New statistics for the number of cases of H1N1 “Swine Flu” have been released.

Reuters reports the following:

“H1N1 swine flu killed an estimated 3,900 Americans from April to October, including more than 500 children, U.S. health officials said on Thursday.

Better data than was previously available shows the flu pandemic has infected an estimated 22 million Americans and put 98,000 in the hospital, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.”

To read the full article, click here

The numbers do not mean the flu has gotten worse, just that the statistics about it have gotten more accurate. All in all, the number of people with H1N1 has risen to 22 million .

To see maps and statistics on the flu outbreak, you can go to FluView or FluTrends

To help stay healthy, go to WETKEYS.com and get yourself a cleanable keyboard and mouse. We offer great low prices and a wide variety of products to fit any need.

Here’s to your health!

As promised, more from Google.org

If you are concerned with keeping tabs on where the flu is around the world, Google.org has a map for that. This is great for anyone traveling. You can see how the flu is affecting the region you are traveling to.

Maybe you are not traveling anytime soon. You can also look at the state you live in to check up on flu activity.

Overall, this site is a great way to stay informed on the flu this season.

After checking Google.org, jump over to WETKEYS.com and check out our full line of disinfectable keyboards and mice. We have medical grade keyboards, industrial keyboards, keyboards for travel and more. Plus, our products will help keep you healthy all season long.

Don’t be concerned about the flu. Fight back! Get WETKEYS products today.

Hello everyone,

Our friends at Unotron have released this piece:

“A deadly new strain of methicillin-resistant Staphylociccus auerus (MRSA) poses an alarming new threat, sparking demand for Unotron’s medical grade, fully washable keyboards and mice that can be disinfected to mitigate the spread of germs. A study conducted by the Henry Ford Hospital reported the USA600 strain resists Vancomycin, a drug successfully used in the past to treat patients with MRSA. ”

To read to entire press release go here

I know what you’re thinking. First Swine Flu now MRSA, what’s next?!!

This is why it is important to have a keyboard that you can disinfect.

WETKEYS offers medical grade Unotron keyboards at great low prices.  Make sure to grab yours today!

Global Handwashing Day 2009 will revolve around schools and children. On Global Handwashing Day, playgrounds, classrooms, community centers, and the public spaces of towns and cities will be awash with activity to drive handwashing behavior change on a scale never seen before, bringing the critical issue to center stage. Global Handwashing Day will be the centerpiece of a week of activities that will mobilize millions of people in more than 70 countries across all five continents to wash their hands with soap.

Let’s help keep our hands clean when we return to our keyboard. Washable keyboards help eliminate the spread of germs and diseases by being fully waterpoof and resistant to most cleaning solutions. WETKEYS offers the widest selection of washable keyboards and mice. 

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Bloomberg: New York, Los Angeles and Boston are setting up swine flu centers to administer vaccinations as part of a plan to slow the spread of the virus that U.S. health officials have said may infect half the nation’s population.

New York will offer free immunizations at elementary schools and distribute the vaccine through about 100 health clinics, according to plans released today by Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office. Los Angeles will give out shots at its fair grounds, Boston is letting city employees leave work for two hours to get vaccinated and Chicago’s schools plan to track real-time attendance for the first time to identify hotspots, spokesmen for those municipalities said.

Cities nationwide are completing plans to distribute the H1N1 vaccine, which the U.S. will provide for free. The shots are being tested and will be available in mid-October, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Patients will still have to pay to have the vaccine administered unless states and cities agree to cover those costs, as New York has.

Fastest-Moving Pandemic

Swine flu has become the world’s fastest-moving influenza pandemic, sweeping across 177 countries in the four months since it was first identified, the CDC said. Lab tests have confirmed H1N1 in 2,185 deaths and more than 209,000 infections, though most infected patients aren’t tested, according to the Geneva- based World Health Organization.

H1N1 may infect 30 to 50 percent of the U.S. population, according to planning scenario released by outside advisers to the White House on Aug. 24.

The U.S. is already undergoing the highest flu rates for this time of year since the 1968 Hong Kong flu, said Joe Quimby, a CDC spokesman, in an Aug. 30 telephone interview. While the U.S. flu season normally runs from November to March, swine flu continued to circulate during the summer with outbreaks seen in at least 80 summer camps, the CDC said.

Distributing the Vaccine

The U.S. government is paying for shots, nasal sprays and related supplies. It’s up to states to decide how to distribute the vaccine and who should pay for the doctor visits, according to the CDC.

