>>>>As of this morning - The swine flu is officially a pandemic. Still, it doesn't seem like much, but it is capable of expansion into the population almost exponentially. Never forget that there are too many humans on the planet and mother nature shall not tollerate over population. The swine flu may come to nothing, but eventually there will be something in our future that will cull a lot of people from the herd.
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>>>I am surprised that it wasn't declared as such previously. Here in the U.S., if you call the doctor because you have the flu, you are told to not come in unless you have trouble breathing, get dehydrated, have a high fever for greater than 72 hours, or experience anything you consider to be a medical emergency. That is done to prevent spreading of the flu virus, but it also means that we do not have accurate counts here on how many swine flu cases there really are.
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>>Frankly, I have never called to doctor when I have fly symptoms. To be precise I got them few times already during this 'pandemics' :). OTOH, we have full assortment of medications at home.
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>Are you self employed? Some companies require a doctor's note if you are out of work for more than 1-2 days.

I have never been out of work (both 1099 and W2) more than 1-2 days, i.e. excluding vacations. In many cases I work with flu. It is not the worst thing.