Prevention Matters

Kas over at The Pump Handle eloquently zings high-profile personalities who are spreading incorrect information about the swine flu epidemic. In particular, he skewers Vice President Joe Biden and televangelist Pat Robertson for their statements about the relative unhealthiness of the air in public transportation systems.

"I would tell members of my family — and I have — I wouldn’t go anywhere in confined places now,” Biden told reporters. As examples of confined places, he mentions planes and subways. White House officials later backtracked from that statement.

Meanwhile, Robertson told "700 Club" viewers that airlines improve fuel efficiency by decreasing the indoor quality of air through its circulation systems. (YouTube clip starts at 3:15).

"Shame on you Joe. Shame on you Pat," says Kas, who identifies himself as an industrial hygienist studying public health in the DC metro area. "You know that your names and your faces are more widely-recognized than any public health official’s name or face. You know that you bear the responsibility to get it right not just because you’ve both gotten it wrong before, but because there are a lot of people out there who still like you and may be inclined to believe at face value what you’re saying."