(from 2004) DISEASE OF THE WEEK- A group of parents were sitting in the stands at a youth softball game last night when the mosquitoes swarmed the area as the sun went down. The group immediately turned to the know-it-all outdoor writer for insight into the plethora of possible mosquito-borne diseases that we were all undoubtedly being infected with as we swatted and cursed.

After discussing the problems of West Nile Virus and other insect-vectored diseases, I realized something: wouldn’t it be nice just to catch a simple case of cooties instead of encephalitis or swamp fever?

You hear very little these days about cooties, but when I was a child, they were a major source of anxiety. While it is possible that cooties could be carried by insects or vermin, usually they were carried by girls (or boys, if you are of the female persuasion), making it difficult to escape infection.

Some people were carriers of cooties; for instance, they first guy on the block to claim to have kissed a girl was frequently isolated until we determined if that activity would prove fatal.

It wasn’t but it sure proved costly in the long run.

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