Swine Flu
By chulce
@chulce (1537)
United States
May 1, 2009 11:58am CST
Okay everyone, I have done a tone of research on this very touchy subject that seems to have a lot of people very worried.
First off what the media doesn't always do well is give all of the facts about a problem that has risen. Secondly, they don't give relative information as to how something may affect everyone or a certain population.
As many of you know, they believe that this virus is going to cause huge amounts of problems. The media is blowing this way out of proportion. Here are some interesting facts that the media isn't pointing out.
1) Human Influenza has killed more than 3,000 people in a year. This is on a normal record. In part it is because many people either don't have good immune systems or they don't take the necessary precautions to keep themselves healthy.
2) Many people are too germ-a-phobic. Simply put, they are not only killing off the bad bacteria, but they are are constantly killing off good bacteria as well. You may find more and more people who always use hand sanitizer and are afraid to touch any surface any where. You will also find these same people constantly using disinfectant sprays (chemical based of course), spraying it on every surface possible.
This is not good, by killing off everything, you are actually hurting yourself by not allowing certain bacteria into your system, that helps to battle the bad bacteria.
3) As with any virus taking the basic precautions is a good idea. If you sneeze into your hands, be sure to wash them right away. Sing the ABC's twice as you wash using warm water and regular soap. If you cough, do the same. If you have a habit of touching your face a lot and know you will be encountering another person where you will be shaking their hands, etc. By all means make sure your hands are clean before shaking theirs.
4) If someone has been ill in your home, be sure to air out the room they have been in, wash the linens, etc. By opening the windows this helps to let the fresh air in that has good bacteria in it to help kill off the bad. We constantly leave our homes sitting closed up and this causes many things to build up. Not good. Be sure that person does wash their hands regularly until they are completely healthy. Then have them go back to regular washing, etc.
Depending on the virus, you will want to clean certain areas, for example the bathroom, using bleach will kill off the bad bacteria accordingly, but, don't clean then clean an hour later, etc. That is just over kill.
5) Let a kid be a kid, if they get dirty, okay, let them be dirty for a while, it isn't going to hurt them. When it comes time to touch food, okay, make them wash up, etc.
We has humans have caused a great deal of problems with our own immune systems, etc. By going over board with cleaning products etc. This has created many virus bacteria to mutate, they have to work harder to get through, but at the same time, because you have killed of the good bacteria, they haven't mutated, their systems aren't the same. They actually become weaker, thus causing us more problems because when they get into our systems, they help in the weakening of our immune systems.
So, take the normal precautions when it comes to illnesses, you will be better off in the long run. Get back to basics. You and your family will be better off for it.
I do apologize if I have offended anyone. I just thought it would be a good idea to let anyone out there that is frightened to have peace and understand that they will be okay.
Oh, here are a few more facts that may help you. The Swine Flu is a respiratory illness in pigs. According to the CDC, the only way it affects humans is if the stain has reached to a severe level and the pigs have not been treated with antibiotics by their care givers. This is typically a rare case, in many countries, the farmers are required to have their animals checked by a vet regularly. An issue like this only happens when proper measures are not taken by the care givers. And in this particular case, it has happened that the animals infected had not been treated properly. Because our DNA is closely matched to the DNA of a pig, this is how we are able to contract the illness.
I hope this answers some of your questions.
1 person likes this
12 responses
@berrys (864)
• Singapore
2 May 09
oh my god! thank you so much for all your hard work. well i do carry hand sanitizer with me but i only use it after i shake some one's hand or before i eat something. i mean I've always thought that life would be dull without germs and bacteria but i also didn't want to over do it and just to take precautions with the swine flu, I've been cleaning much more and more thoroughly because my daughter and i have weak immune systems and im just trying to make sure that we're disinfected. good luck and god bless you and your family. cheers love.
@chulce (1537)
• United States
2 May 09
You are welcome. Be sure you don't go overboard. Your system does need good bacteria as well and that is what a lot of people forget about.
As with a lot of things in our lives we need an equal balance for things to work out right. So make sure you have an equal balance.
