Are you doing anything to avoid the Swine Flu ?

Just kinda curious...Is anyone aware if any of the local schools, workplaces, churches, etc have began to make (for lack of a better phrase) contingency plans for the Swine Flu ? As some of you know I spend a couple of weeks every other month or so teaching air traffic control out in Oklahoma City. In the process of providing instruction we share a lot of equipment...keyboards, trackballs, clipboards, etc. To my knowledge the FAA has not even thought about how to prevent and outbreak or what to do if one occurs (which really doesn't surprise me but that's another story)...it's kinda scary really and I was just wondering how other organizations are handling this potential threat.

As some of you know I spend a couple of weeks every other month or so teaching air traffic control out in Oklahoma City....it's kinda scary really and I was just wondering how other organizations are handling this potential threat.

I took the opportunity to edit your post accordingly Steve!

I'm having my students use hand sanitizer every time they sneeze or cough which is about every other second. My assistant is wiping off the tables almost every day. Our staff gives "stars" to well-behaved classes by giving the teacher a high five. We're giving air fives now which feels really silly by the way. My team lead has worked a day and a half over the past two weeks. She has all the symptoms, but her doctor has never said she has the s-word.

Funny enough, a lot of us in healthcare have somewhat rolled our eyes at the widespread panic caused by the outbreak of the Swine Flu. H1N1 is actually the name of a subtype of influenzavirus A, and the most common cause of influenza in humans (including seasonal). The Swine Flu belongs to this group. I do not discount the possibilities of potential mutations from the current strain, but that has always been and always will be a potential threat with any viral strain. The flu happens every year, and at this point this is simply another form of it. People have been treated at home, and the mortality rates have been about the norm for the typical influenza. Mortality doesn't actually occur from the influenza itself usually, but from secondary causes such as pneumonia and exacerbation of cardiopulmonary and other underlying conditions. That said, the elderly are the most vulnerable for severe complications. Around 36,000 people die from the flu on average each year in the United States, and over 225,000 are actually hospitalized. I know that part very well, I was in the hospital two years ago with a severe case (that year they badly predicted and the vaccine only covered about 35% or so of the strains out there). There was a notable rise in cases for that year, but myself as well as everyone else I knew while miserable recovered quickly. As for historical outbreaks such as 1918, the main reason so many young, otherwise healthy adults died was due to a particularly virulent strain that caused and killed largely from what is called a cytokine storm-a potentially fatal overreaction of the person's own immune system that essentially attacks the victim's body, which is why the strong immune systems of younger people were a target. At this time there is no indications that there have been any similar occurrences from this strain, and the main concern many of us have are a possible higher caseload of cases for flu this year than normal.
That said, all of the healthcare professionals I know as well as myself are doing common sense precautions. Always cover your mouth when you cough. Take advantage of any flu vaccinations available-I will be lining up for mine in the next couple of weeks at work. Exercise frequent hand washing, and a lot of us do carry personal hand sanitizers. Avoid touching your mouth, nose, or eyes, as this is a common entrance for germs on the hands picked up off of various surfaces into the body. If you're sick, STAY HOME. Exposing others causes the spread, so that only makes sense. The symptoms of influenza include fever. cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, fatigue, chills, nausea/vomiting, and diarrhea. If you do become ill, seek treatment accordingly.

Pretty much what Mandy said. None of the nurses or therapists in our office are doing anything different in how we clean and sanitize. Bottles of hand sanitizer all over, standard handwashing, it's all stuff we've been doing for a while now, before swine flue started popping up in the news.

Personally I'm ambivalent about flu shots, I've gotten them some years and skipped them others. If work offers a free one I'll probably do it, but I don't plan on going out of my way to get one.

In our law office, we've had bottles of hand sanitizer on our desks for years now. But, this past couple of weeks, I put a couple of extra bottles in the reception area and we printed out some "please wash your hands" signs, which we put up on the mirrors of the shared restrooms. I also made sure we had plenty of refills for the hand sanitizers and antibacterial hand soap.

The funny thing is that, not 5 minutes after I put the hand sanitizer in the reception area, I watched someone on the closed circuit monitor using it. I noticed yesterday that the bottle is about 1/3 empty now. That makes me think people are actually using it.

I've always been pretty fastidious about washing my hands a lot while I'm cooking, especially if I handle raw meat or poultry. Lately, I think I've been even more conscious of the need for hand washing.

As far as contingency plans, we use http://www.logmein.com to remotely connect to our computers at the office. During the recent "disasters" (Hurricane Ike in September, the ice storm in January/February and the Great Flood in August), I was able to log into my system from home and do a lot of work from here plus checking email and voice mail remotely to stay in contact with clients. I suppose if the H1N1 flu becomes our next great disaster and if we have to shut down the office for a couple of days, we wouldn't have any major difficulties keeping the ball rolling.

Lois

I took my son to the Norton Immediate Care Center Brownsboro this morning, as he has had a fever/cough/muscle ache/headache since last night. They told me that they were out of the H1N1 flu test, and that everybody in the city is out of it,that it is on back order, so they couldn't test him for it.

The doctor couldn't tell me that he did or didn't have the H1N1 flu, so I told him I preferred to treat him as if he did have it, and please give me a Tamiflu script. He did, and I only hope that my poor boy is feeling better soon. He's miserable, whether it is swine flu or not. He already had the flu mist for the seasonal flu, and I was planning for him to get the swine flu shot. Normally, I don't have my kids get a flu shot or flu mist.

