Protect yourself and others from the FLU

[MattH]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090913/ap_on_he_me/us_swine_flu_shots/print

More good news about the vaccine.  We may be able to get a lot of people shots before the peak of the flu season, thus blunting the epidemic substantially.

[Anonymous]

I like the idea of covering your mouth / nose with your arm if you cough or sneeze -- that way you dont get anything on your hand to spread.

[MattH]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I like the idea of covering your mouth / nose with your arm if you cough or sneeze -- that way you dont get anything on your hand to spread.

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Yep, the inside of your elbow is one of the safest places to cough or sneeze.  Some researchers in California videotaped students working on laptops and counted how many times they touched their eyes, noses, mouths, or other parts of their faces: on average once every four minutes!

Another study in Colorado randomly assigned dorms to various options (do nothing controls, intensive reminders to wash hands, and installing alcohol-based gel dispensers).  The most effective option was the hand sanitizer dispensers: those students had about a third fewer respiratory infections than did the controls.  In the world of epidemiology a 30-percent reduction for a modest cost is an extremely cost-effective intervention, there should be hand sanitizer dispensers everywhere.  Recently hand sanitizer dispensers have appeared all over my workplace, along with signs encouraging us to use them.

I also keep a couple bottles of ethyl alcohol hand sanitizer spray at my desk and use it frequently.

Read the label of any hand sanitizer with care: the main active ingredient should be ethyl or isopropyl alcohol and it should be at least 60% alcohol.

[plasticman]

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@MattH wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:
I like the idea of covering your mouth / nose with your arm if you cough or sneeze -- that way you dont get anything on your hand to spread.

---

Yep, the inside of your elbow is one of the safest places to cough or sneeze.  Some researchers in California videotaped students working on laptops and counted how many times they touched their eyes, noses, mouths, or other parts of their faces: on average once every four minutes!

Another study in Colorado randomly assigned dorms to various options (do nothing controls, intensive reminders to wash hands, and installing alcohol-based gel dispensers).  The most effective option was the hand sanitizer dispensers: those students had about a third fewer respiratory infections than did the controls.  In the world of epidemiology a 30-percent reduction for a modest cost is an extremely cost-effective intervention, there should be hand sanitizer dispensers everywhere.  Recently hand sanitizer dispensers have appeared all over my workplace, along with signs encouraging us to use them.

I also keep a couple bottles of ethyl alcohol hand sanitizer spray at my desk and use it frequently.

Read the label of any hand sanitizer with care: the main active ingredient should be ethyl or isopropyl alcohol and it should be at least 60% alcohol.

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Hi MattH,

This is importantly great information! I had no idea because I was always taught to cover my mouth with my hands. My, my...I sure have some difficult retraining to do of myself. You know, old dog new tricks and all...

Thanks once again for valuable information I can surely use!

[guiness56]

WA state and I am in the Air Force.

Thank you.

[guiness56]

As I said, it is their requirement.  I do not know what the CDC requires, I can only do what I am told.  If they say you have to get the seasonal first, then the pandemic, then that is what I do.