Has anyone here been followng this Swine Flu Outbreak?

[Gordon from Edinburgh]

Two people in Scotland have been diagnosed with it.
It was on tonight's news. They just got back from Mexico and are in hospital. But they "are recovering well."

Yeah some of their friends are exhibiting symptoms too - but only mildly - i'm sure this will ease off soon enough.....

[Jubilee]

Another tip: never put your produce in the little seat of the shopping cart. Lots of bacteria from the bottoms of tots who have sat there previously.

Our Giant Eagle has Clorox disinfectant wipes where the carts are stored for their customers to clean the cart's handle and basket.

I always, ALWAYS use those. The very thought of peoples grubby little crumb-chasers sitting there in soiled diapers. Eeew. Makes me gag a little just thinking about it.

[bluejeangirl76]

Our Giant Eagle has Clorox disinfectant wipes where the carts are stored for their customers to clean the cart's handle and basket.

That was the best idea ever! I about peed with glee the day I saw my store install that!!
I don't recall if my current store has that option... hmm.

[Melissa]

Yep, our local store has those wipes too. And the back of a cart is just as gross as the front of the cart WASH all your produce first, even if it says "ready to eat", I wash everything first no matter what.

[NealIsGod]

We just changed our vacation from Playa del Carmen to Punta Cana because of this. We don't want to spend our vacation worrying about the fucking flu.

[bluejeangirl76]

We just changed our vacation from Playa del Carmen to Punta Cana because of this. We don't want to spend our vacation worrying about the fucking flu.

Were you able to do it without a fee for change? I heard this morning that some airlines are waiving change fees for those who wanted to switch their destinations.

[indigo]

Have any of you had the pleasure of having a cashier cough in her hand before giving you your change? It almost makes me want to refuse my own money.

[Melissa]

We just changed our vacation from Playa del Carmen to Punta Cana because of this. We don't want to spend our vacation worrying about the fucking flu.

Travel to any place outside the U.S. has risk factors no matter what though. Here's info. for travelers to the Dominican, most of which just depends on where you plan to stay and what you plan to do:

http://www.mdtravelhealth.com/destinati ... public.php

[bluejeangirl76]

Have any of you had the pleasure of having a cashier cough in her hand before giving you your change? It almost makes me want to refuse my own money.

Oh yeah. I've had cashiers do all sorts of gross things that make me not want to touch money.
And I have to force myself to ignore the thought of "who else has been touching this money after doing god knows what?"

But... to be fair, cashiers have the exact same problem, watching people hork all over themselves or worse... the ones who lick their fingers so they can unstick their dollars - omg, PUKE!! - as they're handing money over to pay for things. ONE of the reasons I could never do retail again.

[madsplash]

Have any of you had the pleasure of having a cashier cough in her hand before giving you your change? It almost makes me want to refuse my own money.

Even better is when they can't get the plastic bag apart and lick their freakin hand that has been handling everything all day. Bad enough that they would be dumb enough to lick their own hand, but they may has well spit right into my bag.

People never cease to shock me. It's a wonder we don't have pandemics all the time. More people than ever come into my store and just stink. Mostly cigarettes and not washing their ass enough. Amazing. If I don't take at least 1 shower a day, I feel like an alien.

[Foolish Heart]

Madsplash:

What kind of a store do you have???

[madsplash]

Madsplash:

What kind of a store do you have???

Music store.

[Rick]

I'm just as bad as everyone else at being germophobic, but I think we're doing ourselves in with this paranoia. Our immune systems require exposure to germs, bacteria and viruses, to develop or remain strong.

[The Sushi Hunter]

My hands are aging faster than I am with how much I wash them with my job, and just all the time even away from work. And it's just disgusting whenever I'm in a public bathroom (which I try to avoid at all costs) to see the amount of women who never bother to wash their hands. Or they do the run-my-little-high-dollar-manicured-fingertips-under-the-water and that's it so gross and does nothing. I just don't get what so many people have against washing their damn hands!

I have a question about this, and maybe being a medical professional, you can answer it... I hate touching things other people have touched because of this exact reason - you do not know what people have (colds, flus, infections, etc) or what their habits are... (shopping carts freak me right out!) so I never ever go anywhere without Purell or at least some kind of antibacterial wipes, or things like that, because obviously we can't all race to a bathroom every 10 minutes.

My question is, do these products actually work or am I wasting time and fooling myself into thinking that I'm fine with those things until a sink is available?

Those things are better than nothing! I don't care about the reports that anti-bacterial soap is doing more harm than good...yeah right, with so many people not bothering to wash their hands I just don't buy that. Oh I hate touching things in public too. I have Purell and wipes with me at all times too, esp. having kids, I'm always wiping their hands everywhere we go. Shopping carts and gas pumps are horrid. So are door handles of course. People are just disgusting . So yes, keep those things with you when you can't actually wash your hands!

One of the many things my wife and I have in common is we both will use a paper towel to turn the door knob on the way out of a public bathroom. You'd be amazed how many guys where I work don't wash their hands after using the "facilities", and the very next thing they touch after handling themselves is the bathroom door knob.

[Saint John]

You've got to be a real pussy to be afraid of the flu.

[madsplash]

I'm just as bad as everyone else at being germophobic, but I think we're doing ourselves in with this paranoia. Our immune systems require exposure to germs, bacteria and viruses, to develop or remain strong.

I agree to a point. Some germs, bacteria and viruses are much worse than others and are best not exposed to at all.

Kind of a crap shoot, isn't it?

[artist4perry]

I'm just as bad as everyone else at being germophobic, but I think we're doing ourselves in with this paranoia. Our immune systems require exposure to germs, bacteria and viruses, to develop or remain strong.

Thus the joking earlier about swine flu, I think reasonable precautions and a small bottle of purell in the pocket is as much as you can do. I am not going to hide under the bed with a can of Lysol..........knowing some guys on here though, I am sure they could turn that into a 'procreation recreation". LOL!

[Rick]

I'm just as bad as everyone else at being germophobic, but I think we're doing ourselves in with this paranoia. Our immune systems require exposure to germs, bacteria and viruses, to develop or remain strong.

I agree to a point. Some germs, bacteria and viruses are much worse than others and are best not exposed to at all.

Kind of a crap shoot, isn't it?

Oh yeah, I agree. We don't need to tussle with this pig virus or swine flu, whatever it is.

[StevePerryHair]

We just changed our vacation from Playa del Carmen to Punta Cana because of this. We don't want to spend our vacation worrying about the fucking flu.

Travel to any place outside the U.S. has risk factors no matter what though. Here's info. for travelers to the Dominican, most of which just depends on where you plan to stay and what you plan to do:

http://www.mdtravelhealth.com/destinati ... public.php

That's true. A cruise ship took us to Costa Maya, on the Yucatan more than once, and we found out when my husband went to donate blood that because of the malaria risk they have down for that, he couldn't donate for a year. They never told us of any malaria risk when were there. And I would venture to guess many places on the Yucatan would have a similar risk. Never stopped me from cruising to Mexico again. I love going there.

I wonder how this "scare" will affect cruising. For now they haven't changed anything, but if people keep panicking, I bet they do.

[Melissa]

Have any of you had the pleasure of having a cashier cough in her hand before giving you your change? It almost makes me want to refuse my own money.

Oh yeah. I've had cashiers do all sorts of gross things that make me not want to touch money.
And I have to force myself to ignore the thought of "who else has been touching this money after doing god knows what?"

But... to be fair, cashiers have the exact same problem, watching people hork all over themselves or worse... the ones who lick their fingers so they can unstick their dollars - omg, PUKE!! - as they're handing money over to pay for things. ONE of the reasons I could never do retail again.

Oh yeah, worked retail in the mall every night while getting through nursing school, and it was back in the day when people still used mostly cash, debit cards were not heard of yet and the ones not using cash wrote checks or used credit cards. At Christmastime I remember it was SO busy and I remember my fingertips were getting dirty just from touching all the money. Yuck.

[Melissa]

I'm just as bad as everyone else at being germophobic, but I think we're doing ourselves in with this paranoia. Our immune systems require exposure to germs, bacteria and viruses, to develop or remain strong.

Well that's what eating boogers when you're a kid is for! J/K!!

No I agree, I'm no Howard Hughes, lol, but handwashing is just important and so many people just don't do it and it's gross. There's plenty we're exposed to either way though. And you're right being exposed builds up immunity. I have been amazed at how incredible my immune system has become over the years being a nurse. When I first started my career, I was sick as a damn dog all the time for a couple years. Now though, kids with all sorts of viruses, and even strep, can literally cough in my face and I don't get sick. I can't even remember the last time I actually had a "cold". I just don't get them anymore. Super immunity

Having said that though, I'll probaby get sick now, you watch

[Melissa]

My hands are aging faster than I am with how much I wash them with my job, and just all the time even away from work. And it's just disgusting whenever I'm in a public bathroom (which I try to avoid at all costs) to see the amount of women who never bother to wash their hands. Or they do the run-my-little-high-dollar-manicured-fingertips-under-the-water and that's it so gross and does nothing. I just don't get what so many people have against washing their damn hands!

I have a question about this, and maybe being a medical professional, you can answer it... I hate touching things other people have touched because of this exact reason - you do not know what people have (colds, flus, infections, etc) or what their habits are... (shopping carts freak me right out!) so I never ever go anywhere without Purell or at least some kind of antibacterial wipes, or things like that, because obviously we can't all race to a bathroom every 10 minutes.

My question is, do these products actually work or am I wasting time and fooling myself into thinking that I'm fine with those things until a sink is available?

Those things are better than nothing! I don't care about the reports that anti-bacterial soap is doing more harm than good...yeah right, with so many people not bothering to wash their hands I just don't buy that. Oh I hate touching things in public too. I have Purell and wipes with me at all times too, esp. having kids, I'm always wiping their hands everywhere we go. Shopping carts and gas pumps are horrid. So are door handles of course. People are just disgusting . So yes, keep those things with you when you can't actually wash your hands!

One of the many things my wife and I have in common is we both will use a paper towel to turn the door knob on the way out of a public bathroom. You'd be amazed how many guys where I work don't wash their hands after using the "facilities", and the very next thing they touch after handling themselves is the bathroom door knob.

Yep!

[Melissa]

You've got to be a real pussy to be afraid of the flu.

[Melissa]

We just changed our vacation from Playa del Carmen to Punta Cana because of this. We don't want to spend our vacation worrying about the fucking flu.

Travel to any place outside the U.S. has risk factors no matter what though. Here's info. for travelers to the Dominican, most of which just depends on where you plan to stay and what you plan to do:

http://www.mdtravelhealth.com/destinati ... public.php

That's true. A cruise ship took us to Costa Maya, on the Yucatan more than once, and we found out when my husband went to donate blood that because of the malaria risk they have down for that, he couldn't donate for a year. They never told us of any malaria risk when were there. And I would venture to guess many places on the Yucatan would have a similar risk. Never stopped me from cruising to Mexico again. I love going there.

I wonder how this "scare" will affect cruising. For now they haven't changed anything, but if people keep panicking, I bet they do.

Yeah, ORMC here even has a Travel Clinic specifically for getting people the vaccines and meds. they need depending on where they are traveling outside the U.S.

[Saint John]

I bet Theraflu would knock this shit out with no probelm. Whenever I feel like I'm getting the flu I hammer down 2 packs of Theraflu before I go to bed and I feel fine in the morning. Other than an ear infection that I got in New York, I haven't even had so much as a cold in the last 3-4 years. Coincidentally, that's when I started drinking at least 48-64 ounces of Green Tea daily. I'm addicted to the shit. Decaf, though. I fucking hate caffeine!

[Rick]

I'm just as bad as everyone else at being germophobic, but I think we're doing ourselves in with this paranoia. Our immune systems require exposure to germs, bacteria and viruses, to develop or remain strong.

