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Our subject this week is a favorite feel better recipe for
the flu or other bugs. I can’t help you much because I favor sleep, a cup of
hot sweet tea and chicken soup. Simple stuff with no recipe! I also get the flu
shot without fail every year and have had all the various pneumonia shots.
It is a timely topic with the 'novel coronavirus' on the news
right now, and everyone waiting to see if the relatively few cases (so far)
outside China will turn into the great pandemic we’ve all been dreading for so
long. On the one hand I feel like we’re living in the early pages of an End of
the World As We Know It scifi novel (a genre I enjoy but have no desire to encounter
in real life or to have anyone anywhere have to deal with)…and on the other
hand, I’m clinging to Mark Twain’s old saying about most of the things he
worried about never happening.
This outbreak seems to resemble the opening scenes in the
2011 movie “Contagion,” right down to the way the Patient Zero in that one
caught the virus. “The wrong bat met the wrong pig...” as a CDC scientist says in
the film. CNN published a list
of movies with this kind of plot, should you be in the mood to see how the
world fares in fictional mode, some plots being more realistic than others.
Lucky for us there won’t be zombies or vampires rising from the after effects
of the virus. I’m pretty confident of this.
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(I‘d skip the scenes involving bone saws – just a word to
the squeamish like me.)
I’d also add the TV series “Containment,” which only lasted
one season but which dealt pretty effectively with the results of a deadly
outbreak in Atlanta. Of course there were all kinds of conspiracy theory level
shenanigans going on too in that one, which I don’t believe are happening here.
As another scientist says in “Contagion”, “The birds are weaponizing the flu,”
in answer to a question from the Homeland Security official as to whether
someone intentionally set the virus loose in the world. All the wild animals
and birds passing viruses back and forth are Mother Nature’s toxic laboratory
at work.
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I’ve been watching the excellent Netflix documentary “Pandemic,”
which is not about the current coronavirus but everything the doctors and
scientists are discussing is quite applicable to the situation we’re watching
unfold today. (There was also a made-for-TV series with the same title in 2007
and there’s no connection.) The documentary “Pandemic” shows the amazing
lengths to which scientists all over the world are going to try to study the
evolving viruses in the nonhuman sector. It also shows what steep odds doctors are up
against in developing countries and those with less than robust health care
infrastructure.
Yes, I’m kind of a geek on this stuff, but I think it’s good
to know as much as a layperson can without getting utterly terrified, and to
consider different scenarios.
I even wrote a scifi novel about a deadly epidemic breaking
out on an interstellar luxury liner, STAR CRUISE: OUTBREAK. I did a lot of research into various viruses and other medical conditions which can seem similiar and created my own nightmare scenario for these travelers of the future.
Here’s the website for
the US Government’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is a good
source for updates. Here are the CDC’s tips for what a person can do to protect
themselves, bearing in mind as yet there’s no vaccination for the novel
coronavirus, nor is there a specific medication to cure it:
There is currently no vaccine
to prevent 2019-nCoV infection. The best way to prevent infection is to avoid
being exposed to this virus. However, as a reminder, CDC always recommends
everyday preventive actions to help prevent the spread of respiratory viruses,
including:
Wash your hands often
with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Use an alcohol-based hand
sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol if soap and water are not
available.
Avoid touching your
eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
Avoid close contact with
people who are sick.
Stay home when you are
sick.
Cover your cough or
sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
Clean and disinfect
frequently touched objects and surfaces.
Personally I think one of the most
important things to remember is to avoid touching your face if you possibly
can. The opening minutes of the movie “Contagion” are pretty chilling and true
to life about how easily these viruses are transmitted just by touching a cup, a credit card, or anything
an infected person has recently handled and then touching you mouth, nose or
eyes.
Additionally, some people are
contagious with this new virus before they run a fever or show any symptoms at
all, so the hand washing component of self-care is very important.
Wishing you good health!
