I am a survivor. Not of cancer or a natural disaster, but of the dreaded H1N1 virus.
I have swine flu. I am one of the swine flu seven - or eight - because I highly doubt my diagnosis from Massachusetts has travelled to Georgia yet, even though I strongly suspect I caught the illness in Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport because I started exhibiting flu-like symptoms while still in Georgia.
But now it's revealed to everyone.
I had planned to keep my illness on the down-low because of the reactions I got from friends and family members I did tell.
"OH MY GOD!"
"Are you dying?"
"You should be quarantined!"
People react to me as if I'm radioactive and they will be infected if they come within 20 feet of me, when that is not the case.
But since I work in a newsroom and nothing stays secret for long, I guess I better air out my dirty little secret.
One of my esteemed colleagues told me I might as well be admitting I have herpes, which while amusing, only goes to prove my point.
People make too big a deal of this disease. I don't have some incurable or terminal virus, I have the flu, albeit, a flu that kicked my [butt].
Although I spent a few weeks in bed with a high fever, sore throat and general exhaustion, it came to pass. Although the symptoms have pretty much subsided, I still have taken a week off from my post as opinions editor to let the illness pass.
I understand people are naturally concerned about the disease, but locking myself away in a room for a month waiting to get better won't do anyone any good.
I am not trying to downplay the severity of swine flu, but people have gone to extreme lengths to avoid contracting the virus, such as wearing masks in my presence or refusing to be in the same building as me.
And that's just ridiculous.
I spent a week at a conference with 60-plus college editors during the flu's incubation period and during a prime time to spread it.
And of the 60-plus potential infectees, none have developed flu-like symptoms.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, there have only been 43,771 U.S. cases --- 5,011 infected people have been hospitalized and only 302 people died. So there is a .006899 percent chance swine flu is fatal.
The number seemed so small, it seemed wrong, so I double-checked it.
The World Health Organization announced on July 16 that it will no longer report figures because, "the increasing number of cases in many countries with sustained community transmission is making it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for countries to try and confirm them through laboratory testing.
"Moreover, the counting of individual cases is now no longer essential in such countries for monitoring either the level or nature of the risk posed by the pandemic virus..."
But the London (UK) Guardian, which reports on the number of swine cases country-by-country and in the U.S. daily, showed the same number of infected cases as the CDC but more deaths (436).
Only 139 people per one million in the U.S. are infected and only 1.39 per one million die.
And I'm sorry, but less than 500 deaths in a country of more than 300,000,000 million is nothing.
Two of the reasons the flu scare has risen to such levels is A) the media is constantly putting frightening thoughts into the public's head and B) the public is freaking out unnecessarily.
It you think you have the flu, go to bed and drink lots of fluid. If you don't, you will become dehydrated and be at greater risk for hospitalization.
And be smart and rational. Don't overreact as that will make it worse.
Or if you like, add some humor to the situation and have a good laugh. I cracked up when I found out I had the swine flu because I thought it was funny.
And it's just one of the reasons I am a survivor. That and having a good friend to talk to while I was recuperating in bed.
Michael Fitzpatrick is a senior journalism major at the University of Georgia in Athens. This is an edited version of a column that originally appeared Aug. 18 in the Red and Black, an independent student newspaper, where Fitzpatrick serves as Opinions editor.
Copyright 2009 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution