Writer's Block: Swine Times
Apr. 30th, 2009 09:27 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gmonkey42[Error: unknown template qotd]On SARS 2: Electric Boogaloo Swine Flu:
There are a few simple steps people should take every cold & flu season:
1. Wash your damn hands*
2. If you have a cold or flu, stay home for a few days instead of running around infecting everyone to prove what a great work ethic you have.
...I realize how soaked in privilege those statements are: a lot of people don't have access to clean water and are unable to take time off work. But there are plenty of people, like the people around me, who could take those steps and don't. And that bugs me.
Anyway, on the plus side, maybe this panic will get people (who are able to) to be more sensible about contagious disease. On the minus side, I can also see it leading to a huge upswing in the abuse of antibiotics, and going back to old, unsanitary habits as soon as the panic is over. Oh well.
* That hand sanitizer crap is only useful if you don't have access to running water or something to wipe your hands on. Plain water gets rid of more germs than Purell. Hand sanitizer is a last resort, not the miracle protection against disease that it's marketed as.
There are a few simple steps people should take every cold & flu season:
1. Wash your damn hands*
2. If you have a cold or flu, stay home for a few days instead of running around infecting everyone to prove what a great work ethic you have.
...I realize how soaked in privilege those statements are: a lot of people don't have access to clean water and are unable to take time off work. But there are plenty of people, like the people around me, who could take those steps and don't. And that bugs me.
Anyway, on the plus side, maybe this panic will get people (who are able to) to be more sensible about contagious disease. On the minus side, I can also see it leading to a huge upswing in the abuse of antibiotics, and going back to old, unsanitary habits as soon as the panic is over. Oh well.
* That hand sanitizer crap is only useful if you don't have access to running water or something to wipe your hands on. Plain water gets rid of more germs than Purell. Hand sanitizer is a last resort, not the miracle protection against disease that it's marketed as.
