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Day’s Verse:
Praise be to the LORD God, the God of Israel,
who alone does marvelous deeds.
Praise be to his glorious name forever;
may the whole earth be filled with his glory.
Amen and Amen.
Psalm 72:18-19
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Please help me raise money for the MS Bike Tour Cape Cod Getaway. Donate today on my MS Participant page.
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Swine flu is the latest big excitement in the news these days; school closures, wild statements from the media, solemn-sounding doctors making serious pronouncements, and comparisons to the famous 1918 influenza pandemic all abound. Since this is such a serious and alarming danger, I wanted to share the following helpful hints, which I had the pleasure of running across online, to help you stay healthy.
What should I do to keep from getting the flu?
- First and most important: wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.
- Try to stay in good general health.
- Get plenty of sleep, be physically active, manage your stress, drink plenty of fluids, and eat nutritious food.
- Do not touch surfaces that may be contaminated with the flu virus.
- Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
- Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.
- Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
- If you get sick with influenza, CDC recommends that you stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.
While I acknowledge that plenty of these suggestions do have merit — washing your hands really is the best way to avoid getting sick, whether with swine flu or anything else — a few of these suggestions really stood out as outrageously dumb:
- Try to stay in good general health.
- Do not touch surfaces that may be contaminated with the flu virus.
- Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
That first one really hits home, doesn’t it? To avoid getting the flu, I should try to stay in general good health. OK, thanks, I’ll get right on that. As for the other two, well, if I knew a surface had live* flu virus on it, of course I would avoid touching it! It’s not as if I was planning on licking all the doorknobs and tabletops I encounter. And again, if I know somebody has the flu, you think I’m going to share my water with them? These suggestions have transcended being merely self-evident and have entered into a whole new plane of obviousness not previously known to man.
* A debate rages over whether a virus, which consists of DNA or RNA wrapped in a protein coating and which cannot replicate on its own, is actually alive or not.
I’m intrigued by the fact that they suggest both “Avoid close contact with people who are sick” AND “Try to avoid close contact with sick people.” I’m having a tough time with this pair of recommendations – which to follow? 😉
“Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it…” may seem obvious to you, but I have known people who have saved and re-used their tissues…