Well that's what eating boogers when you're a kid is for! J/K!!

No I agree, I'm no Howard Hughes, lol, but handwashing is just important and so many people just don't do it and it's gross. There's plenty we're exposed to either way though. And you're right being exposed builds up immunity. I have been amazed at how incredible my immune system has become over the years being a nurse. When I first started my career, I was sick as a damn dog all the time for a couple years. Now though, kids with all sorts of viruses, and even strep, can literally cough in my face and I don't get sick. I can't even remember the last time I actually had a "cold". I just don't get them anymore. Super immunity

Having said that though, I'll probaby get sick now, you watch

I hope not.

[StevePerryHair]

We just changed our vacation from Playa del Carmen to Punta Cana because of this. We don't want to spend our vacation worrying about the fucking flu.

Travel to any place outside the U.S. has risk factors no matter what though. Here's info. for travelers to the Dominican, most of which just depends on where you plan to stay and what you plan to do:

http://www.mdtravelhealth.com/destinati ... public.php

That's true. A cruise ship took us to Costa Maya, on the Yucatan more than once, and we found out when my husband went to donate blood that because of the malaria risk they have down for that, he couldn't donate for a year. They never told us of any malaria risk when were there. And I would venture to guess many places on the Yucatan would have a similar risk. Never stopped me from cruising to Mexico again. I love going there.

I wonder how this "scare" will affect cruising. For now they haven't changed anything, but if people keep panicking, I bet they do.

Yeah, ORMC here even has a Travel Clinic specifically for getting people the vaccines and meds. they need depending on where they are traveling outside the U.S.

Orange county public schools just put out a phone alert about the flu and to stay home with symptoms, seek medical care, and talked about how to wash hands (soap AND water ) They must have all kinds of parents calling panicking. It's amazing how quickly the media can put everyone into panic mode. Shows what will happen when a truly catastrophic event happens. Chaos for sure!

[WiseOldTabbyCat]

I think this will only be a real problem to those particularly vulnerable to flu, the over 60's, athsmatics e.t.c. and those who live in run-down areas with poor access to good healthcare.

Eat a balanced diet, excercise and maintain a good mentality to heighten your immune system. Keep clean, but not so clean you find yourself spreading bleach everywhere you walk. Wash your hands regularly, sneeze into handkerchiefs and dispose of them immediately, and carry alcohol handrub with you.
I'm giving this advice to my dad especially, being a cab-driver means you come into contact with ALL kinds of people and foreigners.

I am thinking of getting some surgical masks like the do in Japan during cold and hayfever season if cases of the flu begin to rise in the UK.

[DrFU]

I bet Theraflu would knock this shit out with no probelm. Whenever I feel like I'm getting the flu I hammer down 2 packs of Theraflu before I go to bed and I feel fine in the morning. Other than an ear infection that I got in New York, I haven't even had so much as a cold in the last 3-4 years. Coincidentally, that's when I started drinking at least 48-64 ounces of Green Tea daily. I'm addicted to the shit. Decaf, though. I fucking hate caffeine!

kimonos & yoga are next ... it's a slippery slope toward sensitivity once you've taken the first step ...

[(Crazy)Dulce Lady]

I bet Theraflu would knock this shit out with no probelm. Whenever I feel like I'm getting the flu I hammer down 2 packs of Theraflu before I go to bed and I feel fine in the morning. Other than an ear infection that I got in New York, I haven't even had so much as a cold in the last 3-4 years. Coincidentally, that's when I started drinking at least 48-64 ounces of Green Tea daily. I'm addicted to the shit. Decaf, though. I fucking hate caffeine!

kimonos & yoga are next ... it's a slippery slope toward sensitivity once you've taken the first step ...

hehe

they passed out lysol wipes and purell to all the classrooms today. the kids were on board. they want to sanitize. especially in typing class, which is next to the bathroom. ewwwww

I did issue precautions to them as well. I'll pass the info along to my friends here.

don't kiss any pigs or drink out of it's glass.

just sayin