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PANDEMIC ALERT LEVEL
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Tracking the next pandemic: Avian Flu Talk

"Ban on handshakes may help"
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    Posted: March 29 2006 at 7:20pm
Ban on handshakes may help to stop the spread of bird flu

"PEOPLE should stop shaking hands with each other if there is a bird flu pandemic to help reduce the spread of the disease, a leading medical expert said yesterday.

In addition to distributing anti-viral drugs and vaccines, Dr Dermot Kennedy, of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, said that the need for the general population to have good "basic hygiene", particularly hand-washing, should be stressed.

Dr Kennedy, a consultant in infectious diseases in Glasgow, who is chairing a meeting of leading bird flu experts at the Royal College today, said stopping the practice of shaking hands when meeting someone would be a "good idea" and could act as a symbol of the need to keep them clean.
"It would raise eyebrows, but it would make a point," he said.

"We have always thought influenza transmission is through coughs and sneezes, but hands are becoming recognised as increasingly important.

"If people are sneezing all over the place and you put your hand on a strap in the underground and then to your mouth, you could be infected."

Dr Kennedy admitted that it was impossible to tell when a new flu pandemic would occur, and even if the current H5N1 strain would mutate into a disease that was capable of being spread from human to human, describing the flu virus as an "enigmatic imponderable".

However, Dr Kennedy said that at some point in the future there would be a new pandemic which could have devastating consequences.
The bird flu outbreak in 1918-19 killed between 40 million and 80 million people, but Dr Kennedy said a similarly infectious strain could cause far more deaths today.

"At that time the world's population was 1.5 billion and now we are over four times that. If you equate that [death rate> to the current world population, it could be a quarter of a billion."

He added: "The difficulty with a new pandemic strain is the tendency it has to develop very quickly and overwhelm services. If you get a lot of people fulminatingly ill, in a critical, life-threatening state, within 24 hours of feeling unwell... I'm not sure we will be able to save those patients."



http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/scitech.cfm?id=489052006
    
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http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2004/11/28/catholic_leaders_issue_advisory_on_flu_precautions/
 
H2H may change church traditions: This article suggests if you are sick stay home, don't drink from the communical cup, don't shake hands.
 
I wonder how they will stay 3 feet apart if someone is coughing?
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Rick: The handshake thing isn't that easy. I have been avoiding it but people do seem to be slightly offended. I play a lot of tennis and a failure to shake hands just doesn't go down well at all. In business, particularly in sales, it must be almost impossible.
 
I suppose we could bow or nod or something?
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Ya, I heard that Donald Trump doesn't shake hands. He bows.
 
It just occured to me that one thing that I'll miss are hugs.
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Just had this mental picture of two people hugging. They were wearing wet suits.Smile
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At Mass at the "Peace of Christ" we shake hands. I still do, however, quickly wipe my hands with a purell wipe, and pass it to the rest of my family. I swear, It takes me back to grade school on the playground, yelling  Yuk!! Cuddies!!! Shots, Shots!!!
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Why is it everything I read now just frustrates the .....out of me?  Could it be that I just have a highly developed survival instinct and an equally progressive incoming ....... warning system?
Look, I am only going to say this one more time.  If you're close enough to shake hands with a person that is H5N1 infectious and you're not wearing an NBC and don't decontaminate after the encounter before you remove your gear, you may as well just dig your own grave and crawl in it.
Ban on handshakes....
 
Get a clue people!  It's a Ban on Contact, it's a period of Total Isolation they should be talking about, not freaking handshakes, for the love of god!!!
 mod edit Siam
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"Dr Kennedy... describing the flu virus as an "enigmatic imponderable".

"enigmatic imponderable"? Here's another two:  The reason people like Dr. Kennedy are allowed to speak in public and that  people are allowed to quote him.
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LOL
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Have to invent as new method of greetings for the new world. Any ideas?
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let's wave at one another from a safe distance, or render a salute.
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I think people at work think I'm pretty strange, but I don't care.  I use paper towels to open doors with, and wash my hands whenever I have to touch a public machine, like a fax or copier.  I do have to shake hands with people sometimes so I always do shake, but then I don't touch anything and RUN to the bathroom to wash my hands as soon as they are out of sight.  Oh, and recently my company said they are buying hand sanitizers to put around both the offices and the factory floor.  Very interesting!  No word of BF, just that they think it would a good thing to have.
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Spray a can of lysol on the person and yourself.
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I think they might notice that guest!
yes waving is good and i do like the idea of saluting. very formal and respectful.
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Strange how disease over the years has changed customs and habits. The "Bless you" to wearing black at funerals have come from pandemics. Let's just hope that we develop no new "customs" in the coming years.
It's always the lowest common denominator.
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Originally posted by Thomas Angel Thomas Angel wrote:

