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http://orthodox.org.ua/eng/node/965

UKRAINE. His Beatitude Metropolitan Volodymyr Blessed Ukrainian Orthodox Church to Raise Special Prayers against Distribution of Dangerous Disease (influenza A H1N1)

Already this week in all the orthodox churches of Ukraine the special prayer service "Supplicatory Singing In Time Of Devastating Epidemic And Deathbearing Pestilence" that is traditionally performed in the Orthodox Church in times of distribution of dangerous diseases. The respective circular letter is being sent to the diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church on the blessing of the Primate of the UOC.

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church calls the clergy and faithful to the prayer for the quickest cessation of the disease distribution and recovery of the sick.

What is the devastating epidemic and deathbearing pestilence in question?

Stuart, it's wrote in the post: influenza A H1N1.

Well, then, it isn't all that bad. I can remember when cholera epidemics in the Soviet Union killed thousands in the space of a few weeks. Yup, that's right. . . cholera, in the middle of the 20th century. The whole Swine Flu thing is being blown entirely out of proportion, and runs the risk of becoming hysteria. Our esteemed President isn't helping things, either.

Totally agree Stuart. Media and government both are irresponsibly blowing H1N1 out of proportion. Of course the flu can be deadly for people with weakened immune systems, but it's always been that way. Legionnaires Disease was supposed to get us, SARS, West Nile Virus, Flash Eating Bacteria etc, and now it's H1N1 we're supposed to be terrified of. Well I plan to do my part for mankind by not getting the shot and leaving it for someone more deserving than I.

The irony is more people have died from seasonal flu so far than have died from H1N1.

Stuart and Lawrence:

I don't disagree that this has been overhyped, but I think that you are trivializing fears people have about the possibility of death--given that the particular population of who has died from H1N1 looks a bit different from what is typical with seasonal influenza. Some fairly young, reasonably healthy adults have died as a result of rapid onset of pneumonia. Also, there are reports of this strain being associated with the cytokine storm response, which is one of the reasons the 1918 influenza resulted in the deaths of so many young, healthy adults. Also, the number of cases affecting young children and pregnant women (several of whom have died, including a family member of one of my father-in-law's coworkes and the sister of one of my closest friend's students) add to the fears. I know that since my wife is pregnant and has chronic fatigue syndrome, which weakens immune response, I am more concerned about H1N1 than seasonal influenza.

Ryan

Risk needs to be evaluated objectively and dispassionately, which is precisely why stoking fears is so dangerous and counterproductive. Here in the Washington area, there is a chronic shortage of vaccine, mainly because people who are low risk are being given the injections together with people who are high risk, instead of reserving what we have exclusively for high risk groups. The reason so many people are lining up for shots is talk about H1N1 being more lethal than other strains of flu, and its potential (minimal at best) for mutating into something really deadly, like the 1918 Spanish Influenza (ignoring many of the unique conditions that exacerbated mortality back then).

I am, right now, working on a project to develop risk assessment models and decision aids for the Department of Homeland Security. One of our scenarios is--surprise!--an influenza pandemic. And one of the factors we have to consider in our model, particularly for resource allocation, is what we term "the worried well"--people who are perfectly OK, but who think they may be ill, and therefore begin flooding an already overtaxed health care delivery system. For every one of the "worried well" who visits a clinic, one really sick person has to wait in line.

Unfortunately, there seems to be a mindset in both government and media today that even the most minor of problems (I'm sorry, "challenges"--we no longer have problems: "Houston, we have a challenge. . . ") must be treated as an existential crisis. And because there are so many crises now, each new one must be trumpeted in more apocalyptic tones than the last. Hence, I recently heard the Secretary of Transportation give a speech in which he referred to "the crisis of people texting while driving". Crisis? Really? If that's the case, let's just shut down the cell phone networks. It's an annoyance. It's a problem (challenge?), but it's in no way a crisis. But we have become bi-polar: there are only two conditions--triumph and crisis, and nothing in between.

Stuart

People may or may not be panicking - but the fact remains that Swine flu is around - and more in some areas than others.

How countries are coping obviously varies

Google News re Swine flu [google.com]

Here in Metro DC, Montgomery County, MD just suspended its weekly vaccination clinics due to a shortage of vaccine. It will now only be made available to pregnant women on an appointment basis. Expect other jurisdictions to follow suit.

It is not realistic to expect that everyone is going to react "objectively and dispassionately" when they are faced with the sort of real risks associated with a threat like H1N1. Much of the response to the threat of H1N1 is not that huge numbers of people are dying. Rather, the response is because this particular strain of influenza is threatening, in general, people under the age of 60, children, and pregnant women. While I'm not in a state of panic over H1N1, I make no apology for not being entirely objective and dispassionate when it comes to the risk H1N1 might pose to my wife who is pregnant.

Your wife should make an appointment with her doctor to get vaccinated. Which she would be able to do, if people not at risk weren't hogging the vaccine.

Aside from that, it is the duty of the civil authorities to inform, not to inflame, but--as I noted--there has been much breathless speculation and little hard information being transmitted to the public, which is the main reason why there is something close to panic in some quarter.

This morning the internet is a buzz with all kinds of wild rumors regarding what's happening in Western Ukraine. If fear of H1N1 drives people to a greater reliance on government I think that would be a terrible thing. However if it causes them to rely more on Christ's mercy (even if H1N1 is being overhyped) then this could be a great blessing.

I agree with you Stuart, the flu is not that bad and it is largely hype, but the prayers won't hurt anyway

Prayers can never hurt.