Swine flu: What you need to know
April 30, 2009 by Fred HosierPosted in: Illnesses, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, PPE (protective equipment), Respiratory safety
As someone in charge of safety and health at your workplace, here’s what you need to know about the swine flu outbreak:
The CDC says the virus is susceptible to the prescription antiviral drugs oseltamivir and zanamivir. As part of the public health emergency declared by the U.S., supplies from CDC’s Division of the Strategic National Stockpile are being sent to all 50 states and U.S. territories to help them respond to the outbreak.
What steps can people take to stay healthy and slow the spread of the flu?
- Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
- Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. The flu virus can spread that way.
- Try to avoid close contact with sick people. Influenza is thought to spread mainly person-to-person through coughing or sneezing of infected people.
- If you get sick, the CDC recommends you stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.
Now might be a good time for businesses to consider how they would be affected if pandemic flu spreads to their area. The federal government has a business checklist available online here.
The CDC has other useful information available for free on the Web, including interim recommendations for facemask and respirator use in certain community settings where swine flu has been detected. The agency has also released interim guidelines for primary and secondary schools as well as childcare facilities.
The CDC’s general page on swine flu is at http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/index.htm.
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Tags: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, facemask and respirator recommendations, swine flu
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May 1st, 2009 at 11:10 am
Verification is due later today for the foremost event of to someone human shift of swine flu in Britain. It is believed to be a acquaintance of Lain and Dawn Askham, who were the inaugural affirmed victims in the United Kingdom and they gathered after their return from honeymoon in Mexico. Initially the man was cleared but after his symptoms persisted he was re examined and was determined to be suffering from Type A flu. Tests are still in progress but are expected to confirm swine flu. This now takes the aggregate number of swine flu sufferers in Britain to 8 -that’s 6 in England 2 in Scotland but as yet no dyings.
May 12th, 2009 at 8:41 am
BFD – this is just media-driven hype. Over 30,000 died from regular flu this past winter and where was the concern? About a total of 125 have died from this version in about a month world-wide.
Now that they realize it’s not going to be really serious, the media is already saying that we need to watch out – it may mutate into something more virile.
Give me something to worry about – like Nobama’s health care reform, i.e., socialized medicine.
May 12th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
125 die from swine flu and 20 million people wear face masks. 100,000 die from aids yet we still pass it along. i agree, media driven hype.
May 14th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
We started the decade with Y2K and now it’s H1N1 … we have to have emergencies, real or not, to keep people’s minds distracted from real issues.
March 11th, 2010 at 12:48 pm
The government has to begin doing the appropriate thing. A fantastic beginning can be taking their noses from the health care industry. They can not even handle the work load which they have now. Precisely how are these people supposed to make this any better?