In recent years vaccines have taken a hit. It used to be that vaccines were trusted, no questions asked. It took vaccines to knock out Smallpox. Today, many people question the safety of vaccines, some attribute vaccines to the cause of Autism. The H1N1 vaccine has been met with skepticism, and it’s no wonder when you turn on the TV and see study after study with different conclusions. Most vaccines are safe and effective against the targeted disease, and stay the same, year after year. Not so with flu vaccines.

With flu vaccines, scientists have to guess what strains will be the dominant strain that season, then create a cocktail of dead viruses for that years vaccine. Sometimes they miss the strongest strain and that seasons vaccine is not as effective. Add to this, the flu viruses are always changing and mutating. The virus can change the shape of it’s receptors that allow it to link to the human cells and begin infection.

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With H1N1, this is a new flu virus, or one that has been dormant for a long time, hence the higher immunity for people born before 1950. They must have had contact with this virus, or a similar one, at some time, and developed antibodies against it. The perception with the H1N1 vaccine is that it is a completely new vaccine, and that is true. It is also true that if the virus had been noticed earlier, it would have been included in the normal seasonal flu vaccine, and most people would have never known the difference. So, is this vaccine safe? That’s for you to decide, but consider the following. The vaccine is made in the exact same way the seasonal flu vaccine is made. As I stated earlier, it would have been included in the seasonal vaccine, if discovered in time for production. Since the vaccine is produced the same way as the seasonal vaccine, there are still people who should avoid it, especially people allergic to eggs.

One of the major worries about the H1N1 vaccine concerns pregnant women. A lot of pregnant women, and future fathers, are worried about the vaccines link to autism. While the jury is still out on the vaccine-autism link, there are things to consider. The H1N1 virus is deadly to pregnant women and their unborn child. You have to ask yourself, which would be worse, taking the vaccine and having a healthy pregnancy and child, with an extremely low chance of autism (if any), or the death of both the mother and child from H1N1 flu? Even if a pregnant woman catches the virus and lives through it, there are cases where the illness leads to severe mental birth defects in the child. These birth defects are much more severe than autism, and much more likely than vaccine related autism, to occur.

The decision is completely up to the mother, and should be. When making that decision, please weigh the facts above and consider which course of action has the best outcome.

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The H1N1 virus is an air borne virus. It is present in droplets floating through the air when an infected person coughs, or sneezes.

The good news is that the virus does not live long outside of the body. It stays air borne for a very short period. The problems begin though, when the droplets find a resting place, such as grocery carts, hands, and other surfaces. The easiest way to catch the H1N1 virus is by touching areas where the virus is present, then touching your mouth, nose, or eyes.

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When someone infected with H1N1 coughs into their hands, then touches a grocery cart, or door handle, the virus moves from their hand to that object. The next person to touch that object now transfers the virus to his hands. A little while later, that person raises their hand to their mouth, or scratches their nose. The virus has just traveled from a sick person to an object to an uninfected persons hands, to their nose or mouth. If this person has a compromised immune system, or no anti-bodies to H1N1, then this person will most likely become sick with H1N1.

As you can see in the example above, the hands are the largest factor in transmitting the flu virus. The hands are a perfect area for the virus with moisture usually present. This is why washing your hands is so important. Washing does not kill the virus, but it does remove the majority of the virus from the hands. Even if you have had a vaccination against H1N1, washing your hands is still the most important thing you can do. You may never get the virus, but you may touch something with your virus laden hands, leaving the virus for someone else to deal with. Imagine a child touching a door knob that you just touched with unwashed hands. The flu traveled from your hands to the child and the child may catch the H1N1 flu.

Remember, the reason to wash your hands is not to kill the virus, but to remove it from your hands. Antibiotic soap is not needed and may actually do more harm than good. Most antibiotic soaps use triclosan which can kill good bacteria and possibly lead to antibiotic resistant strains that have adapted to become immune to the antibiotics. Ordinary soap is all that is required. If soap is not available, use an alcohol based hand wipe, or gel.

Besides coughing into your hands , a better alternative is to use a handkerchief , or the sleeve of you shirt / jacket. If you use a handkerchief, you must still wash your hands. You should also avoid raising your hand to your face as much as possible, and try to touch as little common areas as possible. Anything the public uses, door knobs, grocery carts, pens at the bank, could be covered with the virus, not to mention some very nasty bacteria.

The flu virus and other bugs are everywhere, it’s impossible not to come into contact with it throughout a normal day. The only way to have a chance of not catching the flu and spreading it is to wash your hands religiously.

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This virus is an an air borne flu. That, however, is only true for a short period of time. The virus needs to land, as it dies quickly in the air. The virus is not floating around

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looking for a victim, it floats for a short period of time, then dies, or lands in an area it is safe. The most dangerous aspect of H1N1, is when it lands somewhere safe.

The good news concerning this fact is that is easily avoidable for most people. If you follow some basic principles, you can decrease the chance of catching it, altogether. The best means of survival is to not have to fight to survive in the first place.

• Always do your best to avoid touching common areas. The virus can get on your hands in a matter of seconds, or less. These areas includes door handle, sinks, toilets, phones, elevator buttons, grocery carts, counter tops, and the worst of all, digital pens from Fed/Ex, or UPS deliveries.

