Swine Flu 101

Found this info on the web and thought I'd share since they are predicting that once school begins, things are really going to 'pop' in the US.

Symptoms:

• fever (over 101*F)
• sore throat
• runny or stuffy nose
• body aches
• headache
• chills and fatigue

Some people with the virus have reported:

• diarrhea
• vomiting
• ear aches

Because the Swine flu mimicks the regular flu, they encourage people to go to the doctor to have the test performed to determine if you have regular flu or swine fludi

Do not go to the emergency room unless there is something seriously wrong - see your regular dr for the test .... if you do have Swine Flu, your compromised immune system can pick up many other - more dangerous - viruses/bacteria. Keep the Emergency Room for emergencies.

Contagiene:
it is spread not only thru coughing & sneezing but also thru touch - the virus lives a long time on objects ... so touching an object and then touching any mucus area of your body can infect you (yes, spit is a type of mucus, kind of)

Face masks can actually help to spread the flu, since they become moist with use they become regular petri dishes

you can NOT get Swine Flu from eating pork products -- so enjoy those chops and eat that bacon, its fine!

Isolation:
after being diagnosed, meds will be given
it is recommended that you stay home until all meds are finished
but the CDC officially says you can return to work 24 hours AFTER the fever breaks (this means if the fever breaks at 11pm, don't go to work the next day - you need to wait until the day after that)

the government is urging schools not to shut down during outbreaks, but children should stay home. In Argentina, the only country with more cases/deaths than the US, they will be shutting down the schools for 2 weeks after a case is found ... the US has developed a 'wait and see' attitude about it - if it works in Argentina, we may adopt it here, otherwise the CDC says to treat it like you would if any other flu outbreak in the school [ginger says: bolony - I'm pulling my kid out]

Preventatives:

Wash, wash, wash. Wash under warm water with soap for at least 20 seconds - about two rounds of either the "ABC"s or "Happy Birthday To You" {in the daycare we taught the kids to wash all the way to their wrists and in the webbing of their fingers - bar soap cleans better than liquid, but spreads more germs because it exposes the moist bar to the air more, keep the bar soap for home and get a holder that lifts the bar up so it will dry faster}

Use hand sanitizers ONLY if there is no water available, over use can lessen their effectiveness {ginger says: since these are generally alcohol based, you may wish to reframe from eating until you can get to a water source to wash the sanitizer off under running water}


Basically I think they are saying - we're all screwed. They want us to treat this just like any other time we deal with the flu, but its a lot more deadly -- and it is hitting the usual "safe" groups the worst.