Fortunately, the following five steps can help you stave off swine flu.
1. Wash Your Hands
Hand-washing is the best way to stay flu-free. Even if your hands are exposed to swine flu, the germs won't have a chance to enter your system if you wash your hands before touching your eyes, nose or mouth. It's especially important to wash your hands after being out in a public area.
Experts recommend scrubbing your hands with soap and lukewarm water for at least 20 seconds. If you can't get to a sink, use alcohol-based hand sanitizer to eliminate harmful bacteria.
2. Get the Swine Flu Vaccine
One way to virtually guarantee you won't get swine flu is to get the swine flu vaccine. For healthy adults, only one dose will be required; children will require two doses of the vaccine, given three weeks apart. The vaccine is due out in October.
At-risk groups are encouraged to get the swine flu vaccine as early as possible. These groups include:
* Pregnant women
* Caregivers to children younger than 6 months
* Health care workers
* Healthy people ages 6 months to 24 years
* People ages 25-64 with underlying medical conditions
Remember: The seasonal flu vaccine does not protect against the swine flu. You'll need two different vaccines: one for the seasonal flu and another for the H1N1 strain.
3. Boost Your Immune System
Keeping your immune system firing on all cylinders is an important part of staying healthy. Even if you come in contact with swine flu germs, a vigorous immune system can defend against them and keep you flu-free.
Here are a few simple ways to give your immune system a shot in the arm:
* Get a good night's rest. Adequate rest relaxes your body and boosts your defenses.
* Eliminate stress. Stress wears down the immune system and makes you more susceptible to swine flu and other illnesses.
* Exercise. A brisk walk or bicycle ride can energize your immune system and fight off illness.
* Get plenty of vitamins and minerals. A well-balanced diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables can do wonders for your immune system.
4. Avoid Sick People
This may seem like a no-brainer, but if you see someone coughing or sneezing, steer clear. Airborne swine flu particles can travel as far as ten feet, so it's possible to become infected by breathing in someone else's harmful germs. If someone in your family is sick, limit your contact with them. Spray surfaces they touch with disinfectant and help them get over their illness faster.
5. Keep Your Home and Workspace Germ-Free
At home, the kids bring germs home from school; at work, your co-workers bring germs from their families and each other. The end result is a whole host of germy surfaces. Eliminate these germs by disinfecting any surface that is exposed to you, your family or your co-workers.
At home, use disinfectant on cupboards, tables, doorknobs, television remotes, phones, sinks and other areas you touch with your hands. At work, spray your workspace with disinfectant and wash your hands after touching doorknobs, using a public computer and especially after shaking hands.
Friday, 15 January 2010
Monday, 11 January 2010
Swine Flu scare was a "false pandemic"
A leading health expert has claimed the swine flu scare was a "false pandemic" led by drugs companies that stood to make billions from vaccines.
Wolfgang Wodarg, head of health at the Council of Europe, said, major firms organised a "campaign of panic" to put pressure on the World Health Organisation to declare a pandemic.
He has branded it "one of the greatest medicine scandals of the century", and has called for an inquiry.
An emergency debate on the issue will be held by the Council later this month.
Dr Wodarg said: "It's just a normal kind of flu. It does not cause a tenth of deaths caused by the classic seasonal flu.
"The great campaign of panic we have seen provided a golden opportunity for representatives from labs who knew they would hit the jackpot in the case of a pandemic being declared.
"We want to clarify everything that brought about this massive operation of disinformation. We want to know who made decisions, on the basis of what evidence, and precisely how the influence of the pharmaceutical industry came to bear on the decision-making."
"A group of people"
He added: "A group of people in the WHO is associated very closely with the pharmaceutical industry."
Wolfgang Wodarg, head of health at the Council of Europe, said, major firms organised a "campaign of panic" to put pressure on the World Health Organisation to declare a pandemic.
He has branded it "one of the greatest medicine scandals of the century", and has called for an inquiry.
An emergency debate on the issue will be held by the Council later this month.
Dr Wodarg said: "It's just a normal kind of flu. It does not cause a tenth of deaths caused by the classic seasonal flu.
"The great campaign of panic we have seen provided a golden opportunity for representatives from labs who knew they would hit the jackpot in the case of a pandemic being declared.
"We want to clarify everything that brought about this massive operation of disinformation. We want to know who made decisions, on the basis of what evidence, and precisely how the influence of the pharmaceutical industry came to bear on the decision-making."