Stay healthy. WETKEYS.com has launched a pre-emptive disease control initiative that includes drastically reduced pricing on its washable and sanitary computer keyboard and mouse products that help computer users protect health and safety.

New York, L.A., Boston Set Up Swine Flu Vaccination Centers

USA Today - Americans are taking swine flu more seriously now than they did last spring, when the emerging pandemic began causing widespread illness and shuttering schools in several states, the latest USA TODAY/Gallup Poll shows.

The poll of 1,007 adults Wednesday found that one in three people believe they or a family member probably will contract H1NI flu, up from one in five in May. Seventeen percent say they worried yesterday that they would get flu, up from 8% in June. Sixty-one percent now accept the government’s reckoning of swine flu’s risks, up 5% since May. A majority of people, 55%, say for the first time that they will get vaccinated, up 9%.

The risk groups for swine and seasonal influenza differ, research shows; more swine flu cases are concentrated among children and young people.

A Chicago Department of Public Health study of 1,557 cases of swine flu released Thursday by the CDC shows that children ages 5 to 14 had 14 times the infection rate of adults 60 and older.

The number of flu cases continues to increase - stay protected against the flu. Wash your keyboard along with your hands. Washable keyboards can tolerate being fully submerged in cleaning solution, or simply being sprayed with disinfectant. Get a sanitary keyboard to strengthen your hand washing efforts and help eliminate germs this flu season. WETKEYS has a great selection of washable keyboards and mice for any computer user. 

Americans are getting serious about swine flu

Bloomberg — Swine flu vaccines under development by drugmakers may not provide immunity until the last week of November, too late to hold off outbreaks triggered by infected students returning to schools in the U.S. and Europe.

Just 45 million of 195 million doses ordered for the U.S. will be delivered by mid-October, said health officials who lowered their estimates yesterday. The vaccine will probably require two shots given three weeks apart, and the body won’t produce antibodies for two additional weeks, according to an Aug. 7 report by the Department of Health and Human Services.

H1N1 has reached more than 170 countries and territories in the four months since being identified, the Geneva-based World Health Organization said.

Protection Priorities

Authorities want to ensure adequate supplies to protect health-care workers, pregnant women, people at risk of developing severe complications from flu and children, whose close contact in tightly packed schoolrooms and in other social settings makes them the biggest spreaders of the virus.

Part of the U.S. plan to vaccinate children is to encourage state and local health departments to set up school-based vaccine clinics. In the U.K., most shots will be given by family doctors and nurses who provide routine health care including seasonal flu shots, according to the Department of Health.

Schools that arrange in-house immunizations will face logistical hurdles, said Mel Riddile, the National Association of Secondary School Principals’ associate director for high school services in the U.S. Riddile, a former principal at a Fairfax County, Virginia, high school, said it typically took a month just for all 2,500 students to turn in their emergency medical information forms at the beginning of the school year.

Along with hand washing, washable keyboards are a great way to help stay protected against viruses, such as the flu. Since keyboards are the other thing you touch all day, being able to wash and disinfect them helps decrease harmful germ contamination. Get a washable keyboard at WETKEYS.com. 

Swine Flu Shots May Be Too Little, Too Late to Halt Outbreaks

WETKEYS “How to Clean” FAQ

 If you know how to wash your hands with soap and water, washing your keyboard can be just as easy. Please consult our

 WETKEYS.com offers many brands of computer accessories.Please refer to the specific product manufacturers’ information for details on how best to clean a particular item.  Always observe the preparation instructions and use of all cleaning fluids and wear the appropriate protective clothing, rubber gloves or safety glasses as necessary.

 Note:  In order to maintain sanitary conditions, your keyboard and mouse should be washed prior to initial use.  It is also important to wash a keyboard and mouse on a regularly scheduled interval appropriate for your use environment. 

 General Washing Instructions

         1.     Log out and turn OFF the POWER to your computer if your product is corded (not wireless).  Wireless units can be washed with batteries inside - be sure to disable the connection to the computer or accidental keystrokes may enter or delete important data.

         2.     Disconnect the Keyboard / Mouse. (If you are using a USB - PS/2 adapter, please remove it completely before cleaning.)

3.       It is important that before you wash a CORDED product you ensure that the USB Plug (connector) is safely away from the sink and remains dry.

4.       Clean the surface of the product by wiping, gently brushing, spraying or dipping it. DO NOT “SOAK” Units.  Use only rags, sponges or soft bristle brushes. DO NOT USE ANY BUFFING PADS, SCRUBBING PADS OR OTHER ABRASIVE CLEANERS.

