Hand-sanitizing gel — full-size bottles and individual packets — is selling briskly at Colorado grocery and drug stores, and there has been a rush on surgical-style masks as people gear up for a possible surge of swine-flu infection.
“We’ve had a rush on hand sanitizers, and we’ve sold out of the individual packets,” said Christy Nall, who manages the personal-care department at Whole Foods on East Hampden Avenue at Tamarac Square. “It’s very much out of the ordinary.”
So people are prepared with the over-the-counter weapons to fight swine flu, but do they really know what to do?
Like other influenza viruses, the strain that causes swine flu is transmitted only in the small droplets of fluid created in the lungs, mouth and nose, said Dr. Chris Czaja, infection-control officer at National Jewish Health.
Respiratory fluid can be sneezed or coughed out, allowing the virus to enter another body through the mouth, nose or eyes.
If you minimize your contact with these droplets, you significantly decrease your chances of becoming infected.
The best precaution is to avoid close contact — typically defined as within 2 to 3 feet — with other people. Generally, the droplets don’t travel farther than that from a cough or a sneeze.
Still, if someone is known to be infected, try to stay at least 6 feet from him or her, Czaja warns.
Facial masks do little to prevent a person from catching the virus, because they don’t fit tightly on the face.
But surgical-style masks can help slow the spread of the virus when they are used by those who are already ill because they keep respiratory droplets from spraying out in a cough or sneeze.
Airline passengers can minimize their exposure to airborne droplets from fellow passengers by increasing the cabin-ventilator air flow across their faces, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says may blow the droplets away from the face.
The virus remains contagious for about two hours in the air or on surfaces such as doorknobs, handrails, counters, desks, computer keyboards and such. If you touch these surfaces, you may pick up the virus and transfer it to your face.
Thus, the second-most important precaution is to wash your hands frequently with soap and water for 15 to 20 seconds in hot water. Hand sanitizers also are effective, but they must be rubbed into the skin until they are dry to the touch.
Whether you’ve washed or used a sanitizing gel, or not, don’t touch your face with your hands — particularly don’t touch your nose or rub your eyes.
The mucous membranes in your nose are the fastest way for the virus to enter your bloodstream. Keeping those membranes moist by drinking plenty of fluids helps your body put up some defense against the virus, the CDC says.
Mike McPhee: 303-954-1409 or mmcphee@denverpost.com
Your questions answered
Today on 9News: Experts from the Colorado Medical Society and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment will answer your questions about swine flu today on 9News from 4 to 6:30 p.m.
