Blog About Safety

H1N1 is at pandemic level. Fall flu season has started.

It’s been in the news for a while. People are starting to get the flu. Some worry too much, others ignore the flu symptoms and go to work,  shopping and run any errands that they need to do. We need to have a balance.

Symptoms of H1N1 flu include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. Watch for these symptoms especially since the difference between H1N1 and seasonal flu can only be identified by your doctor.

If you have flu symptoms, stay home. If you have a fever, stay home for 24 hours after the fever is gone.

There are too many people that just ignore everything when they are sick. People go to work anyway. They send their kids to school. Sometimes it’s because of a boss that puts too much pressure on. Some people put the pressure on themselves. Sometimes it’s financial, especially in the current economy. What we have to remember is that it could be worse. When someone goes to work when they are sick, they are just spreading their illness.

Panic is not an answer either. It’s just – be careful, practice basic hygiene, stay home if you are sick and stay home for 24 hours after a temperature goes away. We can go directly to the source for news. Here is the information straight from the CDC website and the WHO website.  As of early June, the threat level was increased to Phase 6, which means we are at a pandemic level.

This map shows the current geographic spread of the H1N1 virus in the US. By clicking the Previous and Next Week links, it will also show how that geographic spread has changed over the past weeks and months.

With this at pandemic level, we need to take this seriously, but not panic. Take care of yourself during this flu season.

Are you concerned about getting the flu? Does it scare you that high cholesterol, heart attacks, cancer… run in your family?

If you worry about these things, what do you do to take care of yourself? Do you go to the doctor for regular checkups and talk to him or her about your concerns? Do you make sure to get a flu shot each year? Do you exercise, eat healthy, take vitamins? Many times the worry is worse if we don’t do anything to take care of ourselves.

For me it works better to make these changes in small steps. If I went from not exercising at all to a one hour workout every day, I’d never make it. Starting slowly, then increasing works much better for me. Currently, I’m starting yoga. It may not seem like much, but my muscles need to be stretched since I sit at the computer for too long each day. I’ll take yoga once a week for the first couple weeks, then go twice a week. I’m also adding a yoga stretch to my routine a couple of times each day. That only takes a few minutes, but makes a huge change in how I feel. I’ve done this type of change with many things over the years.

Preparedness in our own healthcare means staying on top of things and being in charge of our own health. This includes things like knowing your complete medical history and what a physical exam should include. There is a great book with a guide to all of this written by J. L. Richardson, M.D. The book can be found at http://www.mypatienthandbook.com/

The more we are prepared for, the better off we’ll be. More preparation and less worry and stress is the goal.