Today the Centers for Disease Control urged public schools not to close in the fall when they expect a resurgence of swine flu to strike school children across the country. Thus far the H1N1 influenza virus has been thankfully mild, and there is no evidence, the CDC said, that it is morphing into a deadlier threat. Medical authorities are quick to acknowledge, however, that they can't predict the future course of the virus.
In the Big Think panel discission on Swine Flu and the Next Pandemic, I was amused when Peter Palese of Mt. Sinai Medical Center, who is perhaps the world's leading authority on influenza, said that he finally found an advantage of old age: it provides some immunity to swine flu.
Editorial Chairman, Big Think.com; Author / Journalist
August 7, 2009 | In Health & Medicine, Science & Tech
Discuss
sean walsh on August 7, 2009, 1:59 PM
I live in Frankfurt and the state of NRW in the west of Germany are contemplating keeping the schools firmly closed because of the panic created by people who are so affraid of getting sacked(canned) they are far far over cautious.In England parents are having swine flu get togethers so that there ofspring contract the flu while its still not so deadly.
Noel VanThull on August 27, 2009, 10:30 PM
It’s probably a good idea to close schools if a student or teacher becomes ill. I tend to believe that it is better to err on the side of caution rather than deal with the consequences of the unknown. It seemed to have worked in NYC, Bloomberg did the right thing. I think they acted too slowly in Mexico- thus the huge number of people who got sick. I’m not sending my kids to school if a case pops up, it’s just not worth the risk.
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