One vitally important factor for tracking the progress of swine flu (or indeed any form of influenza) as it makes its way around the world, is the season of the geography in question. Simply put, flu cases are significantly greater during winter than during summer. That means that the Southern Hemisphere (for the most part) gets colds and flus during April to September period, whereas the Northern Hemisphere receives its peak during October to March.
It’s not a hard-and-fast rule, but is a good basis for discussion. Indeed we saw this pattern through 2009. Mexico caught the flu first in February / March. It spread quickly to the USA and Canada, following holiday makers as they returned home. From there it crossed the Atlantic to the UK and Europe and the Pacific to mainland China, Australia and India.
From April onwards, the Northern Hemisphere got a reprieve and aside from some isolated cases generally was not affected – although numbers were on the increase with Australia seeing some 35,000 laboratory investigated cases and India seeing at least 300 deaths.
The Northern Hemisphere – no doubt bored with a dearth of interesting statistics to report – took to filling its summer and early Autumn news media with celebrities who were sick with swine flu.
Perhaps the most “famous” person in the swine flu saga was young Edgar Hernandez Hernandez, a little boy in Mexico who is believed to be the first person infected with the H1N1(A) virus . The 70kg bronze status of nino cero (Little Boy Zero) was unveiled on August 17, 2009 in La Gloria Mexico. Thankfully little Edgar survived the flu.
Just a week later, across the Atlantic and at the other end of the celebrity spectrum came the news that 26-year-old Katherine Jenkins (the classical singer) insured her voice for £1 million to protect against loss in case she couldn’t perform at the Big Gig Weekend which was set to draw 30,000. This raises an interesting debate about the insurability against swine flu – for most of the rest of us, we’re covered by being able to take sick days from work, but what about when we travel? Some insurance companies are publishing exclusions to their travel insurance policies.
Around the same time, as we turn from the graceful to the forceful, Scottish amateur bantamweight champion Gareth Stemp contracted swine flu. This caused concern over his ability to be in top form for his imminent fight against Glasgow Dennistoun’s Joe Ham on September 16 as that was a match crucial to deciding who would fight in New Delhi during the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
On the same day as the Stemp announcement, we learned that Tom Soehn, the Washington D.C. United (Soccer) coach did not have swine flu. However, equally unpleasant, he did have bronchitis – serious enough to take him out of action for several games. Kristi Yamaguchi, Olympic ice skater is actually promoting the swine flu vaccine for people of all ages and jobs to help protect themselves against swine flu.
Staying in the world of sports, USA Today reported on Oct 2 that Texans rookie tight end Anthony Hill had swine flu – but aside from a couple of column inches, I can’t see this as anything more serious. There are no complications (fortunately) or other issues. The rest of the team seems fine. Perhaps the fact that one in ten words of this very short article is a good keyword for Google Search Engine Optimisation shouldn’t be taken into account as the actual point for the article.
More seriously though, swine flu (like any other) can spread quickly through a team, especially one that works and travels in such close confines, where members are naturally have lower healthy immunity after a work out, where fans often transmit bugs to team mates. This has created a mini industry on its own – misting machines with a water / disinfectant spray are being introduced to team changing rooms as a quick and efficient way of keeping bugs down.
Teams that have been affected include:
- the Rice Volleyball squad (forcing cancellation of participation in a tournament)
- players and staff of Chongqing Lifan soccer team were confined to their quarters after being diagnosed with swine flu (interestingly this represents only 0.2% of all confirmed cases in China at the time. All confirmed cases in turn represent 0.0004% of the whole population.)
The arts and entertainment world is not immune. CBS’s Early Show Harry Smith, Per Möller Jensen, of the Swedish metal band, The Haunted, Brian Litrell of Backstreet Boys (currently in New York on promotion) , Marilyn Manson, CNN’s own Dr Sanjay Gupta are all examples of stars being affected by swine flu. It’s annoying and frustrating for a couple of them – perhaps having a legitimate illness allows others a reprieve from expectant fans.
What about the environmental factors? As with Harry Smith for example, many have to keep to peak physical health to endure the rigors their high profile lives dish out to them. To draw a parallel from the team environment in the sporting world, anyone working on a TV set for example may be a carrier of the virus and very quickly things could grind to a halt for others. David “Angel” Boreanaz from the TV show Bones was recently diagnosed with flu and Fox has opted to shut down production until the cast gets a clean bill of health.
But, how does all this affect you? Even if you’re not a famous actor or sportsperson, it doesn’t mean you’re no more immune from swine flu. Catching the bus, shaking hands with a business colleague, going to nursery to collect your kids, going to a crowded bar – they’re all normal and everyday activities which make us susceptible from catching something nasty. In the UK, cases are now on the way up with 16 more confirmed in Peterborough, 89 more in Cambridgeshire and the pattern repeating itself through every populated area in the Northern Hemisphere as we enter our winter months.
Even if you are completely healthy, there is a chance you may come into contact with, say, one of the 24,000 new reported cases in the last two weeks. Protect yourself by constantly hand-washing – a virus can live for 36 hours before it starts to affect you – so it won’t do you any good to start washing after you’ve caught a bug!
Try to limit touching your face and any open wounds. Carry gels and wipes with you if you don’t have access to hot and soapy water. There are plenty of alcohol based and organic products on the market to choose from. Also, consider the use of disposable masks, particularly if you’re in tight and confined spaces with other members of the public.
Stay healthy!