On swine flu, just the facts, please

Someday soon, it's very likely the place where you work or where your kids go to school will have an outbreak of H1N1 flu.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicts a busy flu season that will start earlier than usual. The University of Illinois, in session for just a week, reports at least a dozen cases of H1N1 flu and has sent a handful of students home from its Urbana-Champaign campus to recuperate. Seasonal flu shots - the kind available every year - already are being doled out at drugstores and doctors offices to help clear the decks for a second round of vaccinations for the H1N1 flu this fall.

There's no need to panic. There's no sign of the feared mutation of H1N1 into a deadlier virus, and most cases are not life-threatening.

There is a need to get informed, since the H1N1 virus can pose a serious threat to certain people, including pregnant women and people with asthma, diabetes, heart disease or neuromuscular diseases like muscular dystrophy.

By getting informed, we mean consulting reputable, knowledgeable public-health sources.

We're disturbed by the recent flurry of rumors about the flu pandemic swirling around the Internet and, no doubt, your inbox. Virtually all are misinformed, containing just enough pseudoscience to sound convincing. A few are funny (no, the BBC did not really report an outbreak of zombies due to an H1N1 mutation in London.) Many promote conspiracies, drawing in the gullible and ill-informed with "news" of nefarious plots or cover-ups. Most have a hidden agenda, whether to sell you a product or add a new layer of misinformation to the health-care debate.

In this instance, listening on the wrong kind of advice can be dangerous - for you, for your family and for others to whom you might repeat or forward inaccurate information.

We urge you to turn to these accurate, comprehensive sites for information about H1N1:

• flu.gov, managed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, includes a wealth of information in several languages on planning for an outbreak, what to do if you're sick, travel news, economic and global perspectives and more. You can post a question or send your friends e-cards with prevention tips.

• cdc.gov/h1n1flu/ updates case numbers weekly. Run by the CDC, it gives specific information for parents, pregnant women, schools, travelers, people with HIV or heart disease and other groups.

• www.idph.state.il.us/h1n1_flu, operated by the Illinois Department of Public Health, updates hospitalizations and deaths from H1N1 and gives prevention and response information in a clear, easy-to-navigate format.

• who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/en/index.html shows the international perspective from the World Health Organization.

Instead of getting caught in the rumor mill, take the time to get real facts about H1N1. You and your family will be safer for it.