

It seems like an unusually nasty cold is going around, but I have no way to prove my point.

Four of my friends, each in a different large city, have skipped work because of a nasty infection. All of them are suffering from the same symptoms: lots of green phlegm, exhaustion, sore throat, no fever.

Unaffected, I feel a bit like the protagonist in 28 Days Later – wondering what the heck is going on.

How many people are infected? Is there a cure? Should I crawl under a rock and hide? Assuming that the bug is a virus, what kind is it?

I have no idea where to find any answers. None of my friends have seen a doctor, but even if they did, they would not get a fancy lab test that can identify the pathogen. Thus, I am stuck making assumptions and hiding under my bed with a flashlight and a cricket bat.

When there is an earthquake, people flock to the U.S. geological survey website. But during flu season, where can we get reliable information?

Sure, the Centers for Disease Control regularly post flu reports and maps, but I would not be surprised if the bug which sickened my friends is not an influenza virus.

In a perfect world, we could all stockpile an easy-to-use home disease tests and our local pharmacy would carry an arsenal of antiviral drugs. Responsible individuals could report their illnesses to a fancy Web 2.0 site with maps and lots of useful statistics.

Unfortunately, effective antiviral medications are in the realm of science fiction and developing new ones isn't cheap. They cost about $800 million each – if researchers are successful. Since drugs that treat chronic maladies are more lucrative, big pharma has little incentive to develop countermeasures against infectious diseases.

But hey, at least some people are safe, the government is spending over $6.1 billion on the presidential helicopter program.

Am I alone in thinking that a particularly nasty cold is going around?

Photo: AnA oMeLeTe / flickr