Influenza M29 and other potential epidemics

There are some illnesses that absolutely have no cure. The patient just has to give in and allow the symptoms to take over life. The H5N1 blog, one of the leading sites for all things bird flu, led us to a report of such incurable influenza cases with potential for outbreaks:

INFLUENZA M29, often called Omni-“Law & Order” Disorder. This is characterized by the delusion, not always unfounded, that the television show “Law & Order” is being broadcast on every channel, every second of every day. Typically, patients afflicted with the virus firmly believe that every person in the world is watching “Law & Order” and will continue to do so for the rest of their waking lives.

Symptoms: Onset often occurs when the patient has decided to go to bed but “still wants to watch something” before dozing off. The unfortunate sufferer characteristically flips through the channels, and gradually comes to believe, to his or her horror, that the only thing on is the hour-long crime program produced by Dick Wolf, in one manifestation or another (“Law & Order: Rural Free Delivery,” “Law & Order: Extra Credit Unit,” etc.).

Read on, and be amused.

[Source: The New Yorker via H5N1]

Tags: influenza M29, humor, H5N1