swine

another epidemic. this time it's called swine flu.

life really becomes harder each time. they say that each generation faces respective bouts of setbacks, may it be economic turmoil, war, pandemic, terrorism and/or social unrest... or worse, a combination of at least 2 of these. not too long ago, we were hit by th SARS scare. of course, with the ongoing economic meltdown, the threat of another global problem makes things even worse, as a whole country can standstill for a prolonged period of time due to the imminent threat of a full-blown pandemic. articles say that this started in mexico and the united states. as of now, cases have been reported in countries such as new zealand and spain among others.

surgical masks are a commodity once again, while flu vaccines becomes highly important even more. quarantine will be a byword, but they say that prevention starts at frequent hand washing with soap and sanitizing of the living quarters. i just hope that local authorities are ready and prepared to take on this nasty epidemic if and when swine flu enters the philippines.

last i heard, the philippines doesn't have any technological equipment to test whether a patient contracted H1N1 virus or just simple influenza. we still need to send the sample to either australia or u.s. for accurate testing. oh my... it's just another third world way of living.