You’ve likely heard by now. After weeks of hesitating, the World Health Organization has declared the H1N1 virus infections to be a Level 6 on the pandemic scale, which means a pandemic has been announced. The thing is this... you are still the same. My life is still the same. Nothing has changed from the five minutes before the announcement and five minutes after the announcement. That’s what people need to remember before beginning to panic.
How long can influenza viruses stay alive?
According to the standard information we have, the virus stays alive on your hands for about five minutes. It can stay alive on your clothing for up to 12 hours and it can exist on objects for up to 48 hours.
How do infections like influenza get transmitted?
There are five ways infections can be transmitted:
1. Skin to skin contact (scabies, for example)
2. Droplet (cold viruses coughed into the air and breathed in)
3. Airborne (much tinier viruses that hang around in the air, like H1N1 virus)
4. Common (an contagious person drinks from a water bottle, you drink from it moments later)
5. Insects (malaria, for example)
How can we protect ourselves from infections like influenza?
It can’t be stressed enough: hand washing – and proper hand washing, not just rinsing your hands under the water. Here is a site that has a good video showing how to wash your hands with either soap and water or sanitizer.
Hand washing breaks the infection chain. A pathogen (virus, bacteria, fungus) needs to be able to spread. Once it spreads, it has to have a good host (good living conditions) to flourish. If we stop it from spreading, then it can’t get any further.
Let’s not forget about maintaining a clean, safe environment in both the back and front of our trucks.
Ron
