Moonage Spacedream

Preventing Swine Flu

Although I’m still not convinced Swine Flu or H1N1 is quite the pandemic some people are making it out to be, the precautions for preventing catching and spreading it are good to know and USE:

The only portals of entry are the nostrils and mouth/throat. In a global epidemic of this nature, it’s almost impossible not coming into contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions.  Contact with H1N1 is not so much of a problem as proliferation is.

While you are still healthy and not showing any symptoms of H1N1 infection, in order to prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms and development of secondary infections, some very simple steps, not fully highlighted in most official communications, can be practiced (instead of focusing on how to stock N95 or Tamiflu):

1. Frequent hand-washing (well highlighted in all official communications).
2. “Hands-off-the-face” approach.  Resist all temptations to touch any part of face (unless you want to eat, bathe or slap).
3. Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine if you don’t trust salt). *H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/ nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation.  In a way, gargling with salt water has the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected one. Don’t underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method.
4. Similar to 3 above, clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water. Not everybody may be good at Jala Neti or Sutra Neti (very good Yoga asanas to clean nasal cavities), but blowing the nose hard once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton buds dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population.
5. Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C (Amla and other citrus fruits). If you have to supplement with Vitamin C tablets, make sure that it also has Zinc to boost absorption.
6. Drink as much of warm liquids as you can. Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm.

Now, by saying I’m not a total believer in the pandemic definition, as it’s understood by most people, is not me belittling the safety concerns of the regular flu.  This gets convoluted, so follow me if you want.  First of all, a pandemic is not quite what most people think it is.  It just means it’s widespread.  All flu are widespread.  However, not all flu are the same.  This year, this is what it’s actually looked like in the US:

At this time, H1N1 is most prevalent.  Fourteen weeks ago, it wasn’t reported at all.  Problem we have here is the CDC actually changed HOW they collect flu data.  So, year to year comparisons are pretty much useless.  But, a couple of stats stick out.  Here’s the epidemic thresholds in the US for the last few years:

Although we are currently in an “epidemic” by the CDC standards, we usually are a few weeks of every single year.  Last year was particularly bad.  This year, not so much.  In fact, so far, it looks a lot like 2005, 2006, or 2007.  In other words, it looks kinda normal.  What the numbers look like to me so far is that a LOT more people THINK they have Swine Flu.  And, because a LOT more people THINK they have Swine Flu, they are going to the doctors more.  Because of that, a LOT more people are diagnosed with the only flu the CDC was looking for up until a few weeks ago.  Plus, it wasn’t all that long ago that we dealt with the last Swine Flu epidemic.  That was 1998.  Remember that one?  Me neither.

So, the bottom line I’m seeing so far is, just from numbers so far, your chances of getting a flu, any flu, are about the same.  The chances of that flu being Swine Flu, are a little more than they were in the past.  Mainly because we don’t know how many were swine flu in the past because they were looking specifically for swine flu at times.  Additionally, we don’t even know exactly how bad of an issue actual “flu” is in the first place.

People are nervous about swine flu, but the regular flu kills 36,000 people a year in the United States.

You’ll see that figure all over the internet.  You’ll even see it on the CDC website.  But, that’s not terribly accurate.  That is the average number of people who died per year, since 1999 from THIS definition:

Seasonal flu-related deaths are deaths that occur in people for whom seasonal influenza infection was likely a contributor to the cause of death, but not necessarily the primary cause of death.

As others have noted, it’s not safe to say no one has died of flu.  But, it’s also not accurate to say 36,000 die from flu each year either.  On any of those years, it’s possibly a figure between 0 and 52,000 max.  But, once again, that’s only if it is REPORTED as a respiratory contributor.  If someone dies of heart attack, and they had the flu, it’s not a flu related death.  Even though, the flu most likely did contribute.  So, it’s possibly more than 36,000.  My personal conclusion?  They don’t have a clue either how prevalent or how lethal any flu is.  Best they can do is monitor what’s given to them and draw a general conclusion.  And that is what they have done.  Based on that, you’re more likely to catch a flu this year.  And, if you do, as in 1998, it’s more likely H1N1.

All that takes me back to what I started with and what I think the CDC and Health and Human Services needs to be focusing on, preventing ANY flu.  The steps above are not specific to swine flu, avian flu, or any specific flu.  They are generic to ALL flu.  All flu can be dangerous.  They can all be lethal.  Just protect yourself from the flu and you won’t have to worry in the least bit if it’s swine flu or not.

That’s my plan and I’m sticking with it.  I do plan on the getting the seasonal flu vaccine since you’re twice as likely to get it as swine flu, and just as likely to die from it ( which is very, very, slim if you’re the least bit healthy ).

The reason I’m going this route with this post is my concern that as soon as H1N1 runs it’s course, people will lose interest in flu prevention in general.  That’s a bad thing as the flu will never go away.