Swine Flu

[dshobbies]

The increased number of reported sore throats on this forum has me alarmed. We are a very small sampling of the population, the emphasis on very small. Please everyone, but especially those who travel, be careful. On planes or in airports, wear a mask. Wash your hands often and take all necessary precautions per your individual circumstances.

[Cindylou]

I know. It is getting scarier as the numbers rise. My husband flies all the time and is supposed to go to D.C. this week. I'm wondering if he's entertaining the idea of canceling until this calms down. He is very germ phobic already, so if he does decide to fly, I am sure he will buy some masks for extra precaution. Thanks for the reminder Dale, to do regular, thorough hand-washing when traveling, and do it regardless of any travel plans. Hope this thing passes fast.

[runner]

This is scary to a point.
I was watching Larry King today and the show had a few docs on there and one said that they would have to see what the real numbers out of Mexico are in the next 4-5 days.
This could just fizzle out.
I read the book The Great Influenza a while back and it was terrific but scary.

On Larry King today, one of the docs (Dr. Bob Arnot, Gupta, and Dr. Oz), said that this could fizzle out and come back with a vegeance the next flu season. This is what happened with the Spanish Flu of 1918, which was a pandemic.

We will just have to see. The scientists have been predicting that soon we will have a pandemic flu strain. But got to remember, a lot of this gets hyped up by the media.

Wash your hands and carry hand sanitizer. I always wash my hands in a public restroom and then use a paper towel to open the door to get out. No sense washing your hands and then contaminating them with a germ-polluted door. Ever since nursing school, i do this.

I also lysol wipe the door handles in my house when one of us comes down with flu or colds. With four kids, you have to.

Take care,

Runner

[Maria]

there was a number quoted on this program by one doctor about people dying yearly from the flu in general and it was in the thousands so the 156 people in Mexico that died from this flu virus would be out of how many people actually that had the virus and we don't really know..

Listen to CDC reports and not mainstream media alarm but also be careful as viral strains can be unpredictable and it's especially difficult to guard against airborne spread. When someone coughs or sneezes viral strains can live on an inanimate object and is called a fomite if my memory serves me correctly so again I'm particularly careful re touching public fixtures as in the restroom and with doors. I know this might sound paranoid but I have seen far too many people sneeze or cough and cover nose/mouth w/their hand and then use the same hand to open a public area door (or press a walk button). I also carry hand sanitizer and/or wash my hands after being out in public touching things others might have.

I try to avoid hanging out with people when they say they have a cold if they're in the beginning stages with runny nose, watery eyes, particularly sneezing and coughing or being in a crowd where I hear someone coughing (will walk away as quickly as I can covering my nose and mouth). It seems to be more difficult to do this when you have kids or grandkids and their viruses are really quite strong it seems tho I'm with Runner in terms of basic handwashing, lysol wipes and hand sanitizer. At least in that I don't work this probably keeps me away from a great deal of a population that will show up in the beginning stages of illness tho again I realize this is not practical for most that are working and out in the world. Most of the time I'm just trying to avoid getting a common cold virus or spreading one if I have it.

We just have to utilize a bit more caution perhaps in our daily transactions/interactions and hope that others will as well.

[treefrog]

My boyfriend is very nervous for what this might mean for our trip to Germany, for my surgery at the end of May. I keep trying to tell him not to panic, and wait to see how things pan out. I just told him, for the time being, he needs to try as hard as possible, not to get sick from anything in the next month.

I'll remind him about washing his hands frequently. He goes to work at the bar tonight. Now that's a place to pick up germs, for sure.

[Kathy]

I second Runner, wash your hands, use lysol (I use it for everything, the wipes, the spray, and the pourable kind to mop my floors, wash surfaces, etc) and use paper towels to open doors (if you are in one of the restrooms that is out of paper towels, use your sleeve). I don't just do this for swine flu; but in general, to stay from getting no telling what sickness.

I also think that this has been blown up by the media into more than it really is. So far, the flu medications work on this flu and no one in the US has died from it. The media says in one segment how horrible it is and they can't believe the schools aren't shutting down, etc. The next segment then says that it should not be of great concern, no need to panic, etc. The scarier they make it, the more people watch their program.

[treefrog]

Yes, the media is definitely making more out of it, because that's what they do, sensationalize anything they can. That's not to say that authorities shouldn't be aware and on the look out, and the public does need to be aware of it too. The admonition to stay home if you are sick with any flu like symptoms, is great advice.

But, it is clear that these things can certainly take off and spread very quickly. And it is better to be informed and take precautions, than to be in the dark about it. But it is unnecessary to panic.

I do appreciate that one of the guys here in the lab has not been feeling well and he has stayed home. He thinks it is just a bad cold, doesn't have a fever. But I'm glad he's not coming into work and infecting us.

[treefrog]

Hmm. Well now that the WHO has issued the phase 5 alert, I am starting to get worried about whether this is going to impact my surgery plans. I really hope that it starts to calm down, rather than escalate, soon. I don't know how I will be able to handle it, if I have to reschedule surgery.

[Katie]

I had to go into the local little hospital about six weeks ago to be treated for pneumonia, before the flu scare, and had a taste of how poor the sanitation is in these places.

The admitting nurse who obviously had a cold or something, took my health card, then blew into a tiny single layer of kleenex. It sure wasn't big enough for the job, if you get my drift.

Then she picked up my card and tried to give it back to me without washing her hands. I got my own big wad of kleenex, filled it with hand cleaner that was on the counter, and gingerly picked up the card and wiped it all down before putting it in my purse. She didn't even blink....had no idea why I was concerned. There was no sense in saying anything...actions should have spoken louder than words.

I am wondering if this is going to be like the last pandemic of 1918, whether it would be better to get a milder version of the flu this time round, and then maybe our immune systems would be somewhat protected against it for the second cycle. That's if it doesn't mutate in the meantime.