Posts Tagged ‘It’s’

Don’t kid yourself, if you have Swine Flu, you can have the best doctors in the world taking care of you, but the name of the game is Flu Prevention, and the question is how do you resist getting the Swine Flu or any other flu for that matter? You need to get the germ into your body in order to contract the Swine Flu, and that means it has to get into an opening. Even if you get the germ on your skin, it doesn’t guarantee you will contract Swine Flu because it must enter via the mouth, nose, or eyes. Those are the pathways into the body. If you have or are having a surgical procedure done, such as a hospital patient, than the surgical site itself is also a pathway for germs to enter the body. I am going to give you a few basic ideas about how to prevent the Swine Flu, and for that matter, colds and viruses in general. – Wash those hands, and keep washing them. Every time, you shake hands with someone, you are shaking hands with everyone else they have shaken hands with, since they last washed their hands. If you do shake hands, then before you touch any other part of your body including your nose, mouth, and eyes, you must get those hands clean. – A person who is infected can pass the germ to you a day before symptoms appear, and up to 7 days after symptoms appear. You get the virus by contact with such a person directly, or by contact with an object that they touched. It is debatable how long an object such as a doorknob can retain the live germ. – Beware of door handles. About the most germ infested surface you can touch is a door handle or the faucets you turn the water on and off with, especially in bathrooms that others use. Once you touch either of these objects, it is as though you never washed your hands at all. Our suggestion is to use the same paper towel you dry your hands with as a barrier between your now germ free hand and the door knob or water faucet. – At work, we keep bottles of Windex handy. Just spray the bathroom doors, and the faucets and the door handles to people’s offices and let the air dry them which only takes a minute or two. If you immediately dry the surface, you destroy most of the germ inhibiting barrier. – Go to a major discounter like Wal-Mart and stock up on hand sanitizers. Easily carried 2 to 4 oz bottles that can fit in your pocket, are less than a $1 and give one to each member of the family. They are fabulous for cleaning hands, and the residue evaporates within seconds. Doctors use them all the time. It’s cheap insurance. – If and when the Swine Flu hits your area, than order some masks that are N95 rated. They are recommended by the Center for Disease Control, and are very inexpensive. Go online and Google “Swine Flu Masks”, and check prices. Follow these simple rules religiously, and we think the Swine Flu will be bypassing you and your house this season. Good luck.

Do not kid yourself, if you are swine flu, may be the best doctors in the world that you care, but the spirit of the game is to prevent the common cold, and the question is how to resist the temptation of swine flu or other flu, in fact? You need to get germs into your body, so that an agreement swine flu, and it means that we must enter the opening. Even if you get the germ of his skin, does not guarantee a pig flu, as it is to get through the mouth, nose and eyes. These are the paths in the body. If you have or have a surgical procedure performed, such as a hospital patient's surgical site itself is also a means of access to the bacteria in the body. Let me give you some basic ideas on how to prevent the swine flu, and in this case, colds and viruses in general. – Wash hands, wash and maintain. Each time, shake hands with someone, is shaking hands with all the others who have joined hands as they wash their hands. If you're hands, so before you touch any other part of your body, such as the nose, mouth and eyes, you should get your hands clean. – A person who is infected can spread the germ is a day before symptoms appear and up to 7 days after symptoms appear. You get the virus through direct connection with the person or contact of the object, which has touched. It is questionable how long the object, such as the bottle can be to live in an embryo. – Beware of door handles. About the item most of the infested area, you can touch the door knob, water taps, which turn the water, especially in the bathroom to others. When you touch these objects, it is as if never wash your hands at all. Our proposal is to use the same paper in your hands and dry barrier between your hands germ-free are now a door knob or a faucet. – At work, we continue to hand bottles of Windex. Just spray the bathroom doors, and faucets and door handles and the offices of the people and allow to dry, which only takes a minute or two. If you dry the surface immediately, destroyed most of the obstacles preventing the bacteria. – Go to a large discount stores such as Wal-Mart and stock up hand sanitizers. Easy to carry bottles of 2-4 ounces, which fits into a pocket, are less than 1 dollar, and give one to each family member. They are very hand-washing, and the residue evaporated in a few seconds. Doctors use all the time. It is cheap insurance. – If and when the swine flu hits your area, so some of the N95 masks are nominal. They go to the Centers for Disease Control, and it is very cheap. Go online and Google "swine flu mask," and check the prices. Siga estas reglas sencillas religiosamente, y pensamos que la gripe porcina será pasar por ti y tu casa esta temporada. Good luck.

Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is a respiratory illness caused by viruses. There are many different types of flu, from swine flu to the most feared avian flu. This article, however, deals only with the so-called common or seasonal flu. The flu season usually starts in the fall and subsides in late spring. Because of its seasonality, the flu season differs between the Northern and the Southern hemisphere. On the global scale, flu can affect tens of millions of people and cause 250,000 to 500,000 deaths each year. The United States CDC gives the following statistics. Yearly 5 to 20% of the population get the flu, 200,000 cases are hospitalized due to severe flu complications and 36,000 cases prove to be fatal. Annual healthcare costs approaches US$10 billionTHE FLU is caused by types A, B and C. Each type consists of different subtypes and substrains with A and B being responsible for most epidemics. (1) Influenza A viruses are of subtypes based on two proteins on the surface of the virus: the hemagglutinin (H) and the neuraminidase (N). The current subtypes of influenza A viruses in humans are A (H1N1) and A (H3N2). (2) Influenza B viruses do not have subtypes but can be further broken down into different strains. (3) Influenza C seems to be relatively benign compared to the first two and is not as contagious. Like many viruses, influenza viruses change with time producing new strains each season. This change occurs by antigenic drift or shift. (1) Antigenic drift is slow and can lead to new strains after several seasons and is the typical change observed in influenza type B viruses but can also occur in type A. (2) Antigenic shift happens abruptly and creates a major change that can lead to a new subtype but only occurs in type A. The influenza viruses attack the epithelial cells lining the respiratory tract starting from the nose, throat, and down to the lungs. They do this by binding using hemagglutinin and neuraminidase proteins on the cells’ surface. Influenza symptoms may be mild to severe to life-threatening. Symptoms can include high fever, headache, chills, sore muscles, fatigue, dry cough, red, watery eyes, sore throat and runny or stuffy nose. The so-called “tummy flu” symptoms may also occur in children, which include abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea. The flu symptoms shouldn’t be confused with the ordinary cold, which is another respiratory illness. A cold usually doesn’t cause high fever, muscle pains or stomach symptoms. The incubation period of the flu can vary from a few days to a week. During this “asymptomatic period”, the infected person is already a carrier of the disease and is therefore highly contagious. The flu can last from a few days to less than two weeks. However, in certain cases, complications can develop which are potentially life-threatening. Some of these complications are bronchitis, pneumonia, sinusitis, and ear infections. Anybody can get the flu but those who are highly susceptible to the flu are young children, the elderly and those with existing chronic health conditions and weakened immune systems. Flu is very contagious. Direct transmission occurs from person to person via droplets that are released when a person coughs or sneezes. Indirect transmission happens when droplets from an infected person are transferred to inanimate objects, which are then touched by another person. Flu-like symptoms can also occur with many other diseases. It is therefore sometimes difficult for doctors to diagnose the illness. There are many laboratory tests which can confirm whether a person has the flu or not but they cost money and time and are therefore impractical. However, in times of outbreaks and epidemics, it is important to perform tests. Usually, flu cases are diagnosed based on tests performed in a few individuals within a group. If one or two persons test positive for the flu in a closed environment, then the likelihood of subsequent illnesses within the group as being flu is rather high. Samples for flu testing are usually secretions from the nose and the throat, collected either by sterile swab, nasal wash, or aspiration. There are rapid influenza tests which can give results in 30 minutes. The tests are 70% sensitive in detecting the flu and are prone to false negatives. Another alternative is the more reliable but time consuming viral culture which takes about 3 to 10 days. Several antiviral pharmacological agents have been approved for the treatment of the flu. Because of the seasonal changes in the types and strains of influenza viruses the