Following considerable fatigue and some intense bouts of chills and an accompanying fever that began last weekend, I dragged myself into a doctor this past Wednesday.

After a battery of tests and some concern over my ridiculously low blood pressure, the Doc laid it on me. I had the flu — in July. And while I wasn’t sick enough to justify sending me to the hospital for more tests, the fact that I had the flu so far outside of flu season meant that, well, the likely diagnosis was that I had The Oink. In fact, the doctor said that nearly all cases of Influenza A they are seeing right now are swine flu.

I’ve since found out that swine flu is making the rounds in the neighborhood. While I’ve had a miserable week, this has been a learning experience so please allow me to impart some words of wisdom and caution. One, friends and family started to flip out the moment I told them that I likely had swine flu. Look, once you contract swine flu it’s really no more hazardous than the regular old flu — which is to say it should be taken seriously, but it’s still a very common and treatable condition. It’s typically over in seven days. No need to fear it especially.

The problem with swine flu is that it is very, very contagious. When I told the Doc I had two young kids at home she asked if I could stay with relatives. That wasn’t an option so I’ve been largely confined to our tiny spare bedroom. Not being able to touch my wife or kids for the last five days has been probably the worst part of the whole deal. Fortunately, they all apppear to be fine.

So please be careful. Swine flu is out there and spreading, and flu season this year is going to be a doozy. The CDC has a list of precautions to take, and you owe it to yourself to be a little more careful. Start washing your hands more, keep a bottle of hand sanitizer in your desk at work, stay at home if you are feeling sick, etc. Trust me — you do not want to have the week I’ve had, nor do you want to be responsible for getting people you care about sick. A little prevention will go a long way.