News and predictions about H1N1 Flu (swine flu) are all over the news and the Internet.
- Paris Hilton says, “I don’t eat that”, when asked about swine flu in an online video. She’s not the only one confused about the outbreak – a few facts:
- Despite rumors, swine flu cannot be contracted by eating bacon (or any other type of pork, we just really like bacon!), but beware of pigs infected with the virus (a symptom would be snout sneezes-seriously!) – they can pass it to humans.
- The term pandemic is defined as the virus being transmitted in at least two countries in one region of the world and also within a third country in another global region (a global outbreak). In the case of swine flu, Mexico and the US have been affected, so it is not considered a full pandemic.
Some reliable resources for swine flu information recommended by the library community:
1. Pandemic Influenza Preparation and Response: A Citizen’s Guide
http://www.newfluwiki2.com/upload/InSTEDD Influenza Manual v1-5 Master-EDR.pdf
This guide discusses the history of pandemic influenza and what people and communities can do to respond.
2. DynaMed electronic resource from EBSCO publishing:
http://www.ebscohost.com/dynamed/swineflu/.
The DynaMed topic on Swine Influenza consolidates information from multiple sources for health care providers to stay current with recommendations for monitoring, diagnosing, and treating patients with flu-like illnesses during this outbreak.
3. The International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.promedmail.org/pls/otn/f?p=2400:1000:
The global electronic reporting system for outbreaks
of emerging infectious diseases & toxins.
4. The World Health Organization
The health authority of the United Nations countries.
5. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The CDC is a US government entity and is one of the major operating components of the Department of Health and Human Services.
