There's nothing more frightening than getting sick.

It's an all-too-common occurrence for most of us, but that doesn't mean it's any less

irritating.

When we're sick, life sort of grinds to a halt.

We stay home from work or school, and if you're like me, you probably don't even like

leaving your bed.

Depending on the symptoms and how long the illness can last, getting sick for a lot of

people could even be frightening.

And I honestly don't have to tell you that, do I?

If the events of the last couple of years have taught us anything is just how vulnerable

we all are to various illnesses.

While scientists seem to be regularly putting old maladies into the history books, as they

have with polio, whooping cough, and smallpox, for example, it seems like new and more

deadly threats are always waiting in the shadows to take their place.

And as a culture, we've learned to be afraid, haven't we?

Just look at all the disease-related movies that have come out of Hollywood over the last

few decades.

From mainstream hits like 12 monkeys and I am legend to horror classics like Zombieland

and Resident Evil, the risk has captured our imaginations and left us crossing our

fingers that our life never imitates that specific art.

History though, shows us that our hope might be misplaced.

During the thousands of years that they spent building civilizations all around this planet,

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