Just as I get over my two-week flu, the one that’s going around Vancouver these days, I find myself sick yet again. The hypochondriac in me swore it must be flesh-eating disease.

Last week a Prince George woman died of necrotizing fasciitis. The bacteria that caused her death - streptococcus bacteria - is the same one that causes strep throat. Which initially caused me, as the frequent victim of violently sore throats - to worry. With about 60 Canadians dying a year of what potentially started out as a mere sore throat, that is scary.

But most people who come into contact with sufferers of flesh-eating disease probably get no more than strep throat. Other hypochondriacs should know though, that the disease starts when there’s a fever and swelling, “a red, severely painful swelling that feels hot and spreads rapidly.”

Being safe and sound from necrotizing fasciitis, I’ll go back to the remedies suggested by well-meaning family and friends last week: alcohol-doused cotton balls in the ears, hot tea, early bedtime, Dr. Zhivago tea, hot Romanian plum brandy with pepper and sugar, warm bear grease in the ears, garlic cloves in the ears, alcohol head massages, gogăl mogăl, humidifier, over-the-counter cough mist and pineapple ice.