Flu Virus - The Oldest
and Most Common Enemy

Flu Virus, probably the only thing that has been around longer is the cockroach, and that is just a guess. The flu virus has so many different strains they are almost to numerous to count. It is believed that you can only catch one strain of the virus one time. After you catch it you will then build up an immunity to that particular strain. The only problem with this is that each year there is a new and different strain.

How do you keep from catching the flu? Many people believe it is spread through the air. They think that when someone sneezes or cough that the virus is released into the air and that they catch it by breathing. But the experts tell us that the most common means of spreading is hand to hand.

It goes something like this; someone who has the flu virus sneezes or coughs onto some object, such as a desk or some paperwork, or many times into their hand. When you touch the papers or whatever they coughed or sneezed on, or you shake hands with them you now have the virus on your hands. If you do not wash your hands or decontaminate them with some of the new hand cleansers it is very likely that you will rub your nose or your eyes, or you may have to cough and you may put your hand up to your nose or mouth. Either way, you now have been exposed to the Flu virus.

Okay, so how do you prevent catching the flu? You may be surprised at how simple it is to prevent getting the flu virus. For the most part all you have to do is practice good hand washing. The flu virus is taken into the body through one of the mucus membranes. Where are the most common mucous membranes? These are:

• Nose
• Mouth
• Eyes

Yes I'm sure someone has thought of the virus being passed through sexual contact, I suppose its possible, but again, we are looking for the most common means of it being passed from one person to another.

So if you are at work, what do you want to try to avoid. If someone brings papers and puts them on your desk. If they cough or sneeze on your desk or somewhere close so that your desk or surrounding area becomes contaminated. Or you meet a client and shake hands with them. With any of these you have a good chance of catching the flu if they have it.

At work what is the best way to prevent catching the flu? As noted above, just your everyday contact puts you in harms way. So here are some ideas to help.

• Try to avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with your hands if possible.
• Wash your hands often, especially after any contact where you think you may have had an exposure to the cold or flu virus.
• Keep a bottle or tube of alcohol-based hand cleanser, something labeled "germicidal.” These products also come in disposable wipes that you can keep in your desk or car. But again, for the office maybe just a tube of the cleanser. All you have to do is squeeze a small amount into your hands and rub them together. It does not require a towel for drying.

Many of us are concerned about the "bird flu" or "avian flu virus." It is feared that it can become pandemic, (meaning that it can cover an entire area, an entire country, or even world wide.) This flu virus is thought to be highly contagious. Currently it is only being passed from birds to humans in areas where the humans are in actual contact with the bird. Mostly people who are raising chickens and are in contact with them on a daily basis. It is when they are in physical contact with the birds or their excrete.

The major concern at present is that the virus will go from chickens to wild birds, especially migratory birds. The migratory birds travel thousands of miles each year sometimes to many different parts of the world.

Just touching or coming in contact with a contaminated bird will not allow the virus to get into your blood stream. It is only when you touch the mucous membrane that the virus can cross over into the blood stream and cause the flu. So again, practice good hand washing, change your clothes before going into the house. Then throughly wash your body good, including your hair. with these precautions there should be very little chance of you catching the bird flu virus.