swine flu

100 people get swine flu and everyone wants to wear a mask. over 10 million have aids and no one wants to use a condom.

WHO: No Evidence Of Sustained Spread Of Swine Flu

There is no evidence of the swine flu virus spreading in a sustained way outside North America, a top World Health Organization official says.

Dr Michael Ryan, WHO Director of Global Alert and Response, praised European nations’ handling of cases and said events did not seem out of control.

Mexico has cut its suspected death toll by 75 to 101, indicating the outbreak may not be as bad as initially feared.

The country has ordered a five-day shutdown in a bid to contain the virus.

Mexican Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova told the BBC that, based on samples tested, the mortality rate was comparable with that of seasonal flu.

Dr Ryan, meanwhile, said that there was “no evidence of sustained community spread outside of North America”.

“I think it would be, at this stage, unwise to suggest that, in any way, those events are out of control or spreading in an uncontrolled fashion,” he said. “I think the next few days will tell as this develops.”

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8030859.stm

thieves hide behind flu masks

Watch thieves hide behind flu masks

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Three armed thieves wore the blue surgical masks now ubiquitous in flu-hit Mexico City to hide their faces as they robbed watches from a department store, Mexican media said Monday.

Employees and security guards at a branch of the Sanborns department store told the daily Excelsior the thieves were able to slip through the shop Sunday without attracting attention as they blended into a sea of masked shoppers.

One of the robbers threatened store assistants with a gun while another guarded the door and the third helped himself to watches from the jewelry department.

Mexico is in the grip of a new strain of flu that has killed up to 149 people and set off a major global health scare after infecting people in the United States, Canada and Europe, raising fears of a flu pandemic.

Banks in the Mexican capital have been forced to abandon normal rules over not letting in customers wearing face coverings as the government took emergency measures over the weekend and advised residents in the crowded city to wear face masks at all times outside their homes.

(Reporting by Catherine Bremer; Editing by Eric Beech)

swine flu

swine influenza virus is in the news the in Mexico 7 killed from it and 153 suspected to have die from it. In Mexico they have a Population of  109,955,400 that is 1 in 15,707,974 have been killed from it or 1 in 687,221 uspected to have die from it 

Infection control

Good personal health and hygiene habits, like hand washing, are reasonably effective in avoiding and minimizing influenza. People who contract influenza are most infective between the second and third days after infection and infectivity lasts for around ten days.Children are notably more infectious than adults and shed virus from just before they develop symptoms until two weeks after infection.

Since influenza spreads through aerosols and contact with contaminated surfaces, it is important to persuade people to cover their mouths while sneezing and to wash their hands regularly. Surface sanitizing is recommended in areas where influenza may be present on surfaces. Alcohol is an effective sanitizer against influenza viruses, while quaternary ammonium compounds can be used with alcohol to increase the duration of the sanitizing action.In hospitals, quaternary ammonium compounds and halogen-releasing agents such assodium hypochlorite are commonly used to sanitize rooms or equipment that have been occupied by patients with influenza symptoms. During past pandemics, closing schools, churches and theaters slowed the spread of the virus but did not have a large effect on the overall death rate. Face masks might help reduce transmission in an influenza pandemic.

References 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influenza

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_swine_flu_outbreak