http://cptv.vo.llnwd.net/o2/ypmwebcontent/Commodore%20Skahill/The%20Colin%20McEnore%20Show%2003-22-2012.mp3
Which is a worse way to die: the Spanish influenza that nearly killed off Elizabeth McGovern in Downton Abbey, or the respiratory virus that took out Gwyneth Paltrow in the movie Contagion?
They both look terrible, and we're fortunate to live in a time, and in a country, where pandemics seem like other people's problems. But as Hollywood reminds us, there will be another pandemic. Smallpox might be gone, and Americans don't get polio any more, but we have no idea what's on the horizon. And if parents keep opting out of immunizing their children, some of the old diseases might make a comeback.
I'm Mark Oppenheimer, sitting in for Colin McEnroe, who we hope got his shots before jetting off for a globe-trotting vacation.
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