Why is it everything I read now just frustrates the .... out of me?  Could it be that I just have a highly developed survival instinct and an equally progressive incoming ....... warning system?
Look, I am only going to say this one more time.  If you're close enough to shake hands with a person that is H5N1 infectious and you're not wearing an NBC and don't decontaminate after the encounter before you remove your gear, you may as well just dig your own grave and crawl in it.
Ban on handshakes....
 
Get a clue people!  It's a Ban on Contact, it's a period of Total Isolation they should be talking about, not freaking handshakes, for the love of god!!!
 
mod edit Siam
 
Ah... I like it....It reminds me of the Government statement about the Indians in "The Outlaw Josie Wales".....Endeavor to Persevere....Wink
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Thomas Angel: Its possible that we are all in agreement about the isolation. Maybe its just a question of timing. At some point our comfort zone will expand to perhaps throwing distance or shouting distance. The problem is how to handle the transitional period. I'm still working and I come into close proximity with my customers.
 
I should go into isolation now but I'm taking what I believe to be a reasonable gamble. Its just a question of timing. I am gradually bringing down the shutters by isolating my house and avoiding bringing anything in on my shoes. Total personal isolation will come later but I suspect that I will still be several months too early.
 
 
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Bannor, thought that was Chief Dan George quoting what the government told the Indians ...
 
Hand-shaking is a cultural thing for my people - which is probably why so many of them perished in the 1918 Spanish Flu. Think I'd prefer to shout from the over the fence, or from the front door to whomever is in out front in their vehicle ... which is a cultural thing as well! 
 
Perhaps a code system should be set up - for quarantines, deaths, or medical emergencies or public safety. 
"When an emergency arises, the time for preparation is past."
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Originally posted by Scotty Scotty wrote:

Thomas Angel: Its possible that we are all in agreement about the isolation. Maybe its just a question of timing. At some point our comfort zone will expand to perhaps throwing distance or shouting distance. The problem is how to handle the transitional period. I'm still working and I come into close proximity with my customers.
 
I should go into isolation now but I'm taking what I believe to be a reasonable gamble. Its just a question of timing. I am gradually bringing down the shutters by isolating my house and avoiding bringing anything in on my shoes. Total personal isolation will come later but I suspect that I will still be several months too early.
 
 
In the meantime just tell people that you have a very nasty flu virus and you haven't had the opportunity to wash your hands in the last five minutes.  Sorry, no shaky.
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The precedent for total isolation for me personally will be the moment I feel at risk.  I've already started modifying my behavior in regards to contact with people.
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Originally posted by Scotty Scotty wrote:

Thomas Angel: Its possible that we are all in agreement about the isolation. Maybe its just a question of timing. At some point our comfort zone will expand to perhaps throwing distance or shouting distance... 
Or shooting distance...
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I totally agree our society should ban handshakes.  But they won't do it until they understand the threat and then it will be too late.  I have to "maintain" at work in the meantime.  And by that, I mean before BF goes H2H.  At that point I will suddenly announce to my boss via a voicemail that I will need to take a leave of absence.  If that's ok, then great.  After it's over, if the company is still there, maybe I'll have a job.  I'm not really counting on that.  Right now, and if it never happens, I need the paycheck for preps, or normal life, it it continues to be normal.  That is actually what I have come to think of it as.  So, for now, before there are any sustained outbreaks that I think could affect me, I will shake hands at work, so that I am not considered some rude crazy woman, and then I will go discreetly wash my hands.  And I will continue to use paper towels to open doors, and I have already gotten over who sees me do it.   
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Originally posted by Scotty Scotty wrote:

Rick: The handshake thing isn't that easy. I have been avoiding it but people do seem to be slightly offended. I play a lot of tennis and a failure to shake hands just doesn't go down well at all. In business, particularly in sales, it must be almost impossible.
 
I suppose we could bow or nod or something?
 
I'm in sales. It is hard, but I experimented this week.
 
I had a cough. I greeted my clients (heavy construction, concrete contractors where a very firm handshake means everything) and said " I have a cold, and because I respect you I don't want to shake your hand."
 
It went over well, usually they said "Thank you! I appreciate that"!
 
Sometimes I forgot though....that worried me.
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