So the laundry sits for an extra day. The 4 pieces of trash didn't get taken outside the night before. Okay, it isn't going to hurt anyone.
There are so many people that have become very obsessive about stuff like this. I met a woman the other day who had a little one with her, someone looked in the seat at her infant and admired the child. The mother told the woman to back off and not breath her child's air. This worries me. But, alas, we will all see many people like this through out our lives.
@chulce (1537)
• United States
2 May 09
Just take normal precautions with washing your hands, etc. Make suggestions to friends and neighbors that the also take precautions and keep things clean around them. Everything should be all right.
Make sure you know the facts and have a good understanding of your environment and what is going on in your general community.
@ladybug565 (2216)
• United States
1 May 09
thank you. I am glad someone started this discussion and you appear to have done alot of research as this was well written. I completly agree with you. I did learn about the over sanatizing and good/bad bacteria from my daughters doctor when a few years ago. I think the media takes everything out of contex because it makes the story so much more interesting. I was just telling my daughter this morning it is probably only dangerous to the elderly, like most illnesses. A normal healthy person can get pnemonia and get over it fine but someone that has other health issues has to get medical care because they cant fight it off as easily.
@lumenmom (1986)
• United States
1 May 09
I am glad to see this post since everything else I have seen read or heard has been very worrisome. I think it is easy to panic when something we don't fully understand comes on the scene and people tend to take a "better be safe than sorry" approach. This can be good but it also can lead to unnesssary concern and hysteria. We have to balance our concerns with our common sense and practice decent habits such as those you listed. Hopefully we will all get through this without too much incident.
@chulce (1537)
• United States
2 May 09
I agree, I hope that we will all get through this with out to much problem.
Here in our little town, we just heard of a child in one of our schools that has been diagnosed with the illness. We will see what happens. The child is currently in the hospital being treated.
Although there are many uncertainties as to how he got it. A nurse that I know says that she believes it is a human influenza and they are misdiagnosing the child. She may be right.
@puneetchhokra (214)
• India
2 May 09
i also listned abot this disease what actually it is cn anybody tell me about this.
@friskimage (170)
• United States
3 May 09
Lots of good information. Thank you for spending so much time on this.
I do believe that the possible future mutation of the virus is a legitimate cause for concern.
@anneshirley (1516)
• Philippines
2 May 09
This is the ultimate definition of thorough research LOL 
but I have to thank you for doing all these. It shows that you care about other people and would like to inform them on the real issue. Reports on TV are very short that people with little knowledge about it tend to exaggerate it. I really hope that this research will be helpful to other people on how they will protect themselves about swine flu especially to those living in Mexico and America.
but I have to thank you for doing all these. It shows that you care about other people and would like to inform them on the real issue. Reports on TV are very short that people with little knowledge about it tend to exaggerate it. I really hope that this research will be helpful to other people on how they will protect themselves about swine flu especially to those living in Mexico and America. 
@chatty101 (28)
• Ireland
2 May 09
From what I understand swine flu isnt any more dangerous then the common flu. Most of the deaths caused in Mexico were caused by a second virus, poor medical facillities and poor education. Even if we all got swine flu most of us wouldnt have any more symptoms then a common cold.
@xiuhosei (17)
• China
2 May 09
I am a Chinese living in Guangzhou City of China.Most people are not afraid of the swine flu.Some even don't care about that.They consider the city to be safe enough to avoid the flu though the first case has been found in Hongkong and force the govenment to take quick action to control the emergency.Reports shows that the people being sick with the flu used to travel in Mexico and the good new is China has developed the instant dianostic technology.
@sangsi (50)
• China
2 May 09
At a lot of nations, the pig should be a phrase which relatively usually brings up, because it with our relations close, for example make reference to a food, almost the food of above 10% have to imply, but very serious problem happenned recently, be pig flu and influenced a lot of nationses.
• United States
2 May 09
Everyone i know in my school is scared of the flu, I done care if i get it my body is strong i can fight it off if i even get it. But im hoping our schools shut down for a week or two because today one of my friends went home sick he threw up in art. I think the flew is in my town if you have time can you see if its in Lynden Washington?
