Swine Influenza: What You Should Know About This Pandemic

As you are aware, the Swine Flu is fast spreading in our neighboring country of Mexico, but now we have the first fatality in Texas. Thus far, there have has been about 51 confirmed cases in New York, 14 in California, 16 in Texas, and few here and there in various states for a total of 91 US cases, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. In Mexico, many have died, and thousands more have reportedly been infected or have the symptoms of the flu.

What to watch for if you are not sure about the Swine Influenza:

Victims often show symptoms such as fever of over a 100 degrees.Vomiting and or diarrhea, cough, runny nose, lethargy, loss of appetite, and sore throat. Be mindful that not all people will display all of these symptoms but still have the virus. Thus, it is important that if you feel anything out of the ordinary, you should contact your healthcare provider.

It looks like people are stocking up on hand sanitizers. I went to three different stores today before I could find any. I was able to get the last two bottles at my local Walgreen's store, and the cashier informed me that people had been coming in and asking for hand sanitizers, stating that other stores including nearby Wal-Mart is out of stock.

Although there are reasons to worry, as this flu is apparently very contagious, it is important to know that regular influenza virus kills over 30 thousand people annually in the United States. We need to take more care in our hygiene practices so as to minimize the transmission.

If you feel sick, please stay home and take care of yourself. Don't go to work or school to make things worse by spreading it to others.

sources:
www.cdc.org