If its not birds, its pigs
For a while there a couple of years ago, “bird flu” was in the news just about every day. Frankly, there may still be occasion to worry again about bird flu down the road. But for now, it is the turn of “Swine flu”.
Recent press reports have compiled outbreak of this infectious and potentially lethal form of flu in several countries (Mexico, USA, Europe, New Zealand are among the major centers of the outbreak). Here is the link to a good world map that has push pins in all the locations where swine flu has been detected to date. If you move your cursor over the push pin it gives you a bit of information about the incidence at that location. The authors of this useful map say they are going to update the map regularly. You can also visit the CDC (center for disease control) official site for up to the minute and credible information. Here is the link to their website: http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/
What does this mean to us?
As with all (and I repeat, all ) infections, people with compromised immune systems are more at risk. We need to be more careful. Prevention is the name of the game. The present take on the situation is that Tamiflu (the anti-viral that saw tremendous demand during the height of the bird flu fears) may be effective in the case of swine flu as well. But that may change down the road. The best thing you can hope for is never to catch the damn thing in the first place.
What to do?
The first line of protection in avoiding infections is common sense. We all know what to do, if we pause to think about it for a couple of minutes. Much of this ground was covered in earlier articles I wrote regarding annual and bird flu. Here are the links.
A trusted member also sent this link that provides guidance to individuals during a pandemic. Thank you Peter. http://instedd.org/flumanual . An alternate site that may work if the first one crashes is here:
http://www.newfluwiki2.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1833
If this “alarm” progresses to be more than a storm in a teacup I will make sure to update the situation as it pertains to CLL folks. Stay tuned.
On an unrelated note, I had a wonderful time at the Niagara Falls CLL conference. I will be uploading the slides from my talk as well as the text of my remarks in the next day or so. My thanks to the organizers for inviting me; but most of all, my heartfelt thanks to all the patients who made me feel so welcome. You brought tears to my eyes more than a couple of times.
21 comments on "Swine Flu"
Thank you Chaya for this information. My daughter was just telling about this over the phone this morning. She is going to Mexico on a cruise with her children and is concerned about this. Cruise line hasn’t redirected the ports of call yet, but she is concerned. I will ask about the inoculation for this type of flu at my place of employment where I will have my annual physical on the 8th of May. Otherwise I will follow the precautions you outlined in your previous updates about the bird flu. We have to always be on our guard. Looking forward to the slides from the conference in Niagara Falls.
Anita
Chaya,
Pretty Ironic don’t you think? All us CLLers up in Canada for the conference along with the swine flu
That was a wonderful, enlightening and encouraging presentation
Thank You
Annie
Chaya, thanks again!
You are marvelous, and the best advocate we have! Love to you and yours.
Edith
Bayside, NY
Chaya,
Wish I could have heard your talk! I’m sure it was wonderful. You are such a wealth of knowledge and one of the most intelligent people I know! Thank you for devoting your life to this work. We all love you so much.
Lori
Chaya:
There seems to be a problem with the flumanual as I keep getting unrepairable error messages when opening. Is there an alternate source?
TomD
I will try to find an alternate link and post it. Sorry folks.
I have just posted an alternate site to the flu manual in the main body of the article (the software we use does not allow live links in the comments section).
My guess is that sites such as this are being mobbed by people trying to find information and that sometimes crashes the site or slows down the response rate.
Hi Chaya
Thank you for your updates on prevention of the flu. Usually, I’m up on all these things. But with chemo on board, I’m somewhat more fearful.
Take care
Rita
Thanks Chaya. Living right next to the border with Mexico we are more aware of it than many. Really appreciate the advice.
Paul Garland
El Paso, Texas
Hello Chaya,
I enjoyed meeting you in Niagara Falls and especially enjoyed your presentation.
I am not an infectious disease expert anymore than I am a CLL expert, but simply want to emphasize to the audience in general the importance of common sense measures to avoid infection. basically the message is: wash, wash, wash and wash again!
Everyone must remember that doorknobs and toilet handles, elevator buttons and stair rails and the like may harbor viruses for prolonged periods. It is best to avoid touching these sorts of things whenever possible. using the back of one’s knuckle to push buttons limits the likelihood of touching an infected digit to a vulnerable area (eyes, nostrils, mouth) before you are able to wash, but always remember to wash whenever you can after touching such things, and always avoid them as much as possible.
With children attending school and day care facilities, people traveling to and from work and people working in crowded offices, etc, exposures are inevitable. The best defense is to avoid touching the vulnerable areas with potentially exposed hands and fingers. Our busy world travelers will no doubt quickly spread any new easily transmissable virus all over the world.
Until things get scary there is no reason to avoid concerts and ballgames, etc, but we should all be careful. One hopes that sick people who can will stay at home, but they may be able to spread their illness before they become symptomatic, so we must all be fastidious on our own.
Take care everyone,
Rick
Just an example of what Rick was saying. When I worked in production at Pennwalt (Pharmaceuticals), we talked our microbiology department into testing various locations around our building. Just about everything that people touch. Of course, our reason was to make everyone aware of the possibility of spreading disease to our customers, and the necessity of washing hands and wearing their uniforms, gloves, masks, hair covers and such when they were working with the raw materials and products.