"A group of people"
He added: "A group of people in the WHO is associated very closely with the pharmaceutical industry."
Saturday, 9 January 2010
Soda Fountains Squirt Fecal Bacteria, Study Finds
Those soda fountain machines found in restaurants and fast food joints may be squirting out liquids contaminated with fecal bacteria, a small study found.
Photo: Fecal bacteria found in soda fountains
Those soda fountain machines found in restaurants and fast food joints around the world may be squirting out liquids contaminated with fecal bacteria, a small study found.
(Getty Images)
Whether it was self-serve or behind the counter, nearly half of all sodas dispensed from a sample of 30 machines in the Roanoke Valley in Virginia had coliform bacteria -- a group of bacteria banned in drinking water by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) because it indicates the possibility of fecal contamination.
"The EPA regulates our drinking supply, and there can be some bacteria, but one of the things that is not allowed is coliform bacteria," said Renee D. Godard, professor of biology at Hollins University and a co-author of the paper published in the January print issue of the International Journal of Food Microbiology.
"We can't have that in our drinking supply. But they're coming out of these soda fountain machines," she said.
Photo: Fecal bacteria found in soda fountains
Those soda fountain machines found in restaurants and fast food joints around the world may be squirting out liquids contaminated with fecal bacteria, a small study found.
(Getty Images)
Whether it was self-serve or behind the counter, nearly half of all sodas dispensed from a sample of 30 machines in the Roanoke Valley in Virginia had coliform bacteria -- a group of bacteria banned in drinking water by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) because it indicates the possibility of fecal contamination.
"The EPA regulates our drinking supply, and there can be some bacteria, but one of the things that is not allowed is coliform bacteria," said Renee D. Godard, professor of biology at Hollins University and a co-author of the paper published in the January print issue of the International Journal of Food Microbiology.
"We can't have that in our drinking supply. But they're coming out of these soda fountain machines," she said.
Millions of doses of swine flu vaccine to be off-loaded
What do you do with vaccine that no-one needs?
That is the question currently puzzling the Department of Health. Back in May the government signed contracts with two suppliers - GSK and Baxter - to supply 90 million doses of H1N1 pandemic vaccine.
That was on the basis that two doses would be needed to provide protection. Swine flu has turned out to be far milder than was initially feared and so the government is going to be left with a huge amount of unused vaccine.
The Department of Health has revealed that it has a break clause in its contract with Baxter which had been asked to supply 30 million doses, but it appears there is no get-out clause in the deal with GSK, set to provide 60 million doses. GSK has so far delivered 23.9 million doses to the government and Baxter five million.
That is more than enough to vaccinate all the at-risk groups and the government made clear there are no plans to extend immunisation.
The Head of Immunisation at the Department of Health, Professor David Salisbury said: "The Baxter contract has a break clause. We are in discussion with GSK about future supplies of vaccine." When asked how much the government might be able to re-coup from the deal with GSK he said "That is what we are discussing now."
For commercial reasons no figure has been given for the cost of the vaccine contracts, but it's likely to run into several hundred million pounds. Professor Salisbury said there were a number of options which included selling excess doses or giving them away to developing countries.
But he added that it was essential that the UK kept a stockpile of H1N1 vaccine in case there was a resurgence of the virus over the coming year.
One option being discussed with GSK, which was described as "innovative" by the Chief Medical Officer Sir Liam Donaldson, would involve keeping a stockpile of adjuvant, the booster chemical which is produced separately from the vaccine and mixed later.
Professor Salisbury said this would be a good idea as it could be used in conjunction with another flu vaccine in the event of a new pandemic. He said the adjuvant had a shelf life of five years.
When asked whether the NHS would be left substantially out of pocket by purchasing so much H1N1 vaccine, Sir Liam said that the contracts were signed earlier this year amid the early and very alarming information about deaths from the virus in Mexico. The death rates in Mexico were later reduced.
Vaccine uptake
There are no accurate figures for the UK. But in England:
• At least one in three people in the initial priority groups has had the vaccine.
• 3.2 million doses have been administered.
• 113,000 pregnant women have had the jab out of around 600,000 - about one in five.
• 373,000 front-line health workers have had the jab out of around a million (there are no figures for uptake among front-line social care workers).
• 86,000 doses have been given to healthy children aged six months to under five out of more than three million, but this process only got underway before Christmas.
