[Silver Spring, October 14. Image via Getty]

County healthcare workers make announcements to residents waiting in a long line for the H1N1 vaccination shot at a clinic held by the Montgomery County Health and Human Services on October 14, 2009 at the Dennis Avenue County Health Center in Silver Spring, Maryland. Swine flu is killing fewer people than seasonal flu but is causing greater alarm due to its impact on children and higher healthcare costs, according to a top disease surveillance expert. Denis Coulombier, who heads the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control's preparedness and response unit, warned that a second wave of swine flu infections could be expected within weeks. AFP PHOTO / Tim Sloan (Photo credit should read TIM SLOAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Though previously the only deaths recorded were in Mexico, yesterday, the Centers for Disease Control reported the death of a 23-month-old child in Texas. Acting CDC Richard Besser said that although most swine flu sufferers in the US had a mild case, "we're going to find more severe cases and I expect that we'll continue to see additional deaths." Hong Kong infectious disease expert Lo Wing Lok noted that the appearance of a death — and 100 additional cases — outside Mexico was an ominous sign.

But rather than what we can do about it, let's focus on whose fault this is! Should we blame Edgar Hernandez, an adorable five-year-old who tested positive for swine flu during an outbreak in the Mexican town of La Gloria? Although he is the first recorded case in Mexico, and the governor of Veracruz visited his mother, at least one doctor told her Edgar didn't have swine flu. And there's no confirmation that the epidemic started in La Gloria.

Or does the fault lie with a woman the Daily Mail is helpfully calling Typhoid Maria, a door-to-door census taker in Oaxaca. She died of swine flu on April 13, and, according to the Mail, state health authorities were "were horrified to discover she may have come in contact with at least 300 people." The Mail winds up its article with a little history lesson on Typhoid Mary, an Irish chef who denied spreading the disease but was accused of infecting 53 people.

In a response of Biblical proportions, the Egyptian government will slaughter all pigs. But perhaps more disturbing than this porcine genocide or the media blame game is the cause La Gloria's residents identify for their outbreak. They blame toxins from pig waste, which enter the air and water from nearby farms. But "Typhoid Toxins From Nearby Farms" is less fun to say than "Typhoid Maria," so let's just keep pointing fingers.

U.S. has its first swine flu death [Reuters]
Typhoid Maria: How the first swine flu fatality was a Mexican census taker who went door-to-door... and may have caused a pandemic [Daily Mail]
Patient zero? Mom of first confirmed case talks [MSNBC]
Egyptian government slaughtering all pigs in the country as a precaution against swine flu [AP]

"Get A Massage." Sounds too good to be true. But according to the article, "Studies show that massage can reduce anxiety, blood pressure, and heart rate — and lowering these is likely to cause your stress level to drop, one key to building immunity." Well, shoot. Massage it is! You don't have to tell me twice.

The second "tip" I never heard: "Take A Cold Shower." Apparently Gwendolyn Witherspoon, 54, of Baltimore, took one once in a power outage. "I felt great afterward," she says. Now she does it all the time and she's cold-free with glowing skin. There's no scientific proof to support her theory, but CNN speaks to Dr. Mary Ann Bauman, who says there's no harm in trying it. You're supposed to keep it short and do 10 minute cold showers in the summer. In the winter, just have a 1-minute blast of cold at the end of a warm shower.

Anyway, some people just don't get sick; then other people — like me — always get extremely ill when the cold weather rolls around. Besides trusty echinacea and Airborne, does anyone have any immunity-boosting tips? I'm listening!

How Some Women Never Get Sick [CNN]

Oh and incidentally? Ofek's research also shows that cranberry juice keeps the flu away, too. No urinary tract infection, no cavities, no nasty-ass flu symptoms? Sorry, can't write more: Must run to store and buy biggest bottle of Ocean Spray we can find.

Cranberries Really Are A Miracle Cure For Women [EurekaAlert]
Related: Bacteria That Cause Urinary Tract Infections Invade Bladder Cells [EurekaAlert]