Take Control

The Philadelphia Inquirer did such a good job fronting a facts-not-fear story today about avian flu that I had to post about it.   The gist is this:  Vaccines are a long way down the road.   There aren't enough anti-virals and they aren'ta cure-all anyway.  Those two bits of information do not mean that you're a dead wo/man walking when a panflu hits.   The reporter, Marian Uhlman, focuses on what you can do (and it's a lot) to avoid getting sick even in the absense of medicines to protect you.  Good news!  Most of it you learned in the first grade:

Protecting Yourself, Others From the Flu

Here are a few things you can do to reduce your chances of getting - or spreading - the flu or other contagious respiratory illnesses.

Protecting yourself

1. Wash your hands routinely with soap and warm water for at least 20 to 30 seconds after coming into contact with others.

2. Do not touch your face before washing hands after contact with others.

3. Avoid contact with people with a respiratory illness or with items they may have touched.  (I've read that 72 hours is long enough to kill the virus but double check that.  eR)

4. Ask your health-care providers whether they are making special accommodations for sick patients or instituting other changes to prevent transmission of respiratory illness in their offices. 

Protecting others

1. Stay home from work when ill with a respiratory illness.

2. Do not send your children to school, parties or other events when they are ill.

3. Cover your nose and mouth when you sneeze or cough.

Stay home from work?   Keep your kid home and miss a day of work?   Easier said than done.   And you know that most people won't even consider those options until people start dying some pretty awful deaths.   We need leadership that supports those decisions and as of now we don't have it. 

I would add wearing a nano-mask, gloves and other protective clothing when you're out and about.  But I know that I'll be able to put the mask on correctly and I know I won't get lazy about washing my hands even if I use protective clothing.   Those are big variables in the general population so most lists like this leave protective clothing off completely.   

The key to surviving the panflu will be to avoid getting sick.   Practicing basic hygeine is your best line of defense.   Start thinking now about what you'll want to carry with you to minimize your contact with the virus on doorknobs, keyboards, telephones, faucets ...

Comments

[KathyF]

I've been thinking about this for a while, every time I go into London and ride the tube. (For some reason, I think about flu, not bombs then!) I hate to touch the handles of the long escalators. I wonder how often they're wiped?

Thanks for these pointers, though. I just jotted a note to tell my husband to pick up small Purell bottles while he's in the States.

[Thomas Nephew]

Now I don't feel quite so silly about my "washing hands a lot" comment when I spoke with you.

[Thomas Nephew]

... so I'm done!

:) Not.

[eRobin]

As I've done more research, I've found that the standard flu they expect every year can be very uncomfortable to endure so practicing meticulous hygiene is always good.

As for the avian flu, I'm staying calm but the first reported case of h2h transmission in North America and my kids are staying home from school until I see how the different levels of gov't are handling it. I haven't figured out my trigger event for self-quarantining yet. It used to be any h2h transmission in North America but now I don't know. I know one thing for sure - it won't be determined by anything I read in the corporate media. I get all my news from Recombinomics and Effect Measure.

[DavidByron]

The basic hygiene part of the FluWiki is good. Apart from that the most practical part seemed to be the "How to take care of someone who has the flu" part.

I have some experience with this because of the cat and dog rescue my wife runs. We don't have the money to take them all to the vet every time they get sick. One of the worst deseases (and most expensive to attempt to treat) in dogs is Parvo which is a virus that has a lot of the symptoms of the avian flu in the gastro form. Including a very high fatality rate.

In fact my wife says she can get tamiflu through on-line vet suppliers because they use it for treating Parvo.

Anyway the treatment is so similar my wife was interested in it from the point of view of treating animals, apart from the part about recycling expensive tamiflu by drinking your own urine of course. Pretty hard to get a dog to pee in the right spot for that.

But the need for fluids (we use IV drips knocked off from a local hospital) and the anti-pain and anti-inflamatory drugs are the same as you'd use for people.

The patient usualy dies anyway but I think we've got a lot better at it. The avian flu sounds a lot milder than Parvo which untreated is supposed to be 90% fatal but I've never seen any dog survive it untreated.

[Ciprian Pater]

Global Avian Influenza Pandemic

Should we become Prepared Against The Bird Flu, Avian Influenza " H5N1"

Is the End Near?

I hope that you all are as concerned as I am, to the developments of the
Bird Flu.

Here is how I can help, atleast so far I must say that all must try to help
themselves very soon!

Hope you find what you need.

www.6pater6father6.org/?page=1180

Good Luck

Ciprian Pater :-[