The layman's take on the swine flu

By Josh Salm/Staff Writer
Probable versus confirmed; outbreak versus epidemic versus pandemic.
All the talk about today’s swine flu epidemic has been a cause for concern and angst for people worldwide. It’s being compared to the deadly Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, the one that killed more people than World War I did, which was going on at that same time.
Readers are left wondering, “What’s the difference between a confirmed case and a suspected case? Who can say what’s confirmed? And what the heck is H1N1?”
Here’s the thing folks. This strain of the flu, known as H1N1 or the swine flu, has killed 26 people worldwide according to U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and has infected just over 1,000 others, but the fact remains this is not that bad thus far.
This flu killed 26. The regular, ho-hum seasonal flu kills 36,000 annually.
And this isn’t the first time that we’ve gotten the swine flu.
While bouncing around on ProFootballTalk.com (to see if Brett Favre is yet again going to unretire and join the hated Minnesota Vikings), there was a video clip from 1976 with two Green Bay Packer football players talking about going to get their flu vaccine to stave off the swine flu.
That being said, there’s no vaccine for this flu yet so don’t go running to the doctor’s office demanding one because you read the word vaccine in this column and thought, “You know what, those old football players are right. I need to get vaccinated.”
What we all need to do in Piscataquis County is three basic things: wash your hands, cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze and stay home if you’re sick. It’s what health officials in the county have been saying since Day 1, and it’s the same message coming down from the federal government.
These solutions may sound like simple common decency. That’s because it is. Regular use of soap and hot water does wonders to fend off the flu, as does that antibacterial hand wash stuff. If you’re sneezing and coughing, don’t do it on the person next to you. For one, you don’t want to spread whatever you got to the whole community. Secondly, it’s disgusting. By the way, don’t pick your nose either (that’s right, you reading this while your forefinger is tickling your brain — stop it). Also, only use a tissue once and throw it away. The paper company in this state could use a little extra business if people would quit saving tissues to reuse 10-20 times.
If you’re sick, stay home. That goes for kids in school and working adults. Just stay home, get some rest, eat well and get better. Now, this doesn’t mean that if your significant other is sick, that doesn’t mean you have to quarantine yourself as well. If you don’t have the symptoms of the regular flu, go to work. If you have flu-like symptoms, stay home.
And if you have flu-like symptoms, don’t go to the doctor unless those symptoms get serious. There’s nothing a doctor can do about the regular, ho-hum flu other than look at you and send you home. Do everyone a favor and avoid the hospital if you’ve got the standard flu so you don’t spread it to everyone else in there. If it gets bad where you have shortness of breath, dizziness or chest pain, then go talk to a doctor. Otherwise, stay home.
Lastly, here’s three things I would like everyone to do to help mitigate this issue right now: be aware of others around you and who’s sick and who’s not; educate yourself about the flu by going to the federal Center for Disease Control and Prevention Web site (www.cdc.gov) or the Maine CDC site (http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/boh/swine-flu-2009.shtml), and lastly, use some common sense.
TO ALL CAMP OWNERS, FISHERMEN AND NATURE BUFFS: The introduction of Atlantic salmon into the Penobscot River will affect us here in Piscataquis County, even if the Penobscot doesn’t venture into the county. It’s not just salmon going in to the river, but also alewives and other “feeder fish” going into area waters as well.
Whether you know a little or a lot on the issue of the introduction of diadromous fish (fish that swim in both freshwater and marine waters) into the Penobscot River, Piscataquis County Manager Marilyn Tourtelotte set up a public information meeting at the Piscataquis County Superior Court on Thursday, May 14 from 6-8 p.m. to ask question to the State of Maine’s Atlantic Salmon Commission, the Department of Marine Resources and Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife about the proposed plan.
If you do nothing else, go and learn about how this plan could affect fishing in area lakes and rivers. This plan affects you just as much as it affects someone in Bangor.