H1N1 Update
I had someone ask me this morning about eating watermelon from Mexico. You cannot get the flu from food. You can, however get it from germs left on the food. I would wash off the watermelon and eat it. Just wash it well and you are fine. Reports of how long the flu can survive on a surface range from 2 hour to 48 hours so always err on the side of caution.
I received a comment this morning from a reader who is concerned that there may be panic going on here and that we remain calm. I could not agree more. We need to remain calm and understand that most who contracted the flu have not died. There may be some easy to explain reasons this has not spread more quickly. First, school districts have closed schools as soon as they have had a confirmed case of the flu and in some cases even before the cases were confirmed. I consider this wise, not an over reaction. What is the big deal if the child tests negative? If they test positive then you have just saved other families a few weeks of misery and stopped or slowed the spread. Second, those who have been found to have the flu have been asked to self quarantine for seven days after the symptoms and fever disappears. Again, limiting the spread.
I want to share with you this email that I received this morning from someone who is actually living this:
Right now, my family is basically homebound because of swine flu. We are in Monterrey, Mexico, and just about everything is shut down; no school; no work; We won’t even have Church this weekend – how weird is that? We not only have the flu epidemic, but we’ve had an 6.0 earthquake, and giant size hailstorm near here this week that have punctuated this “crises.” This is a time we’re all hunkering down together as a family, and thankful we have enough food storage to get us through the “storm.”
The real question for all of us is, if we were the family who caught the flu are we ready to hunker down?
This morning the CDC confirmed the flu has now been identified in 14 states with 109 confirmed cases.
Among the U.S. cases confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are 51 in New York, 16 in Texas and 14 in California, as well as scattered cases in Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Arizona, Indiana, Nevada, Ohio, Maine and South Carolina.
On Thursday, state officials confirmed cases in Minnesota, Georgia, New Jersey and Colorado.
Nebraska’s chief medical officer says federal tests have confirmed the first case of swine flu in the state. It involves a California man in his 40s who’s vacationing in the Omaha area. Health officials have said the infection ultimately will be reported as a California case because the CDC counts cases of infectious disease by residence.
In a news release Thursday, Dr. Joann Schaefer also said two more probable cases in Nebraska have been detected.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,518444,00.html
April 30: 10:12 am PDT As I sit here writing FOX NEWS has just announced the the flu has now spread to 29 states. Don’t panic, just prepare.
April 30 4:00pm PDT
Nothing dramatic has happened today to report but all the reports continue to suggest cases of flu are still growing world wide. We still have time to do some preparing in case there is a dramatic change in the next few days. In my December 12, 2008 post I talked about identifying those who may need your help in the event a quarantine is ordered. This is a good time to consider those people and develop a plan for their care. As a reminder here is a portion of the post:
“Determine who among you is at greatest risk of death during a pandemic. These are the people you may need to emphasize in your preparation, as they may not be able to plan for and care for themselves. According to The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services this would include:
A. The economically disadvantaged (having little or no money to stockpile food and supplies),
B. Those without a social network (many children, the homeless, those geographically separated from family including transient workers and elderly),
C. Dependent individuals needing support for daily activities (physically disabled, developmentally disabled, mental illness, substance abuse or addiction, difficulty seeing or hearing, and other medical conditions),
D. Those with trouble reading, speaking or understanding English.”
If you know people in any of these situations take a critical look at your preparations and determine if you have enough to care for them also.
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I just have to say that maybe people needed a little “panic” to get better prepared. I agree – don’t panic – get prepared should be the message of this threat.
It must be the message of the day “Don’t panic”.. I keep reading it on blogs and seeing it played out on TV.
At this point, I don’t think there is much to be scared of – it’s a flu that they’ve been able to treat. That is a comforting thought. It’s what the “wave” will be – is the scary part.
For me, it’s been really good to analyze where my weak spots in my preparations have been and fix it. I feel better prepared now then I have ever been.
I’ve been able to teach my children about better hygiene, how to react if one of us (including me ) becomes sick and that there is no reason to fear, because we are prepared. It’s been a teaching and training moment to family and friends.
So for me… so far… it’s been a good thing to get a little panicked!
It is obvious you put a lot of care into your posts here. Very interesting and useful info – thanks for informing all of us. Nancy
Panic isn’t an option since panic is really self-centered in nature–I have too many people depending on me to panic! There is simply no time for that kind of paralysis. I feel motivated to action, but not panic-stricken, but perhaps that’s because I’ve been preparing for the last eight months for this.
Has anyone mentioned adding lotion to your stockpile? Perhaps you have, Carolyn. Now that we have the cleanest hands in our township we also have the dryest hands.