H1N1 is Almost Unstoppable

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/09/24/hand.washing.helpful/index.html

Washing your hands might not help prevent the spread of the seasonal influenza virus or the H1N1 influenza virus. One of CNN’s Senior Medical Correspondents, Elizabeth Cohen, wrote a story of her H1N1 experience at her children’s school. Elizabeth said when she showed up at her children’s first parent teacher conference this summer she found out how big of a deal that this years flu season was going to be. She said that when the principal walked in to start the conference the principal was holding the biggest bottle of hand sanitizer she had ever seen. Later on in the school year she found out that the kids are washing their hands about every 45 minutes to keep from spreading germs around the classrooms. The bad thing about trying to prevent the spread of the flu by washing your hands doesn’t necessarily help you. Doctors told CNN that the spreading of the flu virus is unlike many common sicknesses. It doesn’t usually stay on your hand and spread by touching one another or other objects. The easiest way to catch the flu or H1N1 virus is through water and moisture. The most common being a sneeze or cough, because when people sneeze and they don’t cover their mouths the virus is spread in water particles coming from the sneeze and cough. This has become a big problem and many doctors are teaching people to cough and sneeze in their elbow joint. These doctors are not saying to not wash your hands though, they say that washing your hands frequently will help you not be as susceptible to the common cold and will help a little with the flu virus. The main thing to do to prevent the spreading of the flu is to make sure if you get it you should stay home.

My first reaction to this article was, wow, I just had a meeting on this very subject and they really stressed the fact on washing your hands. They also stressed covering your mouth when coughing and sneezing, but washing your hands was the main point stressed.

I think I reacted this way because I had really not payed a lot of attention to the flu. I would just get the yearly vaccine and go on. This is different because it is probably the biggest epidemic to go around in a long time. I remember the bird flu and few other illnesses going around but nothing like this. The H1N1 flu has been showing up so much more than normal this year it is scary. The typical flu season is in late December and January, not September. My company and many others are already planning for major amounts of people being off at a time.

Hopefully you all have a lot of sick time built up, because it sounds like many of us are going to need it. Don’t forget to stock up on vitamin c.