By Staff
With the official start of the flu season occurring on Tuesday, a few words concerning the flu season, and especially the swine flu, are appropriate.
Just how serious is the flu season? Just how serious is the swine flu?
Beaufort County Medical Center has imposed restrictions on people visiting patients there during the flu season, which ends March 31, 2010. The restrictions are in place to help prevent the spread of any kind of flu.
At Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, more than 100 students have been diagnosed and treated for swine flu.
In June, the swine flu, also known as H1N1, a contagious respiratory illness caused by a new strain of influenza virus, was declared a pandemic, meaning it is everywhere in the world.
There are some people who claim the media has sensationalized its reporting on the swine flu, making it out to be far worse than it is in reality and causing people to overreact to potential dangers. If taking extra precautions results in one person not dying from swine flu or one person not getting swine flu, then taking all those precautions are worth it.
An official with the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, puts the worldwide death toll from swine flu at 2,185 people, according to Monsters and Critics Health News and Earth Times.
The battle against swine flu can be won.
An effective, yet simple, way to help prevent the spread of swine flu and other flu strains is to wash one’s hands frequently, especially after being in places such as restaurants, doctors’ offices and large public gathering places or on airplanes, trains and other public forms of transportation.
People should consider getting the swine-flu vaccine when it becomes available. Each person should consult with his or her primary health-care provider about getting the vaccine. People should make informed decisions regarding protection from swine flu.
Like the adage says: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound cure.
It’s better to be safe than sorry.