Business Trip Cancelled

We are now at a pandemic swine flu level - Level 5. Vice President Biden recently said he would stay avoid subways and planes as a precaution. To be honest, I'm not a current event expert..but when the news effects my daily life - as the swine flu is doing so right now, I know its bad news :(

I was supposed to fly up to Sonoma County, where our Sonoma Crisps are manufactured this thursday, but my trip has all together been cancelled. Can't complain though, since there is a high risk going to a place with tons of people..

Hopefully the virus will calm down soon and I will be able to fly up to see the manufacturing plant, and see the stores carrying our products in North California.

Here are some tips that I found on the internet, on how to prevent contracting the Swine Flu.

Excerpted from Yahoo News:

1. Wash your hands.

The best thing anyone could do right now to avoid swine flu, experts say, is to wash their hands. It sounds like a stupidly simple response to an overwhelming situation, but nearly compulsive hand-washing helps prevent the spread of this airborne respiratory disease. It's the droplets from coughing and sneezing that spread the disease. These get on our hands. And then everything we touch is infectious.

HOW YOU DO IT is important:

- use warm or hot water if you can.

- Lather up and rub not just your fingers and palms but also under the fingernails, around the wrists and between the fingers for as long as it takes to sing "Happy Birthday" twice.

-Rinse well.

It is important to wash your hands before eating and after using the bathroom, but also after using a tissue or covering your mouth when you sneeze or cough, sick or not. So yes, that's alot of hand-washing. Basically, think of how often you would wash your hands if you worked in an emergency room or operating room. Wash your hands that often and that thoroughly.

2. Cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze.

"The way you spread influenza is with droplets that come out of your mouth or nose,' said Dr.George T. DiFerdinando Jr., a physician, epidemiologist and professor at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey- School of Public Health. He recommends the classic shoulder or crook-of-the elbow sneeze.

Surgical face masks are an option for keeping your droplets to youself, but they dont keep your hands clean and there is no consensus in the health care community on whether face masks are advisable for everyday use.

3. Stay home.

If you're sick, stay home, DiFerdinando said. Try to muster the energy to wash your hands after you use tissues so you don't reinfect everything you touch afterward This helps you recover, and protects your loved ones.

4. Don't touch your face.

Try, try, to keep your hands out of your mucous membranes- your eyes, nose and mouth - direct routes to the bloodstream that allow a virus to bypass the protective barrier of the skin. Few of us succeed at this fully.

5. Avoid sick people

It's a good idea to avoid close contact with other people who are sick, DiFerdinando said, adding:"we won't even see air kisses." The flu virus tends not to float in the air. Instead, once dispersed, the liquid droplets tend to settle on objects that doctors call fomites- things that people touch that can pick up a virus. Examples include coins, hand rails, door knobs, common household and office objects. Smooth objects transmit microbes more than rough or porous ones. So for instance, coins would allow one to pick up more virus than paper money.

Here is the link to the whole article:http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20090430/sc_livescience/5essentialswineflusurvivaltips;_ylt=ArwYca79iouP1BsUTMsHfe4DW7oF

Stay safe, everyone!


Hika