recommended anti-flu drugs may change. This season, Tamiflu is the choice for treatment and chemoprophylaxis of persons aged 1 year and older and Relenza is approved for treatment of persons aged 7 years and older. Currently, the CDC discourages the use of previously used anti-flu drugs such as Amantadine and Rimantadine because the current circulating strains of flu viruses are resistant to these drugs. The ultimate preventive measure against the flu is vaccination. However, again due to the constantly changing nature of the influenza viruses, flu vaccines do not afford 100% and lifetime immunity against the flu. Each season, flu vaccines are updated by adding strains collected and identified from the previous season. Flu vaccines contain different strains of the influenza types A and B but not type C. Based on the 2005 guidelines of the Federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), annual flu shots are recommended for children aged 6 months to 5 years old and adolescents up to 18 years old. Vaccination is also highly recommended for people in key professions which may expose them to the infection and spread it to others. These include health care professionals and those working and living in closed units such as dormitories. Flu shots are usually given prior to flu season and afford protection for about a year. However, it takes about two weeks before the protection kicks in. Over the years, several types of flu vaccines have been developed. (1) The intranasal vaccine is the live, attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) made from living but weakened flu viruses. LAIV is prescribed for people aged 2 to 49 years old. LAIV should not be given to pregnant women, children under 2 years old, adults above 40 years old, and chronic medical conditions including compromised immune system disorders. (2) The inactivated vaccine, the common flu shot is made from different strains of killed flu viruses. This vaccine is recommended for children from 6 months to 18 years old as well as those older than 50 years old. In addition, people who are not qualified to receive LAIV (as listed above) are recommended to have this vaccine. Like all pharmacological agents, flu shots can have some side effects. Most of these side effects are mild. Rare severe side effects, mainly in the form of allergic reactions have been reported. Some inactivated flu vaccines have contained thimerosal in the past, a form of mercury used as preservatives for vaccines. In recent years, there have been concerns about the link between thimerosal and autism in children. This controversy continues although no ample scientific evidence is available to prove this link. Perhaps the main shortcoming of the flu shot is its efficacy, which is highly dependent on how well the vaccine is matched to the circulating influenza viruses of that season. For this reason, the efficacy of the vaccine in protecting healthy adults from the flu is only 70 to 90% and even less in children and the elderly. The Global Influenza Surveillance Network (GISN) was set up in 1952 and currently includes more than 110 laboratories in 83 countries. It has recently set up FluNet, a web-based tool for surveillance, reporting, and alert mechanisms. The European Influenza Surveillance Scheme (EISS) issues a weekly report on influenza activity in 30 countries. It collects data from a network of more than 25,000 sentinel doctors covering a total population of 498 million people in Europe. In the US, the CDC is responsible for national influenza surveillance and is dependent on reports from more than 1500 sentinel doctors. Google Flu Trends, being the new kid on the block, claims that it can estimate flu activity up “to two weeks faster than traditional flu surveillance systems” and bases its predictions on the number of people searching for flu-related topics. Actually its data compared well with the CDC’s. Google is now working together with the CDC in flu surveillance and their work has been published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature. Google Flu Trends also presents the data in graphs, maps, and animations which are easy to comprehend by the general public. Don’t forget the CDC’s initiative “Take 3″ Steps To Fight The Flu; take time to get a flu vaccine, take everyday preventive actions and take flu antiviral drugs if your doctor recommends them. And if you are still unlucky and get the flu, stay home from work or school including limiting contact with others, wash your hands often with soap and water and avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth.