I do a lot of reading, and like to generally be well educated about a lot of different subjects. One of the things that I find insanely fascinating is disease. I love reading about it, and watching movies and documentaries about it, because it is amazingly interesting. My favourite diseases (I know that sounds really odd and awkward) are Ebola, bubonic plague, and the Spanish flu. Positively fascinating. As a side note, if you haven’t seen the recent movie Contagion, I suggest you do. It’s really neat in a science-y scary sort of way.

Back to the main topic! Last night I was reading my Book of the Week, Hot Zone, which is about Ebola. It’s no longer my book of the week after the horrendous ordeal that it caused me. I’m not terribly anxious, but I found myself reaching for the Purell a couple of times while reading, thinking “I’m not going to get sick. Never ever.” It was really unpleasant.

I think the thing that is so terrifying about it is that it’s real. Unlike the horror stories about ghosts and zombies and vampires, this is a real thing that has happened in the past, and might happen in the future. Think back to WWI. Right as it was wrapping up, more people died from Spanish Flu than had been killed during the war. That’s terrifying. I understand that their medical practices weren’t that fantastic, but still. Who’s to say that it won’t happen again? It’s an interesting idea.

I suppose that it’s a big part of life, coming to terms with all these possible assaults on your life. It’s similar to me in coming to terms with the concept of death. It could happen at any time, so it does not help to dwell upon it. We’ve already had a few allegedly narrow encounters with pandemics, such as Bird and Swine Flu, and as far as I know, I’ve survived both. I actually had the swine flu, but all it did was make me very ill for a weekend; no hospitalization required. I suppose that I’m most concerned about the widespread panic. In the age of information, is all that information a good thing? I just had too many questions. They’re important questions, but not the kind I want to tackle right now. So, last night, after convincing myself that I was being unreasonable, I decided I should wait a while before finishing the book, so I put it away. This week’s book will be something a little more light I think.

Until next time!