The interesting thing we found was that the CLEANEST, least infected, items were the toilet flush handles and the faucet handles in the bathroom! But, the most infected were the knobs and push buttons on the candy and snack machines in the break rooms! I would assume that was because the cleaning crew cleaned the bathrooms several times a day…for obvious reasons, but no one ever thought of the machines in the break room.
After that, they were put on a cleaning schedule as well.
For myself, I do indeed wash and wash and wash. I also keep some of those disinfectant wipes (Lysol…claim to kill flue virus as well) handy in the kitchen and bathroom here. Wipe the handles and knobs around the house from time to time just to be sure. Also, at the grocery store, I’ve started using the wipes provided for the cart handles.
So far, knock on wood, in my years with CLL, I’ve had nothing more than minor colds…and only a couple of those.
BTW, Chaya…I forgot all about your visit to us here. I wanted to attend, as the conference was just a stone’s throw down the Thruway from me (I live outside of Rochester, NY). But I “clean” forgot about it until it was mentioned today!
Looking forward to your transcript and slides.
Harley
Chaya,
Everything I’m hearing since returning from the conference is that this flu may be mild for now; may go a little dormant over the summer but could reappear mutated (ironic nomenclature!) in the fall…so even if things quiet down we CLL folks need to watch and wait.
An honor for my wife and I to have met you at the conference. Everyone I talked to thought your presentation was one of the best. Thanks for answering my question from the floor on temperature and the Lance Armstrong effect.
Jim (and Gail)
Chaya:
The second link worked as advertised.
Thank you.
TomD
To all:
In addition to the usual cleaning solutions, I use the following for added protection>
a) latex gloves which I get from Home Depot, very cheap,
b) N95 masks, Gerson 2140 which has an exhaust valve which keeps the mask area cooler and Gerson 2130, unvalved. These two models fold flat and are available here: http://industrialsavings.com/hard-hats/respirators.html
c) You have most likely seen the tubs of sani-wipes in your doctors office. One manufacture has some pretty impressive specs which can knock out HIV, MRSA, aspergilus niger and some 90+ other nasties and is the commonly seen in medical facilities. I use Sani-Cloth HB as general purpose wipes for keyboards, toilet seats, steering wheels etc available here:
http://medrepexpress.com/store/supplies/antibacterial.htm
d) Gallons of Purell have been used in our house and elsewhere. Normally, the gels are 62% ethanol but of late Purell has increased this to 65%.
TomD
Thank you Chaya!
The flu news is widespread. We appreciate the links and look forward to what you provide from the conference. I’m so glad you were appreciated in person.
Linda
Chaya,
Great to see you again at the conference. What you had to say can be repeated enough. Thank you.
The flu story is evolving and needs to followed. While, I am not suggesting panic, and hand washing is most important, I recommend picking up some N-95 masks to be ahead of a curve that I hope doesn’t come.
Be well
Brian
Brian:
I agree. It is far better to be prepared for the emergency that never arrives than be caught ill prepared and unaware if things get tough.
N95 masks and alcohol gel – these are two items that every CLL household should have on hand at all times, whether or not there is a swine flu or some such monster to worry about.
Chaya –
Nice to meet you at the conference! I very much enjoyed your talk and your perspective on how we can be our own advocates in our fight. It was a real pep talk for us “new -omers” to CLL.
After the conference I must say that I also feel very lucky to live in the good ‘ole USA and to have the opportunties we have in healthcare. I’m so grateful.
Thanks, as always, for your time and contributions –
Emily
I talked at length with a good friend and CLL expert about his guidance for CLL patients during this time of high alert for potential H1N1 epidemic. His guidance reflects pretty much what we had to say in our earlier articles on the CLL Topics website.
He has a couple of additional comments that I would like to highlight. If you run a fever that is 3 degrees (F) above your normal body temperature, you should get yourself to a doctor right away. It is important that you are evaluated by a trained physician rather than self medicate yourself with Tamiflu. This is because in addition to (or instead of) the H1N1 viral infection, you may also have opportunistic bacterial infection and if that is the case you will need antibacterial medications (perhaps intravenous antibacterial meds) and not just the anti-viral.
A couple of you wrote and asked about herbal and alternate medicine immune boosters in an attempt to protect yourself. I strongly urge you to refrain from such experimentation. If indeed the herbal concoction or whatever is effective in increasing proliferation of immune cells, that might be exactly the wrong thing to do in a CLL patient. The name of the game is PREVENTION, PREVENTION AND MORE PREVENTION.
We will get through this. Just stay smart and ahead of the curve. OK?
dentymic Apr.30,2009
Thanks for the update on swine flu. I live in Montana and just started Fludarabine therapy three days ago after rituxin and two courses of Chlorambucil. I’m just getting Fludarabine and Cytoxin as I had a reaction (vasculitus) to the rituxin treatment in 2005. Lots of handwashing and wipes, I guess. I do do some herbal immune system boosters which I take it from the postings and the Avian flu article I probably ought to stop??
Thanks for your help.
Chaya,
Thank you so much for speaking at the CLL conference. You are a real inspiration and I thank you for the work you do for all CLL patients. I read all about your husband and he seemed like such an amazing man. I’m sure you miss him dearly and I’m sure he is smiling wherever he is. God bless you for all you do!
Ants
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