Seen anything like this flu, or the coverage thereof?

Hard to believe there's much more to say about the H1N1 flu, but that's why I'm here. I'd like to tackle a few off-the-beaten-path questions about the issue. For answers, I contacted everything and everyone from my dictionary to the Internet to reporters and editors here at the Daily Herald.

Q. Have we ever had a medical crisis that has resulted in the massive lines, the crush of humanity, trying to get vaccinated, as we've seen in recent weeks?

A. My research staff was stumped. But I'm old enough to remember when the Sabin oral polio vaccine came out in the early '60s. Back then the original Salk vaccination was a dramatic success, but there were worries because it had actually caused a few cases of polio. Everyone in the nation was encouraged to get the Sabin vaccine. I recall well my entire family walking to the local junior high school and waiting in line for half a day to swallow a paper cup full of water. Fortunately, it was a nice summer day.

Q. In DuPage and McHenry counties, appointments were required to get the vaccine. In other places, it was catch-as-catch-can, people waiting in long lines, outside in the rain, and in some cases, only to be turned away. One editor here reported driving to a vaccine site only to find the parking lot barricaded. Why the disparate approaches?

A. We're not sure, but initially, when the DuPage Health Department was first among all collar counties to get the vaccine, we wondered if our officials knew what they were doing. We were flooded with calls from people saying they couldn't get through to the county, were put on hold for long minutes that turned into hours. But once that speed bump was navigated, everyone we talked to raved about how smoothly the vaccine-getting process in DuPage went. By contrast, here's a comment from a reader decrying the fact that a thousand people had to queue up at 3 a.m. in Lake County for vaccinations: "This was utter chaos. They had to have known that people were going to be cramming the clinics to get this vaccine."

Q. Does the media add to the flu frenzy with its, as some have suggested, overdone if not hysterical coverage?

A. Here's what some key people at the Daily Herald had to say:

Editor John Lampinen: "Early October statistics are significantly higher than expected, suggesting the pandemic is apt to get worse as we head into the traditional flu season. Not as horrific as some had suggested a year or so ago, but more widespread than most had predicted last spring. That being the case, it would be irresponsible to fail to report the story with depth."

Health writer Bob McCoppin points out this strain is new, already as potent as the seasonal flu and targets a new audience: young people. "Doctors tell us it could mutate into a more dangerous form. Such pandemic flus have killed people by the millions worldwide in the past, most notably in 1918. And swine flu is new, and we are in business of writing about what's new and developing."

Senior writer Jake Griffin, who covers DuPage County suggests people keep some perspective: "This has been a pandemic for less than a year and during that time scientists have developed a vaccine, but it's taking longer to make than originally estimated. But it's still being developed, tested, approved and shipped in less than a year's time."

jdavis@dailyherald.com