Even the history buffs are getting tired. Reading about history is one thing, but experiencing it is something else. We are living through a historic economic meltdown, a sea change in political power and now a swine flu pandemic. There is only so much history one person can take.

Today's events are different in one dimension: instantaneous worldwide communication. When the ships arrived in port carrying the rats that hosted the plague-infected fleas, no one knew. It was not until the neighbors began to drop dead that the towns learned there was a problem. The battle of New Orleans was fought after the war of 1812 was over because Andrew Jackson didn't have Twitter.

With this current H1N1 flu outbreak, we all know. We know the countries and the states involved. We have maps that pinpoint the victims. We have computer programs that picked up on the unusual respiratory pattern and unexpected deaths weeks before even the doctors themselves knew. We have a daily-to-almost-hourly e-mail blast that alerts us to the most recent cases and suspected cases and even the rumored or imagined cases. There are reports from the World Health Organization on the global activity. Then we have national advisories from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Further pronouncements come from the White House and the personal opinion of the vice president. The state health departments have their regular bulletins that are shared with as many as will listen or read. The hospitals are appointing "flu chiefs" to inform us of the current status and recommendations. The pharmaceutical industry is reminding the medical community that we can prescribe some antivirals but others don't work. Radio, TV and newspapers, magazines and blogs add to or repeat what others are telling us. Then there are the scared mothers, nervous day-care centers and cautious schools that add to the chorus of alarm.

Talk about a pandemic of worry. This is not to dismiss the current concerns and the future potential catastrophes. The lethality of the influenza of 1918 was real. The plague did wipe out a third of Europe. It is that as the plans for preparation are published, there needs to be preparation for the public's reaction to the information. It is not paranoia when someone really is out to get you. Disasters are real. Dams burst; tsunamis wipe away villages, floods drown towns, and earthquakes crumble cities. So how do we transmit information and just the right amount of concern? What is the correct dose to call to action or to get everyone's attention? How do we provide the information directed to the different people who need to know their own particular amount of facts, and then inject the appropriate level of urgency to prompt action?