Ready for Life

The news today on all major news networks is about Swine Flu and the cases confirmed in Mexico, Texas, California and now possibly Kansas.

This has some nastiness potential, but it seems all government agencies including the CDC and WHO are doing all the right things for social containment. World Health Organization has declared the Swine Flu Epidemic and International Public Health Emergency which gives them the personnel and resources to follow, track and support the local agencies.

For information on how to respond and recognize symptoms, review the sites above. Now is a good time to top off any over the counter medications to support a flu like illness and check expiration dates on medicines. Make sure you have current medications for diarrhea, fever reducing medication, and rehydration solutions. Have on hand Pedialyte or similar such as Gatorade diluted with water to support an illness of stomach flu symptoms. If you are out at the store, make sure you have some easy to store foods requiring little or no preparation such as soups, juices and teas.

Finally, make sure you keep good disinfectants on hand and remember to wash hands often, keep surfaces clean, and cough or sneeze into tissues that are disposed of properly. Watch your local news for updates and take the time to talk about Pandemic preparedness with your family since it is on the news anyway.

Follow recent events using these resources:

Use the HealthMap to track events for last 30 days.

Subscribe to the RSS feed for news from the World Health Organization.

Subscribe to Breaking News Online for updates via Twitter
@CDCemergency and @breakingnews

Flu Wiki Forum and FluWiki website. Maybe a little more anecdotal, but full of information.