were sharing tips on how best to triple-wash and triple-sterilize their countertops. What on earth did they think they would catch from their own countertops? Small wonder our population is riddled with asthma, allergies, and other auto-immune diseases.

Since I eat food that has fallen on the floor, both in my own and other people's houses, not to mention the ground outside, and since I was never vaccinated against all the childhood diseases children are vaccinated against today (and came down with most of them), and since I grew up before antibiotics existed, I should, in the view of the mad housewives, be dead by now. And I have never had a flu shot.

I've always held the view that if I wasn't stressed or exhausted no flu germ could ever touch me, and that if I was stressed out and exhausted, any stray bug could have its way with me. Of course there's still time for one to do me in some day, but no one lives forever. I think we're in far more danger today from our obsessive over-protectionism with regard to microbes than from the bugs themselves.

Why are we so obsessed with killing bacteria? Especially when we depend on them so utterly. We each of us carry within us trillions of bacteria -- ten percent of our dry body weight, in fact. They slave night and day to maintain and repair our cells, digest our food, and in a hundred other ways keep us alive. I have every confidence that they know what they're doing -- a confidence very, very few doctors have ever inspired in me.

Western medicine, which is based on a military model, is also obsessed with killing. If doctors can't find something to kill or cut they seem to be at a loss. Not that doctors are alone in this -- our political leaders seem to approach every social problem by making "war" on it, and every international problem by throwing bombs at it.

We as a people tend to be dangerously impatient. We want quick fixes to every problem -- fixes that usually involve destroying something or someone. Bacteria were here millions of years before us. And they'll be here long after we've destroyed ourselves with our impatience. They created and maintain the atmosphere that enables us to breathe. We are, as someone once pointed out, guests in a bacterial world.

(In his inauguration speech, Obama talked of a whole new way of doing things. To understand the cultural paradigm shift that engendered this change -- the shift that both Bush and the Taliban have resisted so fiercely, see my website for information on THE CHRYSALIS EFFECT: THE METAMORPHOSIS OF GLOBAL CULTURE).

Comments

[davism97]

Interesting counter viewpoint to the germ paranoia in America. I generally don't avoid germs either. I see germ exposure as giving my immune system a workout so it stays in shape.

An example of when vaccination is necessary though is smallpox. Some diseases kill you the first time you get them, so it pays to vaccinate. Flue vaccines on the other hand seem to be based more on paranoia than any abnormal threat.

[Gbear]

I am a scientist (chemist) as a matter of fact and my viewpoint is is that you have to find a middle ground. You should always take care, dont get too close to someone who is sick, and carry a hand sanitizer when you are going to be in a situation where you are heavily exposed (crowded places) but on a normal day to day basis and within your own area as long as you maintain a normal cleanliness (wash your hands regularly) and housekeeping, then it is OK.

[jvarga]

I have a very important question that relates to these statements:

"Why are we so obsessed with killing bacteria?" and "I have every confidence that they know what they're doing -- a confidence very, very few doctors have ever inspired in me."

Do you brush your teeth?

[PalMD]

:"Why are we so obsessed with killing bacteria?"

because they kill lots and lots of people.

also, let's try to remember that influenza is a virus, not a bacterium

anyway, to use bacteria as an example, Hib used to kill kids and since the vaccine was implemented, the incidence has fallen to near zero.

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=309

[Mnemanth]

Because, the money's in the medicine!!
Pharmaceutical companies simply love this "be afraid" business! Most corporations do. Get people wound up, and they'll buy and consume any cr*p you have to peddle.
Of course the CDC and FDA and any number of other government beaurocracies enable this, because they get paid by these corporate interests.
People, turn off the television and go outside. Eat a healthy diet. Drink plenty of water, get plenty of rest. A few simple lifestyle changes and you'll be looking around you, saying, "Dang! Why do I feel so good, while everyone around me is feeling so bad?"

[quidam56]

Our very own "trusted" health care system is killing us. MRSA used to be an only hospital acquired infection, now it's all over our communities. Profit care comes ahead of patient care in America.

http://www.wisecontyissues.com

[BachelorJohnnyCool]

I'm neither doctor nor scientist, but it seems like a lot more kids suffer from asthma and allergies than ever before. I've long wondered if it's because of all the disinfectant and anti-bacterial soap and cleansers that people use today (not to mention the willingness of some people to binge on antibiotics every time they have the sniffles). I truly believe a little exposure to dirt and germs is good for the immune system. Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

[Mnemanth]

I've always said that playing in the dirt is good for you!
I hate sounding like an old man, but when we were kids we played outside, got grass stains, scraped knees, and insect bites. Today, as for most of my adult life, I've been exceptionally healthy- even when living an impossibly destructive lifestyle (fast food, smoking, booze, etc.).
While I've left a life of excess behind, I still look back on those times and compare myself to the nintendo generation, the kids who get sick everytime they turn around, and think, "Jeez, what weaklings!"
Enough with the antibacterials and antibiotics. Sure, wash your hands and take care of yourself, but there's something to be said about all the little critters that live on and inside of you, and they're not all bad!

[NickHP]

Yes, while the outcome of this 'pandemic' was teetering, we jumped to perceived safety. Want to buy some N95 masks - never used?

But on the other hand, athsma seems to be almost completely related to allergies to roach droppings.