Warning: Swine Flu is Back
School is about to start across the States and the threat of swine flu is making school officials and healthcare providers very nervous. What can you do to protect yourself and your family? Here are some suggestions from Claire McCarthy, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, and a couple of my own tossed in for good measure:
Check the CDC often for updates on the epidemic.
Check with your schools to learn what precautions are being taken on campus and what actions you can take to help.
Make sure to dispose of tissues you use, and teach your children to do the same.
Carry an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, and give your child one. Some come with carabiners that can be hooked onto a belt loop or purse.
Avoid going to work if you're sick. The flu is something no one likes sharing. With my compromised immune system, I get really annoyed when my coworker comes in sneezing all over the place!
The swine flu made front page news in our local paper in an article on how schools at all levels, including universities, are bracing themselves. Signs urging the wearing of face masks are being posted everywhere. Even hospital waiting rooms have posted signs to wear a mask.
Be informed, be prepared, be safe.
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Alysiak,
Thank you for posting this share. When something as serious as the swine flu is not impacting people directly, they tend to forget about or dismiss it. However, it is still very prevalent. Just yesterday, another person on Long Island, New York died from this disease.
What seems to be even more viral than the average flu, the swine flu is something people need to continue protecting themselves from. My mom, along with a few others I know, both in Arizona and New York have already taken ill from such disease.
Shannon - how is your mom doing?
My three kids and I all had it back in April when they closed down my youngest daughter's elementary school. It was not pleasant, but not at all as bad as other flu viruses we've had in the past. I've been feeling pretty smug about the fact that we've now got antibodies to fight off another outbreak..... that is until I read that when it comes back later in the fall, it could be a more powerful version of the last round. So now I'm not so sure that we'll be immune or not. That would be a real bummer to get it twice in one year....
Thanks for the post Alysia. I am mostly concerned about the swine flu because my husband works with the public every day for 12 hours a day. I hate to have to ask him to change clothes and wash his hands (even though he is really good about washing his hands before even leaving work) but with a 6 month old baby, I really have to take as much precaution as I can.
I hope parents are teaching their children how to keep their hands clean and to sneeze into their sleeve as opposed to their hands. Good to see that the swine flu has not been forgotten.
In a post Thursday at Frugal Catholic Mommy, I read about an alcohol-free hand sanitizer that is safer and more effective than the one's laden with alcohol. Worth reading.