Something Good Out of Swine Flu

It's tough to think of something good that could possibly come out of the swine flu outbreak that has killed 3 people as of today, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

During the normal flu season, I have to practically beg and plead some people to get a flu shot -- including my parents! But that's because most people go through the flu season with a "not me" attitude. I thought we grew out of that when we were teenagers.

Even though this swine flu outbreak has been mild so far -- and that could change -- I hope it's at least made an impact on people. I'm hoping that, come November, more people will be rushing to get their flu vaccine. After all, the normal flu kills 36,000 people every year!

It's unclear at this point if a swine flu vaccine will be included in the recommendations this year (or if one will even be developed in time) ... but we know that the annual flu vaccine stands to save thousands of lives.

The flu vaccine is the #1 best way to prevent the flu and prevent flu complications, such as pneumonia and even death.

Let's learn something from this swine flu outbreak.

If you can significantly lessen the likelihood of getting the flu and flu complications, why not? A few minutes, and a tiny needle stick, just might save your life -- or the life of a loved one.

Do you always get a flu shot or do you think the swine flu outbreak will finally convince you to get a flu vaccine?

It almost seems like we've gone from one extreme to the other with the swine flu outbreak.

When swine flu first hit the scene about 3 weeks ago, you might have thought the world was coming to an end. Actually, a few comments to some of my early blog posts did feel a bit chicken littleish.

I think we've learned at this point that the world will continue to exist -- for at least a little while longer. But now it seems that people already have flu fatigue and are going to go back to their old ways until some other flu virus -- or some other germ -- rears its ugly head.

Now is not the time to slack off. The truth is that what we do today -- and for the next few months -- could have a significant impact on the fall & winter flu season.

Since the swine flu scare, I've noticed definite improvement in the steps people are taking to prevent spread of infection. Better hand washing ... more use of alcohol-based gels to kill germs ... and limiting touching of public areas (or at least wiping your hands down afterward if you do).

If we can just keep up the good work through the summer and into the fall and winter, we can help prevent spread of swine flu -- or any other type of flu that may come up in the future.

So far, this swine flu has been milder than we originally feared. But we continue to see more cases and there's a good chance that this swine flu strain could come back in the fall -- when the normal flu virus also gets ramped up.

Have you stepped up your germ-killing efforts or already feel yourself reverting back to your old ways?