Influenza A H1N1
May. 2nd, 2009 02:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
helwenWHO has decided to call the new flu virus that appears to have originated in Mexico by its medical name (Influenza A H1N1), thus avoiding the issues with calling it 'Swine' or 'Mexican' or other proposed names...
It's interesting to me that people latched onto "swine", considering the new virus is a combination of human, swine, and avian viral strains. Yes, there are pigs in/near the village of patient zero. There are also humans there, and I rather expect they have birds too.
****
Also, it spreads from human to human, so avoiding eating pork, ham, bacon, etc. specifically because of the new flu is silly.
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Also, avoiding Mexican restaurants is silly. Mexican people work in other places too for one thing and for another, most of the people coming into various countries who may be carriers aren't Mexican.
As regards this new flu, hopefully the gov'ts will quarantine as needed and people will be sensible and stay home if they're ill if at all possible (yes, I know some people won't because they can't afford to, or it's finals time at school), and this will be a fairly minor event. At the moment, despite the number of countries that have suspected and/or confirmed cases, the number of fatalities has been low so far.
***
So wash your hands with soap and water (real soap). Antibacterial soaps are less than useful. Hand sanitizer only really works if it has alcohol in it, and really, soap and water are better if you have the option.
Never mind this new flu -- you can pick up all kinds of things from bathrooms, door knobs/surfaces, stair rails, and anything else other people have touched, any day of the week.
So, don't touch your face with your hands unless you've just washed them.
Eat healthy foods, exercise, and get plenty of rest. This won't help against everything, but it helps with a lot of stuff.
And of course, do this every day, not just when there's an alert about some type of illness. It isn't 100% of course. I caught one of the local flus this year, and also a cold. I've never had the flu before and thought it was quite horrid -- I don't recommend it.
Be well!
It's interesting to me that people latched onto "swine", considering the new virus is a combination of human, swine, and avian viral strains. Yes, there are pigs in/near the village of patient zero. There are also humans there, and I rather expect they have birds too.
****
Also, it spreads from human to human, so avoiding eating pork, ham, bacon, etc. specifically because of the new flu is silly.
***
Also, avoiding Mexican restaurants is silly. Mexican people work in other places too for one thing and for another, most of the people coming into various countries who may be carriers aren't Mexican.
As regards this new flu, hopefully the gov'ts will quarantine as needed and people will be sensible and stay home if they're ill if at all possible (yes, I know some people won't because they can't afford to, or it's finals time at school), and this will be a fairly minor event. At the moment, despite the number of countries that have suspected and/or confirmed cases, the number of fatalities has been low so far.
***
So wash your hands with soap and water (real soap). Antibacterial soaps are less than useful. Hand sanitizer only really works if it has alcohol in it, and really, soap and water are better if you have the option.
Never mind this new flu -- you can pick up all kinds of things from bathrooms, door knobs/surfaces, stair rails, and anything else other people have touched, any day of the week.
So, don't touch your face with your hands unless you've just washed them.
Eat healthy foods, exercise, and get plenty of rest. This won't help against everything, but it helps with a lot of stuff.
And of course, do this every day, not just when there's an alert about some type of illness. It isn't 100% of course. I caught one of the local flus this year, and also a cold. I've never had the flu before and thought it was quite horrid -- I don't recommend it.
Be well!
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no subject
Date: 2009-05-02 08:05 pm (UTC)The reason for this is that the other recombinant bits in it are only able to get
together in pigs, because they are not normally catchy to humans. Pigs are the vector that allows all three to get together and make it a nasty new strain that is catchy
to humans.
That being said, yeah. Wash. Cover your cough and wash some more. Don't hang around with sick people while they are catchy if you can avoid it. Satndard operating procedures.
Fewer issues with this H1N1 so far than with
run of the mill strains of flu.
no subject
Date: 2009-05-03 02:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-02 09:40 pm (UTC)1 - wash your hands with soap and hot water any time you've been in contact with potential sources of deposited viruses
2 - don't pick your nose
3 - wash your hands
4 - try to avoid spending any significant period of time in close proximity to those who are ill
5 - wash your hands
As far as the swine issue, I've already seen one blogger who is insisting on calling it SWINE flu, emphasis on the swine, because she is carrying out a one-woman crusade "to expose the fact that intensive raising of animals is responsible for this international healthcare disaster". Even though the pig farming in ground zero isn't exactly a Midwestern-scale hog jamboree.
I guess some people need a life.
no subject
Date: 2009-05-03 02:16 am (UTC)Ooo, just pictured a pig with wings......
no subject
Date: 2009-05-03 02:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-03 05:10 am (UTC)