I'm wondering how in the world the Health Dept. will be able to keep track of how many cases of H1N1 we have if they can't test for it??

Preventive measure: 1,000 mg of Vitamin D per day

I'm keeping a steady flow of various IPA's in my blood stream.

I'm keeping a steady flow of various IPA's in my blood stream.

Ditto. I talked to my "doktor" and he said one IPA per quarter of football watched should do wonders to help keep this dreaded lurgy in abeyance.

On a serious note, it's comforting to hear that those of you in the health professions aren't freaking out over this (the way the media is)...Think I'll use the precautions being promoted and then get a H1N1 shot when they become available and just leave the rest to the man or woman "upstairs".

Wash your hands. Eat well. Exercise. (the last two help build a healthy immune system). I suppose adequate rest (and relaxation) should be tossed in there.

I've never had a flu shot in my life, and I sure don't plan on getting one anytime soon. As an educator (150 "kids" in my U of L class) with two kiddos of my own (at day care, and at elementary school), plus serving a hundred or more customers a day at my shop, I suspect I get more than my share of germ exposure. So far so good. I feel fortunate to only get really sick once every several years. What hurts me the most is when my boys are sick, because there is literally nothing I can do to help them, even though I want to more than anything else. That feeling of helplessness sucks!

Don't believe the hype! But I don't mean to discount good handwashing practices and other methods to prevent spread of germs. I suspect many of us have had food-handling courses, and the common-sense principles certainly apply here....

Cheers!

In summary, flue medicine according to Dr. Nimbus Couzin: eat well, exercise regularyly, and rest as needed (i.e. don't skimp on sleep). We're talking immune system here.

Every single time I have gotten a flu shot, I have gotten sick. Not a little sick, but can't-get-out-of-bed-for-a-week-feel-like-I'm-dying sick. No thanks. I'll just keep taking my vitamins, washing my hands, and going to the gym.

Well I suppose I could take it or leave it for the flu vaccine, I only get it usually because I come in contact often with elderly patients that already have health issues to begin with. When it comes to the Swine Flu however, I do have a little bit of a different opinion. People are immune to some extent against a large number of cold and flu viruses due to previous exposures, but one of my main concerns about this particular strain is that it is of a variation that from what reports are showing hasn't made the rounds in the United States in decades. What that breaks down to is most people will not have a natural immunity or resistance in the majority of cases (I believe one of the journal articles I read stated that people born before 1960 may POSSIBLY have a prior exposure and therefore a chance for some immunity). That is one of the reasons for the predictions of a drastically higher amount of cases this Fall. For this aspect alone, the majority of people will be more vulnerable to contracting this flu than the normal season and actually is to me the primary cause for any alarm that should be given to it. We're constantly exposed to any number of viruses and bacteria, but the most of the time never develop the disease since our bodies normally fights them off before they take hold. If exposed to something once, the body develops antibodies to recognize and wipe out the threat if exposed again (the reason people do not develop Chicken Pox more than once the majority of the time) In this case, most people may not be able to. So for once I do advocate widespread vaccinations against this. A vaccination is simply an artificial means of giving the body antibodies by exposing the person to an inactive (dead) form of the virus allowing the person to form defense and therefore the (natural) ability to recognize it and to stop it dead in it's tracks when exposed to the real thing, and I have been hard pressed to hold my tongue when hearing some of the wild theories and rumors of what these type of vaccinations do to individuals. When I actually heard another EMT talking today about how the vaccine GIVES you the Flu I couldn't help stopping to give them the facts: you cannot get the flu from the vaccine as the virus is inactive and only a tool to give the body a means of recognizing it if exposed again; the most common side effects are soreness at the injection site (which can happen with any vaccine), low grade fever (a sign that the immune system is fighting something which in this case I see as good since it means that the system is recognizing the inactive virus and therefore is doing what it should in forming antibodies), and aches. People who do experience these side effects should expect them to last 1-2 days. In the wider scope of which is worse, I will take the gamble of feeling a little down for a day or two vs the potential of feeling ten times worse for at least a week with the possibility for more severe complications if I did get it any time. That said, it is recommended the normal flu vaccination should be given to: Children from 6 months of age to 19, pregnant women, people over 50, anyone with chronic medical conditions-and I would like to point out that asthma is a common qualifier here for the under 50 crowd, people in nursing homes or long-term care facilities, people who care for those with high risk for complications from the flu including health care workers, household contacts for those at high risk for complications, and household contacts and caregivers of children under six months of age as they are too young to be vaccinated. As I said before, the main cause of mortality from the flu is from secondary causes so that list takes care of the ones at risk for such complications as well as lessening the possible exposures that at risk people do receive from others. If not for myself, I do take it as a responsibility and duty to my patients to not potentially give them something that could cause serious harm. I can fight off the flu much better than any of them, and I would honestly be inconsolable if thought I caused one of them to become severely ill, and possibly develop pneumonia or worse because I didn't feel the need to be bothered by getting the vaccination when able.

I've thought about giving people the "fist bump" at church..but have decided against it so far.

We are getting flu shots for the first time this year. My daughter got one yesterday. I am getting one in October when I already have a doctor appointment. When the swine flu shot comes out, we're getting that too. There is swine flu at my daughter's school,not that they've notified parents about it, I happened to hear about it from the parent of the children who have it. We have two brand new babies in our family, and they recommend you get the flu/swine flu shots if you're going to be in contact with children under 6 months old.