H1N1 Articles
Flying into the flu season
nytimes.com
October 16, 2009
Television news shows and newspaper headlines scream about the potential dangers of the swine flu, also known as H1N1, and there you are, contemplating a trip for the upcoming holidays.
So, you ask yourself: Am I safe from airborne germs in the confined cabin of a crowded passenger jet?
Flu Fears Curb Life’s Rituals
By SUSAN SAULNY and KATIE ZEZIMA
nytimes.com
October 17, 2009
Yolanda Ray works in the kind of place where people “really love to eat and snack.” Colleagues are quick to tempt one another, she says, with homemade dishes and sugary treats laid bare for the taking on desktops.
Before the age of swine flu, the arrangement was fine. But now, employees at Rudd Equipment in Louisville, Ky., have new company-wide directives: No sharing of unwrapped candy. Cakes and pies must be cut and wrapped at home. Food needs to be served with utensils.
Despite all we know about flu, the big question remains: How do we contain it?
By Harlan Spector, The Plain Dealer
October 13, 2009
The H1N1 flu pandemic brings us in contact with reams of information about flu. But it also has brought to light major gaps in understanding how the influenza virus spreads, and how to prevent it.
Public health agencies have preached hand washing, and institutions such as Kent State University have responded by placing hand-gel dispensers on every floor of every building. But even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledged recently there is no scientific proof that hand washing prevents the spread of flu.
Hand-Washing Won’t Stop H1N1
It's become conventional wisdom that simple soap and water can protect against the flu, but the science suggests otherwise.
By J. Lester Feder
Newsweek.com
Sep 15, 2009
In a speech to schoolchildren last week that had some conservative opponents up in arms, President Obama delivered at least one line that seemed incontestable: "I hope you'll all wash your hands a lot, and stay home from school when you don't feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter." The Disney corporation is now marketing Musical Hand Wash Timers featuring characters like the Little Mermaid, and encouraging parents to "take precaution against swine flu" by teaching children to wash their hands correctly. "Studies prove that regular hand-washing dramatically reduces the spread of infection," says the Disney Web page, which links to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Web site.
Thanks in part to this and other campaigns run by the CDC, it has become conventional wisdom that hand-washing is the best way to protect yourself from the H1N1 strain of influenza. But while hand-washing has been shown to be a great defense against the common cold and other respiratory diseases, it might not actually be that helpful against the influenza virus, including the H1N1 strain.