Top Five Ways to Detect and Dodge Swine Flu on Your Travels
Story Highlights
- So What Actually Happened?
- What’s Going to Happen?
- What Can You Do to Protect Yourself on the Road?
- It’s All In Your Head
- The Symptoms
So What Actually Happened?
Well in a nutshell nothing that hasn’t happened before. Swine Flu (or Swine Influenza as it’s known among the piggies) has been around for many a year. In fact if you drop the name and the year 1970 into a Youtube search - you’ll see that our yesteryear counterparts have faced down the same threat many times before. This time around it’s thought the outbreak started in Mexico with a strain of influenza that hasn’t been seen before – namely H1N1. It’s not isolated to pigs, it can be transmitted from human to human and it causes the normal signs of influenza. It’s treatable, the majority of people infected by it make a full recovery and just because it’s a new, undiscovered strain doesn’t mean it’s a mutant super killer from the future, destined to wipe out the human race. Remember that apocalyptic headlines sell trashy newspapers. To date the death count from H1N1 still doesn’t come close to the death total from regular flu.
What’s Going to Happen?
The last time a flu pandemic swept the world was 1968 and millions of people did die, BUT that was then and this is now. The current talk of an imminent flu pandemic is speculation because no one can predict if, or when, such an event will occur. There are six stages of a pandemic as defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and currently Swine Flu clocks in at stage number five. So it’s serious - but it aint’ def con one. The WHO is monitoring the situation closely and the majority of major governments are more than prepared to protect their populations and those travelling through their borders. In the United Kingdom for example a viral strain which can be used to produce a vaccine against swine flu has now been isolated and agreements have been set in stone with the big drug companies to produce a vaccine in the next few months. Governments around the globe are following suit so like they said during the war: “Don’t Panic!”
What Can You Do to Protect Yourself on the Road?
Let’s break this one down into two easy to follow strands - practical and psychological. The biggest weapon in any war against disease is good personal hygiene. Remember that cleanliness is indeed next to godliness. It’s simple really - prevent the spread of germs and you’ll slow down or prevent the spread of Swine Flu. Just wash your hands on a regular basis (after bathroom trips and any spell on public transport) or invest in one of the biggest bug busting weapons in the war against MRSA, antibacterial hand gel. The use of this affordable and widely available little wonder has slashed the MRSA infection rates in British hospitals and you guys can purchase special, scented varieties with moisturiser thrown in there too, so you get the baby soft skin benefit! If you sneeze or cough remember your Mum’s manners class, do it into a tissue and throw said tissue away as soon as possible. Get it out of your system, dump the breeding ground and get on with it.
It’s All In Your Head
Psychologically speaking it pays dividends to be conscious of the people around you, the coughs and sneezes spreading diseases principle and also who you’d rely on if you - or your travel buddy - came down with something. So if you’re planning to be away from home for a while, plan ahead to see what health care facilities are on offer at your destination. The staff at every St Christopher’s Inn know where the local doctors and hospitals are based, so as long as you’ve got travel insurance, don’t sweat it. Worry leads to stress, stress leads to anger, anger leads to the dark side . . . make you ill this will . . . You can’t quantify just how powerful the helping hand of a travel buddy is on the road so look out for each other and don’t be afraid to bump up the bill for the money addled travel insurance companies. It’s what they’re there for!
The Symptoms
Even though the odds of you picking up Swine Flu are astronomically small, it would be rude of me not to lay down the symptoms so that you guys, like those crazy boy scouts, can be prepared. The symptoms of H1N1 are similar to those of influenza so look out for the following:
- Fever
- Chills
- Coughs
- Headaches
- Fatigue
- Sore Throat
- Body Aches
The only sure fire way to confirm if you have Swine Flu or not is to get a throat or nose swab at the doctor’s office. This swab will then be sent away for laboratory analysis and the results are pretty quick, so peace of mind, or the appropriate treatment, is never far away.
- Rob Savage
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