A Citizen of New York City :: Journalism Media Studies Influenza Health Essays

A Citizen of New York City I am proud to be a citizen of New York City. I am especially proud in this time of war, when so many of our brothers, sons, nephews, and friends are off fighting for this fine country of ours. It is saddening to see the countless obituaries of not only those killed in the war, but also of those whose lives have been taken [by] this epidemic that seems to have an insatiable hunger for human lives. I, along with numerous of my fellow citizens, have become more and more distraught to see the amount of death and destruction that has entered this fine city along with the war and this epidemic of influenza, both of which have created a dark cloud that casts a constant shadow over us all. It is frightening to see those you know and love become sick and die so very quickly, sometimes without any warning at all. Those of us that are still alive, wake up every morning and face each new day wondering whether or not we are going to live through the day. After all, there have been nearly 40 0,000 that have died in the last three months, and who knows how many of those people woke up thinking they were going to live long lives. In a time such is this, one would hope to be able to turn to those that are most trusted in the field of medicine: our family doctors, health commissioners, even the surgeon general. I find that quite the contrary is taking place. Just the other day I read an article whose title perfectly describes my concern: "Health Officers Split on Influenza Scourge: American Public Health Association Unable to Agree on Prevention or Cure." The American Public Health Association, above all, should be the first to come to calm [the] public with some kind of prevention, if not a cure. But it is obvious that this is not the case. In fact, they are not even able to come up with a plan to combat this influenza bug. If they do not even have a plan, how were they able to claim different epidemics required separate treatments? Why should the citizens of this city believe this statement, coming from people who have not been able to come up with even one treatment, never mind the separate treatments they claim are required?