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In the past week or so, we have seen a segment of the population completely lose perspective on the subject of the flu.

H1N1 has gripped us with fear, rumours abound and all this has brought out some questionable and even selfish behaviour.

There were a number of people who jumped the line to get a flu shot, leaving babies and the chronically ill in their wake.

There is an outcry of blame aimed at politicians for not having enough vaccine.

And there are some who are relying on YouTube videos and Internet conspiracy theories as their main sources of information about whether the flu vaccine is safe.

Apart from blaming politicians, those are not necessarily the actions of logical, compassionate, critical thinkers.

The first two clinics opened here last week in New Maryland, and it only took a little while for the police to be called for traffic control as a couple thousand people showed up on the first day.

These clinics were specifically for priority groups - children, parents of infants, people suffering chronic illnesses and First Nations people - but others jumped the line.

And when they weren't turned away, the problem of line jumping grew as word spread that they were taking anyone. By Friday, the Health Department put a stop to it.

The non-priority cases should never have been permitted to jump the line in the first place, what with a limited supply of vaccine this early, and those jumping the line should have thought better than to put themselves ahead of those who need it more than they do. It was beginning to look like a case of every man or woman for him or herself.

It's going to take another few weeks for all the vaccine to arrive, and for all 750,000 of us to be vaccinated. In the meantime, we ask people to take a deep breath, preferably not after someone has just sneezed, and put the entire flu issue in perspective.

Odds are you are not going to get the H1N1 flu. And even if you do, it's highly unlikely that getting it is going to hospitalize you, let alone kill you.

It's treatable and you'll recover. You'll just feel miserable for a few days, and then life as you know it will go on and you'll have a good story to tell.

Local health officials indicate a 58 per cent increase in ER visits in the past few days at the Oromocto Public Hospital, most from people who were afraid because they had flu-like symptoms. That overload of non-urgent cases from concerned people is taxing an already taxed system.

So rather than rush to the hospital, take a look at the list from the Public Health Agency of Canada. If you have these symptoms, that's when you need to sit up and take notice, and medical attention is warranted:

* You start to feel better, then the fever returns

* Wheezing, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, coughing up blood

* Purple or bluish lip colour

* Chest pain

* Hard to wake up, unusually quiet or unresponsive, strange thoughts or actions

* New onset of diarrhea, vomiting or abdominal pain

* Signs of dehydrations such as dizziness when standing and low urine production.

We've probably never in our lives been so attuned to washing our hands and being wary of a sneeze or a cough. That's good. That's precisely what we should be doing. But we should also avoid jumping to frightful and unrealistic conclusions.

And finally, we should be getting our information about the illness from reputable sources: the World Health Organization (who.int); the New Brunswick Department of Health (gnb.ca/flu) or the Public Health Agency of Canada (publichealth.gc.ca).

Minimize your exposure, try to stay well and resist the urge to turn this into something it is not.