1918’s Spanish influenza infected
approximately 500 million worldwide
killing 20-50M of them
assisted by the movement of soldiers
to and from Europe

Outgunned the casualties of World War I
triggered a cytokine storm
in the immune system
especially young adults...

Every bug has its unique nature
commonalities

And human nature being what it is
as with any outbreak
fear...ignorance...idiocy
quickly rise...

Hording of face masks
misinformation
the Internet still young
with the arrival of SARS in 2002
a lightweight
774 dead in comparison
to today’s Coronavirus
we caught it in time

Ourselves a virus
in a manner of speaking
most of us survive
learn...adapt and evolve

As for COVID-19
do yourself a favor
forget the day to day face mask
panicking (for now)
and get a flu shot annually
as protection against the latest mutation
underestimated
it kills far more people
than you would imagine

And thank goodness
we don’t eat bats
at least in North America
or do we???

© 2020

630 hits as of April 2024

02/13/2020

Author's Note: Title and opening piece to namesake collection.

Posted on 02/13/2020
Copyright © 2024 Chris Sorrenti