Swine Flu in Central New York

Swine flu has arrived in the Syracuse area:

"The Fabius-Pompey Central School District is closing Thursday and Friday as a precaution after a female high school student who recently traveled to Mexico tested positive for swine flu.

"The student lives in Cortland County and is one of three possible human swine flu cases reported earlier this week by the Cortland Health Department...

"The student did not need to be hospitalized and is recovering, said Dr. Cynthia Morrow, Onondaga County health commissioner. No other Fabius-Pompey students have gotten sick.

"Morrow urged people not to panic. The decision to close the school reflects CDC guidelines. 'We are being extra cautious,' Morrow said."

First off, it must be very strange to have your flu make the local, if not national, news.

Second, I suspect the precautions being taken will succeed in limiting the outbreak. We simply know more about epidemiology than we did decades ago. As some have pointed out, the biggest problem is our inadequate health care policies, which leave many workers without paid sick days and people without health insurance who may try to tough the illness out on their own.