We've been reading a bunch of stories about swine flu parties over the last few days. Leading health authorities in the U.S. and Britain have denounced the idea. Medical experts are being sought out by the likes of CNN, The New York Times and other reputable news organizations to comment. Discussion boards are abuzz with conversations about it.

I'm not saying I've conducted an in-depth investigation or anything, but I've yet to see any evidence that these parties have actually been held, nor have I seen anyone quoted who's hosted or attended one.

I talked to Dr. Margaret Lewin, medical director of Cinergy Health, who outlined precisely why a swine flu party is such a bad idea. I talked to Dr. John Livengood, director of epidemiology at the Broward County Health Department. I spoke to the media relations offices at several South Florida hospitals.

Everyone thinks it's a bad idea, but no one is aware of an actual swine flu party being held somewhere.

Still, it is being discussed in prominent circles, apparently a pre-emptive attack on a spectacularly bad idea no one's carrying out. Fair enough.

For the record, the concept of a swine flu party is similar to "chicken pox parties" some of us may recall. Because chicken pox is a more serious disease in adults than in children, and because a vaccination against chicken pox wasn't available until relatively recently, parents used to think it was a good idea for a children to be exposed to chicken pox, deal with the discomfort for a couple of weeks, and enjoy the benefit of the subsequent immunity to the disease.

Applying the same principle to swine flu fails on a number of levels, Dr. Lewin explained. First, she said, testing for swine flu is no longer routine. Attendees of a swine flu party would have no way of knowing whether the guest of honor had the H1N1 virus or the seasonal flu, or the sniffles, for that matter.

Second, there's no guarantee that contracting swine flu in 2009 would make one resistant to the disease in later years.

And third, there is a vaccination for swine flu. Why expose yourself to swine flu now or later when you can avoid it altogether?

H1N1 is serious business, and some good reporting has been done to educate the public about it without resorting to hysteria. The advice boils down to two simple principles: avoid getting it, or avoid spreading it.

I'm willing to bet that swine flu parties are a myth. Here's hoping they stay that way.

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