Professor Salisbury urged all those in the at-risk groups to get immunised, especially children under five because it was not clear what would happen with swine flu over the year ahead.
Swine flu figures
There is very little swine flu about. Latest figures show that there were fewer than 5,000 new cases in England over the past week. And disease "modellers" have advised the Department that a third wave of swine flu is unlikely this winter.
Sir Liam pointed out that there were the same experts who predicted that up to 65,000 people might die from swine flu this winter - a figure which was later downgraded to 1,000.
This lack of swine flu in the community will make it more difficult to persuade those at risk of flu complications to come forward to be immunised.
But the Chief Medical Officer Sir Liam Donaldson pointed out that 20 children under five and 12 pregnant women had died in the UK from swine flu related conditions since April.
To date there have been 360 deaths from swine flu in the UK (251 in England, 64 in Scotland, 28 in Wales and 17 in Northern Ireland). But the vast majority of those infected have had either a mild disease or no symptoms at all.
In England there were 393 people in hospital with swine flu on 6 January, 103 of them in critical care.
That is the question currently puzzling the Department of Health. Back in May the government signed contracts with two suppliers - GSK and Baxter - to supply 90 million doses of H1N1 pandemic vaccine.
That was on the basis that two doses would be needed to provide protection. Swine flu has turned out to be far milder than was initially feared and so the government is going to be left with a huge amount of unused vaccine.
The Department of Health has revealed that it has a break clause in its contract with Baxter which had been asked to supply 30 million doses, but it appears there is no get-out clause in the deal with GSK, set to provide 60 million doses. GSK has so far delivered 23.9 million doses to the government and Baxter five million.
That is more than enough to vaccinate all the at-risk groups and the government made clear there are no plans to extend immunisation.
The Head of Immunisation at the Department of Health, Professor David Salisbury said: "The Baxter contract has a break clause. We are in discussion with GSK about future supplies of vaccine." When asked how much the government might be able to re-coup from the deal with GSK he said "That is what we are discussing now."
For commercial reasons no figure has been given for the cost of the vaccine contracts, but it's likely to run into several hundred million pounds. Professor Salisbury said there were a number of options which included selling excess doses or giving them away to developing countries.
But he added that it was essential that the UK kept a stockpile of H1N1 vaccine in case there was a resurgence of the virus over the coming year.
One option being discussed with GSK, which was described as "innovative" by the Chief Medical Officer Sir Liam Donaldson, would involve keeping a stockpile of adjuvant, the booster chemical which is produced separately from the vaccine and mixed later.
Professor Salisbury said this would be a good idea as it could be used in conjunction with another flu vaccine in the event of a new pandemic. He said the adjuvant had a shelf life of five years.
When asked whether the NHS would be left substantially out of pocket by purchasing so much H1N1 vaccine, Sir Liam said that the contracts were signed earlier this year amid the early and very alarming information about deaths from the virus in Mexico. The death rates in Mexico were later reduced.
Vaccine uptake
There are no accurate figures for the UK. But in England:
• At least one in three people in the initial priority groups has had the vaccine.
• 3.2 million doses have been administered.
• 113,000 pregnant women have had the jab out of around 600,000 - about one in five.
• 373,000 front-line health workers have had the jab out of around a million (there are no figures for uptake among front-line social care workers).
• 86,000 doses have been given to healthy children aged six months to under five out of more than three million, but this process only got underway before Christmas.
Professor Salisbury urged all those in the at-risk groups to get immunised, especially children under five because it was not clear what would happen with swine flu over the year ahead.
Swine flu figures
There is very little swine flu about. Latest figures show that there were fewer than 5,000 new cases in England over the past week. And disease "modellers" have advised the Department that a third wave of swine flu is unlikely this winter.
Sir Liam pointed out that there were the same experts who predicted that up to 65,000 people might die from swine flu this winter - a figure which was later downgraded to 1,000.
This lack of swine flu in the community will make it more difficult to persuade those at risk of flu complications to come forward to be immunised.
But the Chief Medical Officer Sir Liam Donaldson pointed out that 20 children under five and 12 pregnant women had died in the UK from swine flu related conditions since April.
To date there have been 360 deaths from swine flu in the UK (251 in England, 64 in Scotland, 28 in Wales and 17 in Northern Ireland). But the vast majority of those infected have had either a mild disease or no symptoms at all.
In England there were 393 people in hospital with swine flu on 6 January, 103 of them in critical care.
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