If You Should Get Swine Flu
- If you’ve already gotten the seasonal flu it will not protect you from the swine flu. You should get both flu vaccines.
- Don’t leave your house unless you are going to the doctor or hospital if you have the flu
- Since viruses can live on surfaces don’t forget to disinfect if someone in your home gets sick, laundry should be done on the hotest settings possible
- Don’t have swine flu parties, or even attend swine flu parties
- Remember to try to avoid the flu by frequent hand washing, face masks may be of little use so don’t depend on them
- Go to the ER if you have trouble breathing or if your skin turns color
The other best advice is not to panic. Determine if you are in a high risk group and discuss this with your doctor.
Pandemic
By now you all must have heard that the swine flu has been now rated a pandemic by WHO, the World Health Organization. By their rating system, it’s now at a 6 which is a world wide pandemic.
Just so everyone understands and doesn’t panic over this new rating. It has more to do with with the spread of the disease, than with the severity of it. As far as I’m concerned, the numbers are still low, but the fact that they are found all over the world is a concern with governments and the medical world.
Just keep washing those hands and keep them away from your face till they have been thoughly cleaned. I also happened to catch this tip from a popular doctors show. They suggested that when you sneeze or cough you do it into the crook of your elbow, rather than your hands. Of course it’s not correct to do that if you want to be proper, however it makes a lot of sense because you don’t touch things with the inside of your elbow.
Swine Flu Numbers
I’m looking occasionally at the numbers of folks who have caught swine flu and died from it. What I’m seening is headlines saying that the number of dead from swine flu are on the rise, when in fact we’re talking about four or five more people.
I know that it kills even healthy young people and I know if you’re near someon who has it, its easy to catch, but knowing that a regular flu kills 136,000 a year, I find that the numbers of swine flu cases just don’t impress me.
Now don’t get me wrong, I think that it’s more than wise to error on the side of caution. The main thing is the handwashing and the avoiding of the spreading of germs. That is not only useful in avoiding the flu but so many other germs and diseases. Too many people do not think it’s a big deal and that’s why we have so many food recalls.
So, while this might not be a pandemic, you should still be careful and mindful of your personal habits and the habits of those around you.
Upgrade on Pandemic
Although it’s nightime in Denmark, the World Health Organization has met and issues a press conference upgrading the conditions for a pandemic from a 4 to a 5. Six is the highest on this pandemic scale.
We’ve got 96 cases so far here in the US, my home state of Illinois just announced it’s first case.
My concern is that my adult children and my husband all work closely with the public. They touch money from customers, and are in direct contact with hundreds of people.
I’ve already got health issues and we’ve got a six month old baby in the house. I’m going to take some extra precautions, especially since we live in an apartment in a building with 5 other apartments. So I am going to buy some bleach and rags and periodically make sure that certain elements of the building are wiped down a couple times a day. This would include the front door knob and area around it, the railings inside the hallway and stairway, the mail box area, our door knobs, etc. Handwashing will be a must as it should be.
Now I might sound like I’m panicking but, I’m home here 24/7, so it’s no big deal for me to take a few more minutes out of my day to do this extra cleaning. Also when my parents were very ill, they stocked up on all kinds of protective gloves, so we’ll probably use them when we go grocery shopping or if we need to take public transportation.
It’s very difficult for Americans to deal with this sort of thing because you want to protect yourself and your family, but you don’t want to go overboard for fear of looking like an idiot in case nothing comes of this. You want to be prepared however, and the best way to do this is to keep checking in with Medcare Forum and your preferred news agencies.
BE AWARE, WASH YOUR HANDS, AVOID TOUCHING YOUR EYES, NOSE, AND MOUTH, COVER YOUR FACE WHEN SNEEZING OR COUGHING WHETHER IT’S YOU OR SOMEONE NEAR YOU DOING IT, AND DISINFECT AREAS LIKE TELEPHONES, AND RAILINGS AND DOORKNOBS, THINGS THAT ARE FREQUENTLY TOUCHED.
IF YOU ARE SICK, SEE YOUR DOCTOR, AND QUARANTINE YOURSELF BEFORE THE GOVERNMENT STEPS IN AND HAS TO DO IT.
REMEMBER ALSO THIS COULD POSSIBLY JUST BLOW OVER BEFORE IT GETS WORSE, IT’S NOT LIKELY, BUT IT COULD HAPPEN, SO DON’T PANIC. GO ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS AS USUAL TILL INFORMED OTHERWISE.