While all the news and scary headlines about H1N1 (Swine Flu) we’ve seen have been about the U.S. — refusals to use the vaccine, the slow ramp-up of supplies, deaths, classrooms half-attended, it is well to remember it exists world-wide — and significantly, in Iraq, a country with a particular relation to us.

Fear of the H1N1 flu virus has prompted nearly 2,500 school closings throughout Iraq, in what some health officials have called an overreaction or panic. Many parents are keeping their children home from school or sending them out wearing surgical masks, and some have complained that the Health Ministry has not provided them with enough information about the disease.

“It’s one of the side effects of democracy,” said Dr. Jaleel Al Shimari, general manager of the Baghdad Health Directorate for the Karkh section, who described most of the school closings as unauthorized.

Since August, when 51 cases of swine flu were found among United States troops stationed in Iraq, officials here have expressed concerns that the virus could spread to Iraqis throughout the country.

So far, Iraq has had only 121 confirmed cases of swine flu, and 3 deaths, not counting American military personnel, according to the Health Ministry. Yet fear here has run its own course, aided in many cases by poor communication or public distrust.

NYTimes