[artdutra04]

Wash your hands and don't touch your face.

Hand sanitizer and antibacterial soaps do not protect against viruses, such as the flu, so they would be pointless against swine flu.

Avoid sick people, and be sure to cover your mouth on all coughing and sneezing.

Throw used tissues away or flush them down a toilet.

Surgical masks are only good if worn properly. There are so many photos and videos in the news of people in Mexico wearing them incorrectly. Most are only covering their mouths, and forgetting their noses, which is just as ineffective as not wearing one at all.

Eating pork has no relation to contracting swine flu.

If you have any symptoms of swine flu, get them checked out right away. The antiviral medications work a lot better when caught early.

Really, as it stands right now the whole swine flu thing has really been blown out of proportion by the sensationalist media. To put swine flu in perspective, regular flu kills 36,000 people every year in the United States. That's about 98 people per day on average. So far in the United States, the reported symptoms of people with swine flu aren't that severe, with most just recovering in their homes without the need of any hospital medical attention. And they've already found that Tamiflu is effective at treating swine flu, and immunization vaccines are as little as six weeks away.

Be vigilant, but for the sake of humanity don't panic.