Topical post; The best swine flu strategy: cutting down on social interactions

This is an article from msnbc.com http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30442914/

The article is about how experts in "social distancing" work to minimize the effects of pandemics by closing off social areas that risk spreading the disease quickly. The measures are intended to slow spread of disease during the several months it could take to manufacture and distribute a vaccine effective against the new strain of the H1N1 swine flu — or any other new virus. So far the relatively few cases in the United States have not warranted any "social distancing," however the main objective for a pandemic scenario would be to cut contact with people by fifty percent.

This strategy was used earlier this year at the University of Pennsylvania when four students developed meningitis. Meningitis is spread by sharing a drink, kissing, sexual contact, and other similar cases, so to cut back on the possibility of more cases the school cancelled all on- and off-campus parties, since many students share cups at these events, until they were sure there wasn't a serious risk to their students.

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/health/topics/Meningitis-Strikes-Third-Penn-Student.html

As we saw in the first day of class, viruses can spread very quickly, and anything that we can do to slow them down can save lives.