No matter what you choose to name it, the swine flu is spreading and taking more casualties with it. Schools and camps are closing, social and senior groups are re-scheduling and any sort of meeting is not taking place as per warnings. The swine flu is here in the United States and abroad and should be taken seriously.
Harvard University now has 9 students and counting, every other university and college is taking proper precautions and the waiting rooms at clinics and hospitals are filling up to capacity. If you have any symptoms similar to the ordinary flu, such as a runny nose, sneezing, coughing, fever and headache, you should seek medical intervention.
Do not shake hands or hang out with any group of people who congregate in dormitories or classrooms and who exhibit these symptoms. If you must sneeze or cough do so into a tissue or into your sleeve, not into your hands. If you must go out into the general public to eat or shop, use the hand sanitizers that fit into your pocket or purse. To be forewarned is to be forearmed!
Schools are a natural incubator for any airborne virus such as the swine flu, because students travel to home and back, travel to warmer climates and back, and Mexico is the epicentre of the flu epidemic. The swine flu has nothing to do with the pig itself or its meat, pork, so don’t worry about eating pork. It is perfectly fine. Every university and public school can count at least one related case as many families travel back and forth to visit their relatives and friends.
One victim has been reported so far in Texas and that was a toddler who was from Mexico who arrived at relatives with the symptoms already in progress. Hospitals have a protocol and have masks and hand sanitation signs everywhere. Be cautious, look after your friends and yourself, don’t take any risks and stay away from people who have the flu and are ill.