Pandemic Or Just Carelessness?

The flu is currently running rampant around the U.S. and also with it, Norovirus.  Influenza is commonly known, but what is Norovirus?

It's commonly known as the Winter Vomiting Virus.  Never heard of it?  Well, familiarize yourself because it's here.  It's also the biggest thing to plague cruise ships.  Food poisoning, bah!

The viruses are transmitted by fecally-contaminated food or water; by person-to-person contact; and via aerosolization of the virus and subsequent contamination of surfaces. Noroviruses are the most common cause of viral gastroenteritis in humans, and affect people of all ages.

Norovirus infection is characterized by nausea, forceful vomiting, watery diarrhea, and abdominal pain, and in some cases, loss of taste. General lethargy, weakness, muscle aches, headache, coughs, and low-grade fever may occur. The disease is usually self-limiting, and severe illness is rare. A small number of people die, mostly the very young, the elderly, and persons with weakened immune systems.

So why are the two viruses tearing through like a pandemic leaving make-shift parking lot emergency rooms and death in it's wake?  

Complacency:  people simply didn't get their shots.  I blame two people on this one.  My doctor told me that we shouldn't get our shots in October, but wait until later because the flu usually breaks out in January.  How many people adhere to this?  Well, this year the influenza breakout occurred earlier (oops), but we were covered.  I still insist we get our shots before sickness outbreaks.

Norovirus?  People don't wash their hands.  Period.  I have watched someone not wearing gloves in a restaurant wipe their nose, then handle food.  I walked out and called the health department.

Restrooms:  How many people barely rinse their hands under a trickle of water, too busy admiring themselves in the mirror?  It makes me ill.  

My hands are so dry they hurt to bend my fingers, but I'm a chronic hand-washer.  We keep Purell in my purse, our backpacks, I Lysol doorknobs and anything people touch often.  When I go to the grocery and they have those little wipes for the buggies?  I bypass them and pour sanitizer from my purse to my hand and then wipe the buggy down.  Then I wash my hands when I get home.  

Again.

I don't shake hands either.  Sorry, but I have a child that is highly susceptible and refuse to risk his health.  We try not to eat out or go to too many places in winter because I don't need a sick family!  

And I certainly don't want to be a statistic on the news.

The vaccines are running low because people waited too long and drug companies didn't produce based on the old supply-and-demand theory.  Tamiflu, the cure-all drug of choice is running low as well because they were unprepared for this outbreak.  Many people will have to ride it out without help and that is how many people are dying.

Take heed and do the right thing.  Keep your kids home if they are sick, stay home if you are sick, and for Heaven's sake WASH YOUR HANDS!!

Geriatric Pets And Their Quirks

Old age affects animals in the same manner as people.  Dementia, paranoia, arthritis, grey hair, Alzheimer's-like traits...

I'm not sure how much research has been put into this, but from experience, I see the same things with my furry kids that I do with my aging family members.

My beloved 15 1/2 year old cat, Butler developed this quirk where he would scream his head off at night when we went to bed.  When the TV and lights went off, he revved up.  For many hours into the night, it would make us all crazy.  He had health and mental issues before getting older so we figured it was just something he did.

Now my dog is acting weird.  He is a 14 year old Australian Shepherd and at night he barks.  Just one or two barks like every 20-30 seconds.  For hours.  We have a sound machine that plays rain showers for 45 minutes and shuts off after we fall asleep.

We have this because the dog snores like an old man and his bed is on the floor next to my side of the bed.

For the last month or so, the dog has been getting up about midnight after the sound machine shuts off and doing the bark thing until around 4:30 am.  At first we checked for burglars, cats, dogs, opossums, anything that would set him off.  Then we started closing doors to rooms with low windows and he would just stand in the middle of the living room or dining room and bark.

Go get him, put him back to bed, he'll get right up and start over.  Let him outside, same thing.  He just barked.  For no apparent reason.

We haven't slept, we're exhausted, we're all snapping at each other and I'm starting to do klutzy things because my concentration is off.  Throw in dieting and exercise and I'm a step away from becoming a serial killer.

I got this idea to leave on a night light, but have trouble sleeping with that tiny green glow from the smoke detector so nixed that idea.  So last night, I thought to leave the television on in the living room, volume down.  We're not sure if exhaustion finally caught up to us or it worked, but nobody remembers hearing him bark last night.

I always leave a TV on when I leave the house because all of our pets are rescues and I feel bad leaving them alone.  Maybe it gives them comfort, but maybe it eases my guilt of leaving them alone.

So we'll try the TV again tonight, but turn it off Friday night (since we don't have to work the next day) and see if that's what did the trick to stop the barking or if we just slipped into a mini-coma and didn't hear him.

Fingers crossed, we all need the rest!