Swine Flu Worry
Dec | November 8, 2009This morning in Clonskeagh church the priest gave over a few minutes to discuss swine flu. A couple had recently approached him and asked what the parish was going to do to reduce the risk of spreading swine flu. You see the woman is pregnant and they felt that the sign of peace where they shake hands with fellow church goers was an unacceptable risk to her and the baby. They wanted the priest to ban the gesture in the church. The priest tried to reason with them, pointing out that it is not necessary for people to shake hands. Church goers can just make a gesture towards others by raising their hands in a wave like motion and that other parishioners would understand. This was not good enough for the couple, unfortunately they feel bad when they refuse to shake hands with the others in the church so the only solution for them was to have the sign of peace banned in the church and then no one would try to shake hands with them.
The priest explained to the congregation the advice the parish had received from the HSE on the control of swine flu along with the steps he and the other priests take before and during mass to insure their hands are clean. How they wash their hands with soap and warm water then dry with clean towels. He said that the parish had decided some changes were now needed. The sign of peace would no longer be offered during mass. The holy water fonts would be emptied, washed with soap and left to dry. Finally communion with wine would not be offered as had been traditional during Christmas. The priest hoped these changes would be temporary and that normal routines could be restored soon.
To me this is an over reaction to a situation hyped in the media to sell newspapers. Yes swine flu is a risk but so is the annual flu. People get sick every year, the vast vast majority recover but some may die. Until Sky News and the like displayed the latest in a series of *the world is ending* headlines, swine flu was heading to the annual “there is a bad bug doing the rounds” classification we all talk about every winter. The media would not let that happen. In the last few years we have had CJD, SARS, Avian flu and Bio-terrorism to make us afraid to shake hands. At the same time we had asteroids, ice ages, global warming, and mega tsunamis to stop us going outside at all. The world has been ending for so long that sometimes I just cant remember what is about to destroy us all, at least not until I turn on Sky News and the yellow Breaking News banner informs me as to what will be killing me later that day.
It’s called apocalypse fatigue. The media has spent years selling newspapers and pulling in viewers by hyping up some risk or other that has a cool sounding name like SARS or Swine Flu. They want people to be worried and scared because no one buys a newspaper to read about someone from one town away who died from the common cold but thousands will buy a newspaper that tells them 10 people are sick from Bovine Flu at the other side of Europe and how that virus could sweep the planet.
The risk is real but is it any greater than the risk we face every year from normal flu? Is the danger of swine flu worse than the danger of offending a neighbor by not shaking hands with them? The whole parish of Clonskeagh now has to stop offering each other the sign of peace not because of swine flu but because one couple were too worried they would offend others by not shaking hands.
I think the main issue here is that there is still people that is going to church… I’m more worried about them than any possible flu…
I know what you mean, Dec. And that has generally been my feeling as well. However, given that my wife is well into her third trimester of pregnancy, and that pregnancy is one of the pre-existing health conditions that have proven to be a fatal combination with this obnoxious virus, we’ve sat up and paid a little more attention and tried to take a few extra precautions. Especially when advised by her GP and midwives.
So we can relate with the expecting couple in your parish. That said, however, the response of the priest does seem a bit overblown to me. And of course the media always do a spectacular job of sensationalising.
Ron, I don’t know if you live in Ireland or not, but there are A LOT of people who “still” go to church here. (60% of the population, by some estimates) No matter what the hype about the pig flu, you certainly have a lot more to worry about with H1N1 than about Irish Catholics who go to church.
In the beginning I was all “whats the fuss, its just a flu” However, my 2 sister in laws are also into their third trimester and as Brandon says, this combination has proven to be fatal. I’m not quite as blasé any more!
I’ve heard the sad news today that a pregnant lady died from Swine Flu. She had no underlying illnesses the cause of death was apparently swine flu. Obviously my opinions of the risks of this disease were wrong.
Naw, don’t be too hard on yourself, Dec. Actually, health experts have indeed been calling ‘pregnancy’ a pre-existing high-risk condition for months now. That’s why pregnant women in their 2nd or 3rd trimester were amongst the first to get the vaccination a few weeks back (despite the unease about how little is known re: the effect of the vaccinations on the unborn).
I read this and was about to disagree until I read your follow up comment. I do agree that panic will do nothing, but there is definitely no harm in creating awareness. The danger of swine flu is that it is a brand new strain of flu. We have absolutely no immunity towards it. The vaccine was launched this week. Hopefully, it should prevent tragic death among high-risk groups.
I caught it two weeks ago. I have no idea where I got it from. I guess it was from another passenger on the bus to work. I placed myself under strict quarantine for four days. I am lucky because I’m a full time employee; my employer pays sick leave. Some of my colleagues are contractors who don’t get paid for a week and a half of absence from the office. There’s a risk they may come to work (with swine flu) for fear of losing pay.
It seems crazy that parishioners might stop giving the sign of peace to one another, but given how contagious H1N1 really is, it’s not all that radical. Anyone asthmatic kids or relatives with health issues can potentially expose them to swine flu. I am not the type of person to get paro about germs or whatever else, but since catching swine flu, I flinch when I see someone sneeze or cough without covering their mouth.
I got the Swine Flu vaccine recently and almost fainted. 2 min after I got it while waiting in the 15 min observation zone i began to sweat and feel dizzy. I was given various forms of sugar and glucose and after 10 min I was ok. It seems my blood sugar level fell dramatically. So advice for anyone getting the jab is eat BEFORE you get it. I was told that this has happened to 1 in 500 people who get the vaccine.
2 of my cousins in mexico got infected with the swine flu virus. thank God, they recovered well. it is a great news that the pandemic on swine flu is gone now.