The swine flu, also known as H1N1, is a deadly disease that is killing many people across the world. Ukraine, for example, has just seen a surge of disease that has left almost 200 people dead in about a week. This is indicative of a very serious issue and something that shouldn’t be taken lightly, as it currently is by the public. If you want to avoid dying from the flu, then you need to learn how to prevent getting sick.
The first step to avoid getting sick is to learn how the flu spreads from person to person. The method for this particular flu is generally unknown, but many studies have pointed to droplets. That’s to say that the swine flu isn’t actually airborne - it stays inside of the droplets that come out of your nose and mouth when you cough, sneeze, or talk. If you stay in a closed area with someone that has swine flu or if you’re talking to one for an extended period of time, then the odds of getting the flu increase. This is why there have been relatively few cases in adults: they don’t spend as much time close together in a school-like area to get sick.
There are other ways the flu can spread, though. It can spread from touching something infected and then touching it yourself. You can also eat contaminated food that someone sneezed on or touched while they were sick. Getting the swine flu this way, however, should lead to less severe symptoms due to the fact that it’s more likely to infect your gastro-intestinal tract than the respiratory system.
With that in mind, the first line of defense against the flu is a good mask. The CDC recommends N95 masks for healthcare workers. The filter isn’t small enough to block the actual flu out, but it will prevent the droplets from going through. These masks are incredibly good for preventing the flu and should be used if you can afford to buy them. If you can’t, then I recommend surgical masks. These do not offer the same protection as N95 masks, but they are still very useful in preventing the flu.
