When Flu Flies

It may be a valid point, that most people who visit Mexico, now, do not count themselves as also visiting India. Perhaps, those who are in the high risk zones, are not visiting nations like India. India is one of the most populous nations in the world, and there has not been any sign of H5N1 virus. Either we are in the clear, or India is in for a tough time, because those infected with the virus in India, have not been identified. How many Americans, in middle level management, visit India on work related issues? How many workers all around the world, in middle and junior management, visit India on work related issues?

The air in airplanes is often very dry, which makes mucous membranes more susceptible to virus infections. Can't the airlines increase the humidity to say 50%?

I like the way most bloggers can take an article on swine flu and turn it into a political diatribe. This article is on ways to protect the public from this outbreak, not about the leftist doing this or the right doing that. Save your politics for the political articles, so I can skip over those.

There has been a Bronchitis epidemic here in the USA for the past 2 months or so. Elderly people are not relieved by the now obsolete or ineffective medicines and have trouble breathing , inhaling and exhaling, with sore throats, coughing etc upset stomachs. Almost everyone I know have it. Yet , not a word on the news.

iIt might be wise to wear surcical or latex gloves along with a mask anytime you have to be around crowds or shopping.

Airlines should be made to have a better air filtering system. The recycled air in planes is discusting. I always seem to catch a cold or get sick after I have flown.

Will you please at least confirm Sebelius so we can have a Secretary of Health and Human Services? Or vote on her? It's one thing to vote someone down. It's another to simply refuse to vote. That's cowardly and obstructionism.

Lest anyone once again attack me for partisanship this is aimed at the ENTIRE Senate. You have a Secretary of HHS nominee in front of you and we have a potential world-wide pandemic on our hands. I'd like to hear what could possibly be more important than actually coming to work for an hour tomorrow and voting on her.

There are also precautions a family can take to minimize the chance of infection. No method short of totally quarantining yourself for the duration is foolproof, but minor steps that really don't disrupt your life might be worth the effort.
Minimize exposure to public gathering places. Public transportation, going out to eat, going to the bars, going to the store, and other things like this limit your exposure to people in general, thus eliminating potential disease vectos. School is a hole in that theory that can disrupt your life so save that until your pretty sure a pandemic is actually happening. This swine flu seems to have a relatively short (3-5 days) incubation period, so you MIGHT be safe holding off the draconian measures til the last minute. Buy a couple of few of supplies now so you won't have to go to the store as much later. Surgical masks might help, but there is some doubt as to how effective these might be. The doubt has something to do with the size of viruses, and their ability to possibly still pass through.
As health officials are already saying, WASH YOUR HANDS, as often as possible. The one time most people don't wash their hands is after handling money. Money carries germs as efficently as any other potential vector, possibly better because most people don't think of it.Wash your hands after handling your mail. It travels around the country and so do postal workers. Cleaning your home a little more often probably wouldn't hurt either.
Limit the amount of visitors you bring into your home. If there are no reported cases in your area, you might only be concerned with people who have recently traveled. If there are cases in your area, you might think about taking more drastic measures.
Maybe if other readers come up with some more ideas, they should post them. Barricading yourself in your house is not what i'm getting at here, just a few ideas that might have little or no impact on your daily life and might help keep you from getting this new flu.
Pay attention to the news. Forewarned is forearmed. Enough said.
It should be noted though, that none of these or any advice health professionals are an absolute guarantee you won't contract swine flu, but you chances get better with every preventative measure you utilize.