Pandemic?

[legalsea]

Not even "pandemic" reltaed...just general common sense...why do I continue to see grown-ups cough into their hands?!? I think I am just noticing it more now, but realy people! Think about it!

Where should you cough into?

 

[taximomfor4]

Where should you cough into?

The crook of your arm (inside of your elbow). That way the germs you cough out aren't on your hands, which you will be touching things with. My oldest (11th grade) was encouraged in school to cough into her hands, but the youngest(1st grade) was taught to cough into her arm...so it's become common between those 2 kids' ages, lol.

 

[paintnolish]

Where should you cough into?

Yes, you should cough or sneeze into the crook of your arm. If you cough or sneeze into your into your hand, the things you touch with your hands now have those very germs that just came from your mouth or nose.

 

[Tinijocaro]

I will say that all my kids have been taught to cough into their elbows, but most often, their sneezes end up going right through the crook of their arm and out into the open air. We still need a better solution.

 

[laurie31]

Yes, you should cough or sneeze into the crook of your arm. If you cough or sneeze into your into your hand, the things you touch with your hands now have those very germs that just came from your mouth or nose.

Yep! Coughing into your hand actually spreads more germs than just coughing into the air.

If you cough into the air, unless someone is *right there* within seconds to breathe in the germs, they just fall to the ground. Put those germs on your hands, and you spread them *everywhere* you touch. Doorknobs, remote controls, telephones, computer keyboards, etc. In fact, I've read that in an office, the phone, keyboard and mouse are usually dirtier than the toilet seats!

 

[luvmylittleboy2003]

Anyone hear anything about WHO raising the level to a 6?

 

[ClareH37]

In the news here today in the UK there's quite a lot of positive reporting (for a change) in that Mexico is going to reopen their shops, etc., on Wednesday and, a quote from the BBC, "UN Chief Ban Ki-moon said the WHO did not plan to raise its pandemic alert to the highest level if the outbreak continued in its current pattern."

 

[RadioNate]

Here is the latest on the FL cases

http://www.wesh.com/health/19352100/detail.html

the Mexican tourist was a 14 year old girl and her case has been confirmed. No one in her family or traveling party contracted the flu and she has returned to Mexico.

I went to WDW last Sunday and Wednesday and plan on being there next weekend with no worries.

 

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

I recently heard the cough/sneeze into your elbow thing referred to as the "Vampire cough"! Probably makes it more fun for kids and easier for them to rememeber! Thought it was cute!

 

[JanaNs]

All of our cases here in Canada have been considered mild but today brings the news of this girl. Hopefully she recovers.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2009/05/04/edm-swine-flu-alberta-monday.html

 

[Tinijocaro]

Anyone hear anything about WHO raising the level to a 6?

Spokesman: WHO may raise alert to highest level
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gzz357patY4-QaJFvo9O95zMM_EQD97VF6D80

UN says no plans for highest pandemic level yet
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gzz357patY4-QaJFvo9O95zMM_EQD97VFMHO0

 

[AlexWyattMommy]

I think the other countries have done a really great job of watching for the flu and keeping track of people who have been to Mexico and here. I don't think it will spread outside those few in the other countries. Therefore no need to raise the level at this time.

Because the flu virus is so unpredictable, we get flu shots for strains that are sometimes no longer around and still get the flu, I think we just need to watch and see.

There are waves of up and down with this type of novel flu, so my goal is to just keep my pantry stocked in case we ever have to shut down like Mexico did. I don't think we should waste time worring about "End of the World As We Know It", but we should be prepared to take care of ourselves if the need arises.

 

[Kirby]

Found out today that all field trip bus travel has been canceled this week for our district. No schools closed though. Keeping my fingers crossed for prom this Saturday.

 

[LuvOrlando]

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[Tinijocaro]

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?hl...6,-9.140625&spn=144.408712,283.007813&t=p&z=2

 

[AlexWyattMommy]

Hmmm, the jury's still out for me. Has anyone come across a map that shows where the hospitalizations are happening? Are these older cases that have progressed from mild to worse or new ones?

I'm not real big into conspiracy theories - but I'm really sure they aren't going to tell this.

 

[C.Ann]

SO I just read that the number jumped, and that we now have 30 people in the hospital. For the regular Flu this would be no biggie, BUT this isn't the regular Flu and if this was anything like the regular Flu it should be slowing down as the temperatures rise. This, on the other hand is gaining momentum and the numbers are spidering out all over the place from whatever a particular region's point of origin happened to be.

