Swine Flu Outbreak

The ongoing swine-flu scare strikes to the heart of why, as a nation, we need to fund federal disaster and health planning organizations. The Swine Flu Update Page" href="http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/whatsnew.htm?s_cid=tw_epr_68" target="_blank">CDC and FEMA provide the resources—both human and material—that serve on the front lines in the event of a true pandemic. It's neither civilized nor acceptable for a society to simply tell its citizens, "good luck with that, Jack, you're on your own" and it's not practical, either. The ramifications of a pandemic to any society are far too serious and far-reaching for our governments not to take a strong interest in public health.

Swine Flu has been officially declared a public health emergency. Here's the announcment:

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While the national media seems to seize on every bug that comes along to put out screamer headlines and try to terrify the public into coming back and reading more ("Bird Flu" for example isn't really a threat unless there are chickens sharing your house, unless the virus mutates significantly) there is indeed cause to be concerned about the effects of a global pandemic. SARS, for example, is widely held by medical and health professionals to have been a potential global catastrophe, narrowly averted.

The 1918 Pandemic somehow escaped mention for most of my public education, in spite of killing more than 50 million people worldwideâ??and over a half-million in the U.S., and a disproportionate number of those victims being young and healthy when stricken. Likewise, the less widespread but still deadly 1957 Influenza Pandemic went unmentioned in school, with its worldwide death toll of over a million people.

So far, reported accounts of deaths in Mexico from swine flu—H1N1—mostly vary between 80 and 100 people, with some headlines reporting over 127. While it's certainly worth an eyeroll or two that the outbreak has far-right bloggers screaming about illegal immigrants bringing death and destruction upon us all, it's not actually accurate. It seems to be high school and college kids who took Spring Break in the sunnier Mexican climate who've brought this particular flu over national borders.

Since hardly anyone ever advises "panic" as an appropriate response to potentially serious situations, it serves us all to educate ourselves about the best ways to stay healthy, both in this situation and in general. Because there are several things we can all do, every day, to avoid spreading whatever bugs we pick up out on the street. This post, by Jim Macdonald (an EMT) on Making Light gives some excellent advice, and a pretty comprehensive list of resources elsewhere on the web.

If you're not sick, follow some simple precautions to stay that way:

• Wash your hands, often and well.
• Keep your hands away from your eyes, mouth, and nose.
• Don't share dishes.
• Avoid contact with people who seem ill.
• Be healthy, drink lots of water, get lost of sleep, eat well.
• If you're working with people you think may have a contagious bug, wear a mask.

If you're already ill, or think you may be coming down with something:

• Stay home and rest.
• Wash your hands, frequently and well.
• Cover your mouth and nose if you're coughing or sneezing.
• Throw away used tissues.
• Drink lots of fluids, water, juice, soup, etc.

You'll notice that washing your hands is on both of those lists? That's because it's probably the most effective way any of us can safeguard our own health. And I don't mean the quick-rinse-em-off-with-a-dab-of-soap method I see people using in public restrooms. Here's a link to good hand-washing technique.

Consider stocking up on a few things you'll likely need, should you come down with the fluâ??or even just a bad cold: soup, aspirin, a thermometer, and so on. Here's a link to a good basic flu-preparedness kit the CDC recommends. Here's a link to another blogger, with some excellent further recommendations for being prepared.