Rachel,
This is perhaps an odd request, but I'm going to ask you anyhow. How do I avoid getting swine flu? I am single and just on the job a year since getting out of school. I am surrounded by people with children, and they're all battling the flu on the homefront, I worry they'll bring it in with them and I will come down with it. Any advice?-- Flu-scared

Dear Flu,
I could go on at great length about the swine flu if I knew any more than the average person who watches the news. I do not.

Further, I'm not sure I can give you a right answer, since this is way outside of my field.

In fact there may not be a right answer.

There's the usual advice you hear on TV. Wash your hands frequently and avoid physical contact with others where you can. If you can avoid places where a lot of people gather, like bars and parties, do so. Take care of yourself. Eat well, get plenty of rest.

You could go on vacation, lock yourself in your house, and restrict your contact with the outside world to the telephone and email.

But realistically, how much can you avoid contact with the outside world?

We have to shop. We have to get to work, which for many means riding public transit or car-pooling. And we have to get on with our lives, which means being around others.

The best advice I can give is to keep it all in perspective and not drag yourself down with worry.

Swine flu is going to be around for some time, so if you dodge it one week, you may catch it the next, despite your best efforts to avoid it.

If you do catch it, well, suffer though it. While some people have died from it, it's really just another strain of the flu. It's all the media coverage that makes it seem so much worse.

Sometimes it’s just good sense to take a pass on what has the media all in a lather. This is one of them.