The Flu and You

It's that time of year again. No not just the holiday season, it's flu season. Runny noses, coughing, and other unsightly things even I'm too squeamish to describe. If you're like me you can't afford to be sick. You have children to take care of or a job to get to each day and you just don't have time to be sick. Or it's tough just having enough money to buy groceries each week, let alone a doctor's copay and a prescription.

However, getting sick is more than just putting a drain on our time and finances, it can be outright deadly. The rising incidents of super viruses and bacterias puts us all at a greater risk than ever before. Science has done a wonderful job at helping us heal and fight infections, but it's been a double edged sword. By suppressing other viruses and bacterias we have increased the ability for new viruses and bacterias to grow and be more immune to current medications, thus creating new strains which are harder to kill.

In the news this week, the rise of a new Swine Flu has the scientific world buzzing and the World Health Organization on high alert. Luckily in most cases when a new strain is identified practices are put into place to help stop it from spreading, but everyday citizens like ourselves need to protect our families with another reminder that clean hands and keeping your hands out of your mouth, nose or eyes are some of the best defenses against you and the flu. This is especially important if you haven't had a flu shot or if you're concerned your flu shot won't work this year with recent reports that it's only 59% effective. If you'd like to read more about this year's flu shot visit Healthmap.org's article here.

So could a pandemic happen? The recent blockbuster movie Contagion gave us all a scary glimpse of the worst case scenario. But let's not find out shall we. All it takes is all of us being prepared for the worst but doing everything to keep the worst from happening. I've taken the time to make sure our family has plenty of over-the-counter medications in our emergency storage as well as reminding family members daily to be diligent with hand washing. We can't see the future as preppers but we can do our best not add to the problem if a crisis comes around. So when making your emergency preparedness plans, think outside the box of tornados and floods, remember an emergency could equal an illness and could be just as devastating.

Want to know how pandemics happen? Watch the video below "How A Virus Changes the World" from TakePart.com to learn more. Then share it with your family members, people at work and on your website or blog. Spread information, not the flu!