The "flu"..be a responsible citizen

In the current hooha and caution of the infamous "flu" or A(H1N1) influenza, actually the situation has gotten worse in some Asian countries due to human attitudes.

In a certain country called the Bolehland, the "tidak apa" (lackadaisical attitude), "jual ikan" (selfish) and the irresponsible attitudes of some in the public community have caused local transmission in the nation faster and hampered preventive and mitigation efforts to contain the spread. Lackadaisical because patients delay treatments after the surfacing of the flu symptoms and persons exposed to patients are selfish and irresponsible enough to expose other people's health to danger.

In an organisation where yours truly is operating, a similar situation occurred. A team involved in an overseas trip failed all precautionary and preventive methods to curb bringing the disease back to the organisation.

• They chose to proceed with the overseas trip despite advice from the Health Ministry to avoid overseas travelling during this period. It wouldn't be a life and death situation if they did not go?!
• They did not put on surgical masks on the plane and at the airport. It wouldn't hurt one teensy-weensy bit if they did but it was too troublesome for them to do so?!
• They did not exercise the advised 7-10 days self-quarantine to ensure that they are not infected. Again, they are too hardworking or missed the office, their colleagues and networks too much?!
• They returned to the office without wearing surgical masks. They were so confident that they were not infected because they have telepathic abilities?!
  

No, they could not be bothered to think about the health of other human beings in the office and of those liaising with the office and exposed us with polluting the office environment. Rest assure we have, and love our families too. Well, it was too late to do anything, only to wait and see..well, if the situation will worsen. It is hard to define their attitudes; it is 100% wrong to say that they are uneducated because they are 200% very highly educated people.

Here's a snippet of a dialogue in the office:

Highly-Exposed Person (walking around the office): Hey, you've got extra surgical masks on your table? Can I have one too? I have to meet someone "very precious" to me later.
Colleague (showing disapproving face): Here you go. Tsk tsk.. [thinking, wtf?! Aren't we precious to our families too?]


What do you think about that?

For those who are still unaware of the precautionary ways to protect yourselves and in turn, protecting your families, please continue reading:

• It is good to avoid crowded places and tourists areas such as shopping malls, cinemas, planes and buses and to lessen, cancel or postpone group activities such as parties during this period where people gathered and assembled in an contained, air-conditioned environment or in close contact for a period of time without good air circulation. If unavoidable, social-distancing up to 1 metre is advised. Also as mentioned, overseas travel especially to affected countries and being contained in a plane for a duration of time as well as going through the crowded airport are potential contagion hazards.
  
• If you have to go and unfortunately exposed to a patient, please exercise self-quarantine for up to 7-10 days to ensure self is not infected or contagious to other people, whom you will be in contact later. This is because the virus has an incubation period and the sick person might not be aware of his or her condition if he or she does not develop any symptoms. It is highly infectious if the symptoms are there especially during a fever and children have a longer contagious period.
  
• If you really have to be in contact with other people, please inform the person and wear a surgical mask. It will help a lot if you cough or sneeze without a tissue or handkerchief. Put your surgical mask in a bag later before throwing in the dustbin. Practise good personal hygiene and cough or sneeze etiquette. Avoid shaking hands.
• Always wash your hands with soap using the steps as shown on pamphlets and on tv and try to avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth. The virus has a high probability to be found on places such as door knobs and documents. Have a alcohol-based sanitizer handy. The virus can survive from 2 up to 8 hours on surfaces and up to 48 hours in the environment.
  
• High-risks groups include elderly people, children, pregnant women, people who have health complications (such as diabetes, asthma, obesity and chronic lung diseases) and smokers. It gets more complicated in this hazy weather.
  
• Symptoms include (similar to flu-like illness) high fever, sore throat, runny nose with sneezing, dry cough, headaches, chest pains, diarrhea, vomiting , chills, fatigue and joint pains. Please go to the hospital if any of the symptoms surfaces. A rapid test will be conducted for the nasal and if the results turned positive, a swab test for the throat will be done to confirm.
• Eating pork and pork-based products (well-cooked >70 degrees) is safe as this virus does not transmit through food.Transmission is through virus in fluid droplets when someone sneezes or coughs; either through the air or when you touch the droplets on surfaces and touching your eyes, nose or mouth before washing of hands.
  
• Currently, there is no available vaccine for this virus. Medications used to to treat seasonal flu will not work on this flu. The available anti-virals are oseltamivir (Tamiflu®) and zanamivir (Relenza®) for treatments. Do not take these medications if you are not confirmed as you will develop a resistant to these medications and they will not work for you later if you are infected.
• The virus can be disinfected on surfaces with heat (75 - 100 degrees), chlorine, hidrogen peroxide, soaps, iodophors (iodine-based antiseptics) and alcohol as in your hand sanitizer (the effectiveness of these usage depends on the amount and frequencies). For more information or to confirm, please contact your nearest local Health Department.