I think you're right about why this is rarely discussed in the
media--because the doctors don't know much about it. If they went on TV and
told people about this disease that shows up out of nowhere, and listed the
supposed reasons the various folks have it--flu, flu shots, back injuries,
prednisone-caused osteoporosis, unknown, auto-immune problem, and many
more--you would end up with a lot of freaked out people. How would you tell
people to avoid it? People would worry but not be able to reduce their
risk, since the risk isn't understood. With the flu and flu shots both
being possible causes, you're damned if you do and damned if you don't.
With polio, eventually there was a vaccine. Before that, people took
precautions during an outbreak, and it seemed to be and was infectious. I
remember the mass vaccination when it first became available. We went on
Sunday after church to a school, stood in very long fast-moving lines, and
got a sugar cube with the vaccine on it. We didn't use sugar cubes at home
:-)--we only got one though. I also remember the boy down the street who
had one leg shorter and smaller than the other because he had had polio.
Aurore