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How Can I Protect Myself from Pandemic and/or Avian Influenza?
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Action Performed by Date and Time Comment Publish Michael Hauser 2007-09-23 13:43 No comments.
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No one knows when the next influenza pandemic will happen. Most medical professionals believe it is not a question of "if" an influenza pandemic will happen, but "when" an influenza pandemic will happen.
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What will happen during the early stages of the next flu pandemic, whenever it does come?
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There will be limited or no vaccine since it takes at least a few months to develop and produce an effective vaccine, and antivirals (for example, drugs like Tamiflu that can help treat influenza) will be in short supply.
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Non-pharmaceutical interventions -- ways to prevent flu that do not rely on medications or vaccines -- will most likely be the only available strategy to reduce transmission of a pandemic flu strain in the early stages of the epidemic. These interventions include the types of preventative actions that are mentioned throughout this website:
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Frequent hand washing or use of an alcohol-based hand sanitizer
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Covering your coughs and sneezes with your sleeve (or a tissue, so long as you clean your hands afterwards)
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Wearing a mask if you are sick with a fever and a cough or a sore throat
- Not touching your eyes, nose, or mouth unless your hands have been washed or cleaned with a hand sanitizer
- Distancing yourself from others if/when you are sick
- Distancing yourself from others who are sick