Flu fears inspire an unforeseen shot in the arm

True confession: I'm funny about needles.

Oh sure, lots of people are. And lots of people also share my traditional avoidance of flu shots -- even when they can be squirted into the nose instead of poked through the skin.

It's just flu, right?

The thing is -- notwithstanding the school district's declaration last week that the H1N1 virus is "simply the flu" -- this one is killing kids.

Having written about this for my day job in Naperville since the illness came on the scene last April, I know we're not supposed to panic. But it's killing kids.

In a normal year, the flu season starts sometime right about now and before it's done, it takes about 36,000 lives. Nine out of ten who die from the flu are 65 or older.

This is not a normal year.

The U.S. toll last week was 114 children, and it's growing by the day. Of the 28 people in Illinois who have succumbed since this monster of a virus showed up less than seven months ago, only four were older than 64. Two, so far, lived just north of here; one was 14, the other 47.

Yes, there were other factors that made these people more susceptible to the disease. But "underlying conditions" don't always make themselves known before they become matters of life and death. Diabetes, for instance, often goes undiagnosed for a while.

So in a fit of perfectly rational cognitive dissonance, my mother's-instinct risk/benefit analysis tells me to insist that my three youngest kids go under the needle. They're all under that high-risk umbrella that includes those 6 months to 24 years old. It's not worth the risk.

But here's another flu-related symptom: rampant entrepreneurial ingenuity. Sort of.

I don't know if you've noticed how this crisis seems to be good for business. At a time when a lot of people are short on income, the flu apparently is opening some doors to profit.

Aside from the obvious shot in the arm this awful influenza has provided to vaccine manufacturers (yes, that was punintentional), it's giving rise to assorted fresh ways for good old-fashioned free enterprise to display its mojo.

The sanitation industry, for example, has seen its star rise in the form of wipes, waterless antibacterial goo and other goods that promise to keep the germs at bay. Those things are everywhere.

And consider this, part of an e-mail I received from an organization called Cell Phone Wipes Inc.:

"Cleaned your cell phone lately? Cell Phone Wipes Inc. (www.areyoutalkingdirty.com) is betting you'll want to after learning an average cell phone carries more germs than the bottom of a shoe, a door handle, or even a toilet seat!"

OK, eew.

The missive goes on to remind us how many of their waking hours our kids spend with their phones clamped against their faces. And let's face it: kids are germy sorts.

This is nothing new, of course, the idea of making profit from our fears, our nagging "what-ifs." But there are still plenty of no-cost ways to gird against contagion while those of us who are so inclined wait for the shots and mist to be more readily available.

Given that the virus can only get in through mouths and noses, it makes sense to give our immunes a pep talk by doing things like gargling warm salt water twice a day, and flushing the nasal cavities with a neti pot or just a swab dipped in salty warm water. (It turns out humble table salt has protective properties of its own. Who knew? Besides Grandma, I mean.)

Also not to be ignored are vitamin-C rich foods and zinc supplements. And I'm told if we drink hot coffee or tea, it helps send viruses from the oral incubator down to the stomach, where they can't make us sick.

Hmmm. It might make sense to invest a couple of bucks in the salt and nutritional-supplements market, and maybe a tea company. Wait here. I'm just going to make a quick phone call.

Uh-oh. Got any wipes?

Contact Susan Frick Carlman at scarlman@scn1.com or 630-416-5260.