No one likes to have another thing to worry about and that’s why it might be important to put things in context when it comes to the new virus in China.
It started in one city in China, Wuhan, where dozens of people were infected with it after going to a seafood market, and it has turned into an outbreak in China…now affecting more than 2,000 people with more than 100 deaths reported.
And while it’s spreading from China, as of this morning, there are only five confirmed cases in the U.S, and all five are travelers from that town in China.
But look on social media and you’d think the corona virus outbreak is the black plague.And that’s why health experts are cautioning everyone about what has been described as a deluge of dis- and mis-information about the Chinese virus.
They also want us to know that while the corona virus is getting all this attention…influenza so far during the annual flu season in the U.S. has killed more than 5,000 people, including more than 50 infants, and in San Diego County so far, at least 32 adults.
All these numbers suggest that if there is something to worry about, it’s not the virus from a seafood market in a town in China, but the annual flu in our own country.
And that’s why county health officials are putting out accurate information about the coronavirus and also are urging everyone six months and older to get a flu vaccination, which they say doesn’t guarantee you won’t get the flu but if you do, it won’t be as bad.
(Photo credit Getty Images)