• Even if you have done everything possible to keep from touching “common areas”, DO NOT touch any part of your face. It is very important to keep from touching any moist opening, like your nostrils, eyes, and mouth. The virus will travel from your hands to a moist, rich, breeding ground without you even realizing it.

• You should wash your hand every chance you get. The object is to not disinfect your hands by drowning, or killing the virus with chemicals. The point is to wash the virus away from you. Ordinary soap is the best tool you have. Your clean hands are the KEY.

• If you sneeze, or cough, use your elbow, or hands. If you are sitting down with short sleeves on, pull your leg up and cough into your pants! No joking, it’s that important that you keep any fluids from escaping into the air.

• One of the most difficult habits to break is shaking hands. We have been taught all of our lives how important a handshake is. The handshake can take a break. If someone reaches out to shake your hand, pat them on the back, instead. If they seem turned off, tell them why. Be honest, they need to understand the importance of it. If they feel you socially embarrassed them, so what? This is more important than some guy’s ego.

• If you feel the least bit of fever, body aches, etc. Quarantine yourself! Times are hard, I know, but if we don’t show some personal responsibility in this pandemic, times will be much worse.

• Disposable kleenex ,or bathroom tissue, and paper towels are the best tools for noses, coughs, and sneezes. Once used, flush them away. Don’t save them throughout the day, you’re just spreading the virus more. Use common sense on garbage waste, but err on the side of caution. The environment can live through this temporary use of paper products.

  Please follow these simple guidelines, and prepare for the worst, but hope for the best. Keep in mind that if you have to quarantine yourself, you need to have stocked up on survival necessities ahead of time.

   

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The H1N1, or swine flu, is fast becoming the pandemic everyone feared it wouldA large percentage of the population are not following the suggested hygienic guidelines allowing the virus to spread at an alarming rate. This is leading to the rapid spread of the flu and bringing about the predicted pandemic situation we are currently experiencing.

Health officials are concerned about the behavior of the H1N1 virus. This is a new strain of virus that most of the population has not been in contact with, leaving them without the antibodies needed to fight off the virus. Another alarming behavior with this strain is the fact that the virus continued to spread through the summer in United States, a season usually associated with little to no flu activity. Physicians are worried about the normal flu season when children are back in school and temperatures are low, allowing for increased flu activity.

While there are plenty of seasonal flu vaccines, we are just now getting some doses of the H1N1 vaccine, leaving a large majority of the population at risk for H1N1.

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Without wide spread vaccination, all we can do is follow the accepted hygienic guidelines to fight the spread of the swine flu. This is were you come in, this where everyone needs to cooperate to stop the spread of the virus.

We all have a personal and community duty to stop this virus. It is irresponsible to ignore the simple measures that can help stop this pandemic. Ignoring these guidelines will not only cause you to get sick, it will also cause society to get sick. Even if someone doesn’t care about their own health, they need to follow the simple rules for society’s sake. In this modern world with community transportation and global airline flights, the flu can spread literally overnight around the world.

Try as hard as you can to stay out of crowded places. Always wash your hands as often as possible. Cover your mouth with a napkin when you cough, or sneeze. If you cannot find something to cough, or sneeze into, use the sleeve of your shirt, or jacket. If you have any symptoms of the flu, stay home. If you live with your family, or others, try to isolate yourself to one room of your home. Please show your children the proper way to cough, or sneeze. Teach your children how to properly was their hands, make it fun, tell them to sing the Happy Birthday song while they scrub their hands and not to stop until the song is over. These are such small things to do, and so easy to follow.

With these simple measures this virus can be stopped if EVERYONE follows these simple guidelines.

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The virus that causes the flu, Influenza, Attacks the cells in the lungs. Once inside of the respiratory cells the virus uses the cell’s normal reproduction process to copy itself. Once the cell is full of the flu virus, it kills off the infected cell and opens it up, releasing more of the virus to attack other cells.

Over a short period of time, the healthy respiratory cells die and pool up in the lungs. This process leads to a perfect breading ground for bacteria. The remnants of the dead cells become food for the bacteria. The normal healthy cells that are now dead, can no longer help fight off the bacteria , or block the bacteria from crossing into the blood and lung tissue .

As the bacteria continue to feed off of the ever increasing dead cells, they continue to multiply. Your body naturally sends white blood cells to fight off the bacteria, creating more fluid in the lungs. The fluid begins to fill the small airways in your lungs, making your lungs less effective in what they were meant to do, replenish your blood with oxygen.

With more fluid in the lungs and less oxygen to the blood, you begin to feel like you can’t catch your breath. The horrible result, if left untreated, is pneumonia. The pneumonia effectively causes you to drown as less blood is oxygenated. This causes the the organs and tissue throughout the body to die, as normal amounts of oxygen cannot reach them through the blood.

This is why health officials are so concerned about what seems to most people to be just a flu virus. With your body unable to deal with this new virus, the virus causes much more cell damage, creating more opportunity for bacteria to infect the lungs. A seemingly simple virus could lead to a much worse case of bacterial pneumonia.

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