In medicine, we are supposed to "prepare for the worst, hope for the best." While it is certainly settling down now, it was expected to do that...for now. It is, however, projected to return in the fall. I can only hope that the flu comes back in a weaker state than other H1N1 outbreaks have done when they have gone dormant for the summer in the past. This is exactly the same pattern as the 1918 flu, for example. Since the H1N1 strain killed 50 million folks in 1918, I don't think a little concern about it is unreasonable.

There are still folks rushing to create a vaccine...and it scares me that we will have a repeat of the 1976 Fort Dix outbreak...and that another unsafe vaccine might be hyped for the public again in another panic. Not sure what is worse...a virus that has the potential to be really nasty or an untested drug being foisted onto the public. It takes years to do the testing that deems something "safe"...not weeks or months.

Graham has something to say on this subject.

[youtube]ZO-R3hg9rnY[/youtube]

Thar be "breaking news" on TV here right now, two cases of H1N1 in Norway. They're saying that the two infected are getting well though. How silly.

Oh, how I love SGB. It is the only thing on You Tube to which I subscribe for updates. While his take on the H1N1 flu is funny and all of the disgust with the media hype is not unwarranted, the point of concern for the folks involved in medicine and public health is that we'd all like to avoid it having to kill thousands of people before folks are aware of it and do what they can to stop the spread. As an example, it really is painfully simple to stop the spread of the flu. Yet, thousands continue to die from it each year. How pathetic is that?

Now we have a new virus which has the potential to be a hell of a lot nastier, perhaps some folks will take the hint and do what they can to keep their germs to themselves. No more showing up to work/school sick and infecting the rest of us...no more coughing/sneezing into your hands and then touching something that some other poor sod will be touching in a few minutes....no more forgetting to wash your hands as often as we are supposed to. It really is frustrating that there are nurses and doctors who can't even get this sort of thing straight...and if they can't how can we expect folks who didn't know any better...unless folks raise an alarm? [/soapbox]

It is sad, because almost all people I know dont even wash their hands before they eat. Sometimes I cant wash my hands before I eat (at work) So I find a way to not touch my food (which is usually a sandwich of some kind, so it has a wrapper!)

Wouldn't taking some Vitamin C help with this and all? Considering it helps support your immune system...

It is sad, because almost all people I know dont even wash their hands before they eat. Sometimes I cant wash my hands before I eat (at work) So I find a way to not touch my food (which is usually a sandwich of some kind, so it has a wrapper!)

Wouldn't taking some Vitamin C help with this and all? Considering it helps support your immune system...

Hmmm.. really? It's a good idea to wash your hands when appropriate anyways, but especially if there's a flu supposedly going around.

There are people who don't wash their hands after using the bathroom It's funny how restaurants have a little blue sign near the sinks in bathrooms that remind their employees to wash their hands after using the restroom, after smoking, touching your face... etc.

People shouldn't need to be reminded of those things. Should be common knowledge.

I grew up with a mother who believed strongly in Linus Pauling's philosophy that Vit. C was not used enough in our diets. So, we had 500 mg every morning and then 1000 mg whenever we were coming down with something...and I don't really remember ever being that sick as a kid. When I moved out on my own, I was rebellious...and broke. So, didn't buy vitamins and was sick all the time. So, was it the Vit C deficiency...or being out to all hours and partying my ass off? Hard to know. Many of my fellow ER nurses swear by Airborne and I use it when sick and have found I feel better than I percieve I would otherwise...but the studies done more recently suggest that it is the zinc in it that is helping...not the C. I'm coming down with something now. Yesterday, while at work, I noticed a familiar tickle in the right side of my throat that is always my warning sign that I am about to get sick with whatever crud is going around. In spite of having a large stockpile of Airborne already, I decided to give zinc a whirl this time. I got some of the Zicam nasal stuff...and used it a couple times and then had a long nap this afternoon. I dunno...but am feeling a lot better tonight. I'll have to see how this goes. Hopefully I headed it off. I am going out of town next weekend and can NOT be sick!

