Friday, May 29, 2009

Mixed bag - birthdays and swine flu

I can't believe that my beautiful girl is going to be 3 on Sunday!! It have been a very full on 3 years and Emily is growing into a real little person more and more every day!

We have had to postpone her birthday party which was supposed to be tomorrow because we are all sick :( Last thing we want is to pass our germs around to all our closest friends and family lol Fairly sure it is just the garden variety cold but Em did have a fever last nigh so we are keeping an eye on things.

GMIL will be able to come now too because she wasn't going to b off quarantine for this Saturday. Yep she was on the cruise that had swine flu on board!! After havong to go to the hospital for further testing (only a cold!) she is now back at home on quarantine until Monday.

I'm in two minds about this whole swine flu thing. In one way, it freaks me out, but in another isn't it just another strain of flu?? The 'normal' flu kills up to 3000 Australians every year . . . yes that is a horrible statistic, but people don't freak out hugely about it?? I have also read that swine flu has a much higher contamination rate, which I guess is cause for concern in itself.

But what degree do you take it to?? I know that prior to postponing Em's party because WE are all sick, we were excluding anyone who had first or secondhand contact with GMIL just to be safe . . . but MIL continued working (what else could she do) and I guess things like this are going on all over the country. For example, the schools that are being closed because of one student with swine flu . . . all those children are kept on home quarantine, but what about their families that are still working, and then their co-workers . . . 6 degrees of separation and all that???

One figure I read said that 'experts' are predicting 1 in 5 will have swine flu this season!!! 1 in 5!! In that case do you just go on business as usual?? Or crack out the antibacterial hand sanitiser (which I have mixed feelings about)? Or hibernate all winter, never leaving the house unless absolutely neccessary??

One thing is for sure, I can see the Brisbane Ekka being a flop this year!

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