Minnesota Institute of Public Health

Mexico City is now termed by CNN News as the epicenter of swine flu outbreak. There are now 90 cases worldwide, and 50 in the U.S. This number will probably need to be updated between the time I write this, and the moment it appears on this blog. Point is, the situation is changing by the day, by the hour.

The World Health Organization (WHO) raised its level of alert, noting concern over human-to-human transmission.

The median age of all known U.S. cases of swine flu is 16. Victims reported a spike in fever, runny nose, sore throat, vomiting, diarrhea, and trouble breathing. Swine flu, after all, is a contagious respiratory disease, centered on pigs, and now to humans.

Previous pandemics and disasters have unfortunately exposed gaping weaknesses in our public health communication systems. Hopefully, we’ve corrected that.

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), World Health Organization (WHO), and our Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) are among the credible sources of information. The MDH Hotline for H1N1 flu information is 1-800-657-3903. It is answered from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy’s director Michael Osterholm says, “What makes this so difficult is, we may be somewhere between an important but yet still uneventful public health occurrence here – with something that could literally die out over the next couple of weeks and never show up again – or this could be the opening act of a full-fledged influenza pandemic.”

Well put. In my mind, anyone who right now claims to know all the answers is suspect. We need to select and listen to credible sources of public health information and, for now, in the absence of a definitive problem and solution, do what makes sense: wash our hands, help control needless risk, and pay attention to sources we trust.

So, whom do you trust for your best public health and prevention advice?