As for not being able to wash your hands...how about carrying a little bottle of hand sanitizer? I've bought many over the years that are perfect for being in your pocket...but it gets expensive. Now I just refill one of my little bottles from a less expensive jumbo one. I have a HUGE one that cost me about 10 bucks at Sam's and those last me about a year. I've also come across the green tea and aloe scented one from Method and it is a huge hit at work. I keep one on my counter in my work area to supplement the little one in my pocket - 12 hrs means a lot of occasions to clean hands! It just smells so nice and fresh that loads of folks come and get a couple pumps of it as they go past...men as well as women.

If I washed my hands all the time instead, I wouldn't have skin left. I get eczema from the harsh soaps we use in the hospital and was thrilled when the CDC said hand sanitizer was just as good as a good handwashing as long as there was no visible soil on them. The over the counter soaps that are antibacterial (triclosan ones, not the chloroxenol and chlorhexidine ones found in hospitals) are also now being investigated for helping bacteria to become resistant. None of the alcohol based hand sanitizers have that problem, though....so for day to day use, plain soap and water and hand sanitizer end up being the winners.

On the subject of ick, germs and hands...don't even get me started on artificial nails...lol.

I found this quite interesting.

[youtube]<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/GBeKB7aKzOs&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/GBeKB7aKzOs&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>[/youtube]

Yep. It's interesting.

He is, however NOT a medical doctor. He is a dentist and a naturopath. Granted he has done a couple of masters degrees on top of that - neither of which are in medicine, microbiology, virology or any other area that gives him the knowledge base from which he can adequately comment nor the right to scare the public like this. There is some stuff online that gives credence to what he says by stating he's been pubished in some journals. Well....gee...even I can say that...and the journal in which I was published was an actual medical one (Canadian Medical Association Journal). From 1994 onward his writings have been published by his own company, as far as I can gather.

In the early - mid 1990's he was active in the movement for the dental scene to have a plan for avoiding HIV transmission since the risk is similar to the one surgeons face in the operating room. Quoting from the wikipedia article about him (reference shown at the bottom of that page): "In 1999, Da Vid, one of Dr. Horowitz's collaborators on the research presented at the Vancouver AIDS conference, said of his AIDS conspiracy theories that he was "giving too much credit to these people being so well organized ... I told him directly I thought he'd gone off the deep end.""

He also has a business where he peddles "remedies" to illnesses. The most marked one was named after the discoverer of the SARS virus...and the poor man died before he could finish his fight against his name being used. We've all agreed that the scare tactics of the media are repulsive. Unfortunately, this guy's not much better. He is tantamount to being a snake oil salesman. If he wasn't receiving his own direct financial benefit from his claims that he is "helping", maybe he wouldn't piss me off so much.

He has also been vocal in the whole anti-vaccine thing. That's a whole other topic...and while I might think that the schedule could be rethought a bit, the idea that vaccines are a bad thing is simply insane. The mess having been fueled - if not started- by the "link" between MMR vaccine and autism...a link that was suggested after the researcher FAKED the data when he couldn't get his study to say what he wanted it to say. An act that has caused the researcher in question to be looked at for losing his medical license and somehow this isn't juicy enough news to hit the headlines like his fraudulent claim was...and kids are going unvaccinated against crap we hadn't had to worry about for decades.

So, yeah...what he says is interesting. So was the Mel Gibson movie, "Conspiracy Theory".

Apparently that wasn't even Mel Gibson

lol...cute.

lol...cute.

Hey Sam-I-Am, it's really cool and impressive that you're a doctor. That's not sarcastic or anything, I just didn't know any other way to tell you I admire you for that.

Also Horowitz probably was sitting next to Mel Gibson at conspiracy con.

Sitting next to Mel at conspiracy con...that's funny!

Sorry to disappoint...I'm not a doc...I'm an ER nurse. Yep, they even let nurses write in medical journals when we have something useful or intelligent to say. My father is a doctor and my mother is a critical care nurse (both now retired) so it was pretty much the family business...although I opted for the more hands on with patients and lower liability. The fact North Americans are so law suit happy I find rather ridiculous. I was lucky enough to be part of a family, though, that supported my geekiness and exposed me to journals when I was growing up. It was certainly good prep for making nursing school pretty easy when I decided to become an RN.

^
Very admirable none the less.
I never thought I'd encounter an accomplished medical person who also likes Devy, on the internets or otherwise Pretty cool.

I know that one of my doctors likes Stevie Wonder and David Bowie; I heard some coming out of his office while chilling in his waiting room. Also very cool!