Flu, again will normally only kill you if you are feeble, or have a compromised immune system (ok, perhaps overgeneralization, but you get the idea). There are a dozen reports cases in my area, but, honestly, I am not overly concerned. Our sanitation awareness has increased exponentially since 1918, as has our medical fields. Washing your hands is a practice we should ALL get in the habit of doing-this prevents MANY communicable diseases. Clean, running water is abundant & available here in the US, and that alone is a HUGE contributor to our war on viruses.
All that being said, closing a school is simply a panacea. If a kid doesnt go, the parents stay home. IF they get sick, and NO ONE visits them, then, after the incubation period, I would assume that that particular household is safe. Unfortunately, someone may be a carrier before realizing it. Thus, it is spread, unknowingly. And, what if the kids stay home, and no one watches them? Guarantee they go out & play with friends in the same situation. Again, they show no symptoms, think they are fine, and spread it. Closing schools, IMHO, doesnt help anyone.
Now, I am not a health care specialist, I am just generalizing here. I dont know what the lifespan of the virus is outside a host-I do know HOW its spread, and thats about it. I also know that, for me, I will continue to practice good hygeine. There really isnt too much else I can do. I refuse to buy into the apparent panic this is causing.

I've already posted this in another forum, but in defense of a bit of info overload:

All the attention on swine flu is meant (in part) to level out exposures such that our medical infrastructure isn't over run by flu cases. It takes next to nothing to overrun an ER, they typically operate at close to full capacity as it is. It doesn't take fatalities to exceed capacities, just patients. And there are no more hospital beds, because there aren't usually a supply of medical responders to treat them. And should the virus mutate just enough to cause more severe reactions and deaths, the attention is certainly warranted.

Besides, practice makes perfect - what better time to excercise panemdic preparedness than on a non-lethal strain? Soon come on that.

“If we’re accused of doing too much, then fine,” said Mr. Reardon [Snohomish Co WA Public Health, I think]. “But we will never be accused of doing too little. Public health and safety is our Number One priority for our community.”

Mexico sees flu outbreak easing which tells me this "pandemic" was a good test of the system. I'm not sure we passed, just got lucky.

The up side of the SARS scare was that it motivated, forced in some cases, cities and municipalities to formulate plans and create mechanisms for reporting within and coordination of public health systems. Hopefully this round of swine flu will further cement the systems and case a redoubling of efforts to bolster out public health system.

My fear is that if this round of flu fizzles out that in these hard financial times people will see spending on public health as wasted money.

There is always going to be another round of flu, or other disease, coming. What happens if the much deadlier H5N1 bird flu combines with the very communicable but so far mild H1N1 swine flu. we could end up with a virus that spreads like wildfire and kills 60% of the people who get it. A public health system primed to isolate the strain and create of a vaccine, combined with efforts to contain it to buy time, could be our only hope.

Historically public health organizations have saved far more lives than treatment after the fact.

Just an FYI....in regards to Oldsoldier's comments on hand washing.....

A number of us will not be surprised to hear this.....but still, all should be outraged......

I am a medic. Current. I am working in the field as we speak. I can tell you definitively....I have coworkers that absolutely, positively do NOT wash their hands. They have said repeatedly that they do not...will not.....

Yes, I have attempted to convince them of the importance of hand washing....there is no point......to borrow a line from (I believe-Clive Cussler) I've had more productive conversations with fence posts. There is only so much one can say to a rock.

So take it for the information it provides. There are some first responders that have this mentality.....PROTECT YOURSELF.

Every single disaster has one common element:

Your ability to obtain goods and services is interrupted. We live in a Just in Time society. A just in time to say "Oh Feces!". You should be prepared to be self-sufficient for an adequate period. That period depends upon the magnitude and severity of the disaster.

I have been very surprised at the governmental response from the local levels to the Federal levels, including the WHO. It all seems like a massive over reaction to me.

Yes, I think this has been treated as a drill. Soooo convenient for many reasons,,,after the actual flu season is over, IMO.

I'm not so sure governments all over the world would agree to participate in a global drill just like that, especially not during the present economic crisis. *Maybe* the WHO did deliberately overplay the threat to see what kind of response there would be in the event of a more serious outbreak. But it's not just a game. The swine flu has already cost a great deal of money. There's also the psychological impact. I'm sure Mexican tourism will be affected for years to come.

I, for one, would rather see the reaction we got instead of an under reaction. And although the media obviously was fanning the flame, there were plenty of experts on hand who were both clearheaded and professional. As long as they aren't sowing mass panic (like the Media wasn't trying!), it means all resources are called in quickly and the experts get to work immediately.

In fact, some experts think our emergency response was both too slow and the WHO too cautious in raising the level of emergency:
http://blogs.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2009/05/exclusive-meet.html

I've read your second sentence a few times, and it's just dripping with subtext. I don't want to get into most of that, but one assumed item I agree upon; there are those who are profiting and will do so in the future(no surprise there). Be that as it may, even a drill now and then tests the machinery, keeps preparedness and the need for infrastructure to handle it in people's minds. No matter what happens, there are those who will attempt to benefit by this, even to the point of contributing to the FUD. It's nothing new, nor something that's likely ever to go away.

And I recall not that long ago, how the government woefully under reacted to another emergency and caught hell for it.