With President Obama having recently declared the H1N1 virus pandemic a national emergency, should this be a reason for panic? Actually, the answer is an overwhelming NO. Even though the virus has been the cause of more than 1000 deaths, including over 100 of them being children, the reason for the national emergency declaration is one of precaution. What this does, is enable the government to react to a full blown out break more quickly. Meaning, that it enables authorities to bypass the bureaucracy that often slows initial reactions to a true emergency. The Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius now has the authority to bypass federal rules if and when alternative care centers are needed, at a hospitals request, such as at schools and community centers. The thought here is, in the event of a serious outbreak, to keep infected persons out of emergency rooms, thus decreasing the chance of spreading the virus through human contact with non-infected persons. This makes sense to me.
H1N1 serums are available but are in short supply. The production of the vaccine has to be done in chicken eggs and the production has been slower than first predicted. However, the vaccine is becoming more available to the public. The vaccine dose quantities have increased to 22.4 million from 14 million in just over a week, but is far short of the 225 million doses that the U.S. Government has ordered.
So what can I do to protect myself from becoming infected? Well, first and foremost, since the virus is spread through direct contact, is to keep yourself clean. This means to wash your hands and wash them often. Using alcohol based hand sanitizers helps if used properly. To learn the proper use of these cleansers, click HERE. Note that the use of anti-bacterial soaps have not been shown to help deter the contraction of any infections, and in fact, could do just the opposite by killing bacteria that is helpful as well as harmful. Next, make sure that you do not cough or sneeze without covering your mouth, this is best done by covering your mouth with the inside of your elbow or shoulder and not your hand. When coming in contact with people, such as a handshake, wash your hands afterwards, and most importantly, keep your hands away from your mouth and nose as this is the main venue of infection.
Despite being co-named the Swine Flu, eating pork, as long as it is properly cooked, cannot spread the H1N1 virus.
Now for the tech side of all this…..
Following are links to sites that will provide valuable information regarding the H1N1 virus….
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Obama Declares Swine Flu a National Emergency (From the AP)
Vaccine Recommendations from the CDC
Now keep in mind that I am in no way, shape, or form an expert on this subject, but felt that it was worth bringing up.
Let me know what your thoughts and concerns are regarding H1N1……Leave a comment!!
My Edible Earth 