Kill one, frighten 10,000. That's a mission statement for the terrorists in the Tom Clancy book ``The Sum of All Fears.'' After all, that's what terrorists do - frighten people.

And many Americans are frightened of anthrax - unrealistically frightened, some medical experts say.

One man in Florida died from anthrax, and FBI agents, law enforcement and health agencies around the country have received thousands of calls from people who believe they have been exposed to the bacteria.

``Yes, this is normal. But does it make any sense? Of course not,'' said Dr. Daniel Creson, a psychiatrist and a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston.

More than 37,000 people were killed in traffic accidents last year, and no one gets scared enough to stop driving, he said.

Americans need more facts so they can be more realistic about the danger, according to risk assessment experts.

``Part of the problem is that the citizens don't have some key medical facts at their disposal,'' said Dr. Robert W. Haley, chief of epidemiology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. ``Once they get that, they'll be a lot more reassured.''

People have one to two weeks to get treated after exposure to anthrax before they get sick, Haley said. After getting sick, a person has up to four days to get treatment before the disease becomes severe, he said.

But the disproportionate fear is understandable, experts say.

``Our politicians have put us in a double bind,'' Creson said. ``They tell us to put this in perspective, to be reasonable, but be alert. They tell us we are in great danger, but to go back to your normal life. The people are getting a lot of conflicting messages.''

Government officials should be spending more time communicating with the public about the specific things they can do to protect themselves and what measures are appropriate to take, said Elaine Vaughan, an associate professor of psychology at the University of California at Irvine.

"We've received nonspecific instructions from the government, and people are over-reporting suspicious acts," Vaughan said.

Residents in other countries, such as Israel and England, have lived with such threats for years, the experts said. In time, Americans will adjust and adapt to the new threat, Vaughan said.

But for now, the fear of anthrax is a new dynamic that people are dealing with, and the end of the story has not been written, she said.

"That's tough to live with,"Vaughan said.

　　From Healthy.net