swine flu seems so easy to catch it but is it

Swine flu news is everywhere these days, just like SARS and West Niles cases first appeared in North America and got spread widely.   Is it that easy to catch Swine flu if you didn't recently travel to where it originates?  I personally don't worry about swine flu as much as I worried about catching SARS.

I learned during SARS to keep a little distance when talking to people at work or else where. When people cough, if they don't cover their mouth and turn away from you, hold your breath and move a little away from the person, then excuse yourself and leave immediately.   Hold your breath until you walk away a short distance. Wash hands constantly to avoid any bacterium from you hands being transfered to you when you touch your nose or mouth, or pickup food.

Some people are not considerate, when people are severely sick, they still come to work, or when they cough, they don't cover their mouth and turn away from you. If people who know they are sick and constantly go into your workspace, you will catch it as well if you had been deprived of sleep the last few days, or you were dehydrated because of not drinking enough water. I was badly sick back in 2006 when a severely sick with flu worker (not even co-worker) constantly came to my aisle to visit my co-worker. I felt sick an hour later and was really sick when I got home. I knew I got it from that worker and that lead to other sickness which I had to battle. I overcame finally and has been healthy since.

So, it is very important to have enough sleep, keep the body hydrated, wash hands thoroughly and keep a bit more personal spaces than normally would during this swine flu period. Avoid very crowded area until this widely spreading swine flu is over. Importantly, see your doctor or go to hospital if you have a flu and worry it may be swine flu.

If one is sick, flu or not flu, do not go to work until it is over. I think every company needs workplace etiquette guideline, if one is sick, stay away from work to avoid spreading the disease. Certainly, people should not abuse the guideline and take advantage of it.

West Niles

I am more worried about catching West Niles disease whenever I got a mosquito bite. It is hard to avoid being bitten by mosquito during Summer. When you just want to relax a bit in your backyard or tending to the flowers you grow, it is so often there are mosquitoes around. I normally do not like to spray myself with those mosquitoes protection spray just to go out for a couple of minutes. However, if I stay a longer time outdoor during the day, I will put on Avon's Skin so Soft bath oil to protect myself. I leave other mosquitoes protection spray for night time or to heavily wooded places where there are millions of mosquitoes.