Another worry to me, my DH's company, a big Pharma, just sent out a directive to cancel ALL non-essential travel AND they are sending ALL employees a Flu Kit including masks etc. IF this was no big deal then WHY is this company being so conservative, at great cost to them. I know its part of the Co's Business Continuity Plan, and that this compnany's continued function is necessary if people are going tho be able to get the meds they need... but none-the less... why are they stepping up the ante?

Hmmm, the jury's still out for me. Has anyone come across a map that shows where the hospitalizations are happening? Are these older cases that have progressed from mild to worse or new ones?

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Where did you see 30 hospitalized in the U.S.?

Could be your DH's company is just being extremely cautious (like many of the schools) for any number of reasons - one of them being to avoid the possibility of lawsuits - or another being simply to avoid the unnecessary spread of this flu..

I guess it's hard to tell at this point because it's barely making the news anymore..

 

[LuvOrlando]

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[C.Ann]

Here is the article I just read, but I can't find any info on the hospitalizations. I do have the regular maps, but no detail is proviided.
BTW, 286/36 is 7.94% hospitalized, which is a higher proportion compared to the regular Flu.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N04415844.htm


Flu spreads across US, officials weigh measures
04 May 2009 22:01:49 GMT
Source: Reuters
(For full coverage of the flu outbreak, click [nFLU])

* More cases expected across U.S.

* CDC rethinking school closure policy (Adds Napolitano quotes, California prisons paragraphs 12-15)

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor

WASHINGTON, May 4 (Reuters) - The new H1N1 swine flu virus has infected 286 people in 36 U.S. states and it is likely to spread to every state, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Monday.

Most cases remain mild, but 35 people have been hospitalized, the CDC's acting director, Dr. Richard Besser, told a news conference. A toddler who died in Texas last week remains the only death in the United States so far.

In Mexico, officials say they hope cases there will continue to decline, but it was clear the outbreak of the never-before-seen strain of influenza was spreading elsewhere.

Besser said the virus was so clearly everywhere that the CDC might step down its recommendations to test people so that state and federal health officials could spend their limited time and resources elsewhere.

"We are seeing over 700 probable cases in a total of 44 states," Besser said. So far, 99 percent of probable cases have, upon further testing, turned out to be the new H1N1 strain, Besser said.

"This likely represents an underestimation of the total number of cases across the United States," Besser added, because most people with flu-like symptoms -- fever, aching muscles and cough -- are not even getting tested.

Besser said the CDC was even reconsidering the strategy of closing schools where cases turn up. More than 500 U.S. schools have been closed because of outbreaks.

Schools are closed to protect children, and to keep children from spreading an infection in the community. But this virus is looking to be as mild as seasonal flu, which rarely kills children.

"It appears that the virus is already pretty well-established in those communities," Besser said. "So we are looking at the school closure guidance."

DEADLY FLU

That does not mean the virus is harmless, he noted. Seasonal flu infects an estimated 30 million Americans every year, about 10 percent of the population, kills 36,000 and puts 200,000 into the hospital.

"People are hospitalized and die every year with seasonal flu," Besser said. The new virus has killed people in Mexico and will likely kill people in other countries, he said.

California closed all 33 of its state prisons and six juvenile detention centers to routine visitors and other "non-essential activities" until further notice after an adult inmate at a prison in Southern California was diagnosed with a probable case of the H1N1 flu virus.

Besser said he was pleased at how well-prepared state and local officials were for the outbreak -- a result of years of planning for pandemic influenza and other disasters that started with the 2001 anthrax attacks, accelerated when H5N1 avian influenza re-emerged in 2003 and kicked into high gear when the response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 was so poor.

Experts repeated fears that the virus must be watched because it could come back worse when temperatures start to cool, as happened with the 1918 flu pandemic.

"I think specifically we're viewing this incidence, this flu outbreak as a possible precursor to a subsequent outbreak in the fall," Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told reporters later. (With additional reporting by Steve Gorman and Toby Zakaria)

AlertNet news is provided by

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Thanks for that info.. What I have seen so far is that the hospitalized patients had other "health conditions" not related to the flu - which has in turn made their cases more severe.. I think if they released more general info on the hospitalized patients (nothing that would be a privacy violation) it would make things a lot easier for people to make decisions about how to handle their own personal situations.. I think I recall you posting that you had a child (or children) with asthma.. If this flu were to cause a more serious threat to those with asthma, then obviously that is something you need to know..

Worst part is you can't go by what you hear in the media because they either sensationalize it totally out of proportion - or they get their facts wrong.. It's a shame that reporters no longer have to have cold hard facts before they can comment or form opinions..

 

[LuvOrlando]

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