Preventive Measures

When I rolled out of bed this morning at 6:45, I wondered how I used to do this every day for years. When I left work full-time, my body went back to a more natural sleep pattern which is getting up between 8 and 8:30 and going to bed around 1. But this morning, I was on a mission to get my flu shot and I had to be over at my former place of employment (where I still do contract work) by 8 for the employee health day where I could get a seasonal flu shot. I'd gone by my doctor's office last week to get one only to find out that they were totally out and wouldn't be getting any in until after the first of the year. Hello, that's more than halfway through the flu season.

I think the concern with H1N1 has people going out in droves to get even the normal flu shot. I know that I've lived a much healthier existence in the winters thanks to regular flu shots, so I'm a big fan. And when you've got deadlines (whether self-imposed or contracted), you don't have time to be sick. I hate the trying to catch up after being in bed sick for several days.

I would have gotten the H1N1 vaccine if it had been available, but it wasn't and they didn't have any idea when they might get some. It's possible I already had it in early September, but I'm not sure. The swine flu is behaving oddly in that it's affecting people in atypical ways for a flu. Some people weather mild cases just fine, and then others die. And it's not the people who normal seasonal flu tends to kill. There was a 13-year-old girl near my hometown who died from it. And my sister told me that one of her high school classmates is in an ICU unit with double pneumonia, swine flu and in a medically induced coma. He can't be more than 35.

I'm not being alarmist, but I think it's good to take precautions, or preventive measures, during the winter cold and flu season. Remember to regularly wash your hands with hot water and soap, particularly after handling shopping carts, money, anything that others have handled as well. Get plenty of fluids, fruit, veggies and exercise. The exercise has the added benefit of keeping you warm.

What other preventive measures do you take during the cold and flu season?