Starting to freak a little...

Okay, so I think I need to stop watching the news and reading online newspapers about the swine flu. I am feeling the beginnings of a freak-out. Ordinarily I wouldn't freak out about this, but we are traveling to CA in 2 weeks and onto Australia 2 weeks after that. I am worried about stupid people traveling while not feeling well and possibly getting my precious little girl sick. I'm sorry, but there are many people out there who feel that their travel and business is more important than the health of others, babies included, and will travel while ill. Airports and planes are germ magnets to begin with. I just thought that the flu season was over and we were pretty okay to fly, and now this....
It seems to just be getting worse. Now I am not so paranoid that I am going to hoard canned goods and dry goods and never leave my house again, yes, there are many people like that out there. As a self-proclaimed germaphobe, I keep hand sanitizer at the ready and wash my hands frequently to begin with, I am just going to be even more aware and cautious when out and about. Delanah has a sign for her car seat that says "Before you touch please wash your hands", so at least people are more aware and aren't trying to touch her as much...speaking of which...why do people think it's okay to reach into the car seat and touch a baby they don't know? Seriously, would they like it if someone they don't know reached out and touched them?
Anyhoos, I keep saying that I am going to call the pediatricians office and ask about what precautions to take for traveling with Delanah, especially in light of the flu, but I hesitate because I don't want them to think I am a paranoid mom. I think all of the news reports are a double-edged sword. Yes, the public needs to be informed of the flu and possible gravity of it, but at the same time do we really need to be bombarded with reporters telling us that a pandemic is likely and that there will be deaths? Yes, people die from the flu, they do every year, which is scary in itself, but I hate having no where to hide from the doomsday reports. Maybe I should have built that shelter in the back yard....