Friday, August 21, 2009

How to Survive a Flu Pandemic?

It is better to be jittery than unprepared.

Source Unknown Reprint:
Take positive steps to boost your health and your immune system right now.
The swine flu can wreak havoc on those with compromised immune systems. Eat a healthy diet, drink plenty of water and exercise daily to increase muscle mass and strengthen your cardiac and respiratory systems. Avoid junk food, cigarette smoking and alcoholic drinks, all of which can lower your immunity. Vitamin C. Most mainstream medical professionals will tell you that taking Vitamin C will not prevent swine flu. No one seriously disagrees with that. Homeopathic and alternative medicine types, however, claim that taking massive amounts of Vitamin C may help your immune system combat the flu. Health consultant Jonathan Campbell recommends that you start taking 1000 mgs of Vitamin C immediately, and increasing your dosage from there. Unfortunately, this amount of Vitamin C poses its own health risks, possibly leading to diarrhea and dehydration

Wash hands frequently with antibacterial soap.
Concentrate on keeping the house spotless, especially the kitchen clean. Stock up on antibacterial hand soap and disinfectant sprays. Wash dishes as soon as the meal is over and use plenty of hot soapy water or (preferably) a dishwasher. Dry counter tops and supply paper towels for family members to dry their hands.

Stock extra food
Stock up on essential food items before a flu pandemic keeps you inside your home. Save plastic milk jugs and fill them with fresh water. Purchase additional canned food items, dry beans, flour, sugar and other staple foods and store them in a pantry or under the beds. Don't forget to stock up on pet food.
Avoid crowds.
Shop very early in the morning and bring anti-bacterial towelettes to the grocery store. Wipe off the grocery cart push bar and any place on the cart a baby might touch when sitting in the cart. Avoid using public bathrooms. Do not go anywhere near individuals known to be infected. Avoid places, such as hospitals, where those who believe they are infected are likely to go. Unless necessary, do not travel any place where swine flu has become highly concentrated. You should also consider avoiding sporting events, concerts or any other place where massive amounts of people will gather.

At last, face Masks May Help

• , At First. Those surgical face masks you see people wearing in Mexico will not prevent transmission if you come in close contact with swine flu. The virus is small enough that it easily passes through the mask. If they work at all, they work to prevent the already infected from expelling the virus through their own sneezes. Ironically, people will probably shy away from you if you are an early adoptef of face mask wearing. This extra personal space may help you avoid swine flu. But once masks become widespread, this benefit will no longer apply.
• Anti-Viral Drugs. There are two main anti-viral drugs that may be somewhat effective against swine flu, Tamiflu and Relenza. Tamiflu is a pill, while Relenza is an inhalant. Unfortunately, the effectiveness of these drugs against this strain of flu virus is yet known. Drugs developed specifically for this strain will take several months to come online. There is some danger of a negative reaction to the drugs. Perhaps the biggest problem is that these need to be taken within 48 hours of the onset of symptoms, which means that if you plan to take anti-virals you should not try to ride out illness to see if it becomes severe. If you have a fever and want to use anti-virals, seek them immediately.
• .
• Vaccines. There is no existing vaccine for this strain of swine flu. A vaccine may be available when the second or third wave of swine flu hits this fall and winter. However, previous vaccines against swine flu turned out to be more dangerous than the disease. The 1976 infected 200 people, hospitalising 12 people and killing one. But 40 million people were been vaccinated, resulting in 25 deaths and at least 500 cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome, which can be fatal. Until the risks of a new vaccine are known, you should avoid being vaccinated and refuse any vaccination you are offered.
• Have food and water ready. In any crisis, from a bad storm to a deadly viral outbreak, it is a good idea to have at least a few days of food and water ready. There's no need to panic about the food supply, but you shouldn't be shy about buying some soup. Your water supply probably won't be interuppted but having a couple of gallons of water in a cabinet won't hurt you.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

between the Macdonald Bacon, Egg & Cheese McGriddles and the home-made congee

Mac is
tasty, costly, high caloric, good because I have to walk there for exercise, a cool place to have breakfast in summer, the cause of my big belly, accelerate the global warming, helping the economy,

home-made congee is
tasteless, cost only 10 cents for most, high energy and carbohydrate, bad because I don’t do exercise if I eat at home, even hotter to have that in summer, the cleanser of my stomach, increasing the chance of the farmer to survive, still helping the economy,

I am very enjoy these 5 months. Thank you kids.

It is 4 pm now. I took them shower, then trimmed their nails, feed them earlier than usual, washed all the dirty clothes, prepared rice for tonight, watered the shiso plant outdoor and slightly organized the house. It has 6 months since I moved to Japan. This is just one of the other days. But I feel this was a moment I need to remember. I went to the tsukuba-shi of Ibaraki-ken with kids today. It was far and we walked a lot. I felt distress that we can’t make it to the uchuu senta-. I can only afford to go there with them because of the admission was free and I didn’t even make it because the walking distance while I have to hold my daughter and my son was so tired to walk anymore in the half way. We had walked more than 30 minutes already. How disappointed it was? Then, we stopped at a game center; however, I only had 500 yen (yes $5 dollars only) in my pocket and my son was keep asking me that he wanted to play. I felt so pain to say no because actually I didn’t have enough cash.

It has been more than 5 months since my last blog. And why this is the moment I need to remember. Next week this time, I might be heading to my new and first arubaito in Japan. I recalled how many time I had asked my son to wait for me to finish my work before playing block with him; how many time I whether searched the internet instead of taking nap with them; how many time I hit him because of those tiny little things; how many time I put him down after just couples minutes of kata kuroma and pretending I was tried and actually I wasn’t; how many time my son asked me to go to kouen with him and I whether reviewed my Japanese and said no and how many time I slept late to work on my resume or even watch movie. In our life, there is absolutely something more important than anything else, anything- your kids. I am so happy to stay with them in these 5 months and I feel so treasure that those time might end soon since I have found this part time. I have lost 20 months of my daughter childhood and I will never trade their childhoods with anything else, not even…

I will soon be able to post a Japanese version of blog for the first time. I am so exciting to see my first draft.

My Japan’s life is full of energy again. First is the menkyosho and the second one is this arubaito. Ganbarou!.

About

Misato, Tokyo, Japan
I was born in Hong Kong and lived in US for 12 years. And now I am living and working in Japan. I am an IT professional and environment protection activist. Yes, I am trilingual. So be WDOB!