Be A Swine-Flu Fighter: Keep It Clean

Linda Shrieves
Sentinel Staff Write

Worried about the spread of swine flu?

Join the crowd.

Already, there are reports coming from schools across Florida that kids are being diagnosed with swine flu (also known as the H1N1 virus ). And in Georgia, Alaska and Puerto Rico, health officials say swine flu already is widespread.

The good news is this: Although swine flu is highly contagious, the World Health Organization says it generally causes "very mild illness" in healthy people.

But there are ways to prevent the flu from spreading, mainly by washing your hands.

If doctors sound like your mom, who keeps bugging you to wash your hands before you eat, there's a reason.

"Whenever you're contaminated by touching things that other people have touched — desks or tabletops in the lunchroom — you really should wash your hands before eating or drinking or touching your face," said Dr. Philip Tierno, director of clinical microbiology and immunology at New Yorks University's Langone Medical Center. Eighty percent of all infections are spread when you touch germs and then touch your mouth, eyes and nose. Read More