DO NOT place the USB or PS/2 connector into the fluid.

5.       Either wipe with dry cloth or shake gently and allow to air dry.  Never hang a keyboard or mouse by its cord or damage to the watertight seal can occur.

6.       Reconnect the keyboard/mouse.

7.       Restart Computer.

 Best Practice Wash Procedure For Healthcare.

 Read more about how to clean your keyboard. 

Back-to-School: Back-to-college: What meds you need, how to keep from spreading germs

Released on 07/24/2009, at 3:35 PM

Office of University Communications
University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Lincoln, Neb., July 24th, 2009 —(This is the eighth of nine stories in UNL’s 2009 “Back-to-School” package.) Students heading off to college: Remember your medicine cabinet! Well, not literally, but you will want to pack a few necessities. Seems like stuff only happens at night, and while Lincoln has 24-hour drugstores, who wants to pull on sweats to go out?

So, what’s in a well-stocked college student’s medicine cabinet?

Over-the-counter meds:

* Acetaminophen or ibuprofen for pain relief or fever
* Antacid like Tums, Rolaids, Maalox or Mylanta for stomach upset
* Antihistamine for runny nose due to allergy or colds (chlorpheniramine or Claritin)
* Decongestant for stuffy nose due to colds (pseudoephedrine)
* Saline nasal spray for nasal congestion
* Throat lozenges or hard candy for sore or irritated throat
* Antibacterial ointment, like Polysporin
* Aloe vera gel for burns and skin irritations
* 1 percent hydrocortisone cream for insect bites and skin irritations

General medical supplies:

* Adhesive bandages of various sizes for small wounds and blisters
* Gauze and tape for larger wounds
* Elastic wrap (ACE Wrap)
* Ice pack
* Heating pad
* Thermometer
* Sun screen, SPF 15 or greater
* Tweezers and small scissors
* Insect repellent
* Lip balm
* Skin moisturizer
* Hand sanitizer

Students may have also heard something about a pandemic flu. The novel H1N1 flu is continuing to spread through the summer and is expected to erupt again in the fall when students are back in close contact. Young people also appear to be more prone to the infection than other populations. In Nebraska, the illnesses caused by novel H1N1 have been relatively mild and not generally responsible for lingering illnesses, complications or hospitalizations, according to University Health Center Director Dr. James Guest.

UNL began preparing for and monitoring the H1N1 flu spreading in April, and continues to watch the situation closely, Guest said. College students may be particularly affected because of their close proximity in residence halls, greek houses and classes, and if they become ill, may live far enough that going home isn’t possible. That leaves the great possibility that ill students will be fighting off the flu in their residence halls. UNL has an action plan in place to deal with large-scale infections and works closely with the Lincoln Lancaster County Health Department and the state Health Department to monitor illness outbreaks and to communicate with the university community, if necessary, about responses to illness outbreaks. Other school systems would do the same.

Tips UNL is sharing with its students to help avoid the spread of the virus or other germs:

* Wash hands frequently with soap and water for 20 seconds. Use a hand sanitizer product if soap and water isn’t available.
* Cough or sneeze into your arm or sleeve.
* Stay at least six feet away from people who are sick.
* Avoid kissing and hugging if you are sick.
* Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth.
* Stay home from school if sick, and stay away from sick people until they are better.
* Do not share water bottles or eating utensils.
* Eat well, exercise regularly, and get adequate sleep.
* Drink water frequently to prevent dehydration.

For more on how to prevent or respond to the emergencies including spreading illnesses, visit http://emergency.unl.edu/.

Sometimes is difficult to tell when you’re going to get better on your own, or when it’s time to get some medical care. Although not an inclusive list, here are some common reasons for coming to the health center:

* Fever over 100 with sore throat or fever persisting for more than two days with no improvement.
* Persistent cough or cough with difficulty in breathing.
* Persistent vomiting and/or diarrhea for more than 8 hours or has blood in stool or is associated with pain.
* Injuries or lacerations
* Severe pain
* Head injury or severe or worsening headache.
* Bleeding that won’t stop.
* Painful urination
* Skin sores that are red, tender to the touch, have pus, or red streaks going up the extremity.

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Brilliant suggestions here with one thing missing:

This list should include a washable durable silicon keyboard and mouse from WETKEYS. With these waterproof heavy duty keyboards, you can wash them as often as possible. This is especially important in an environment in which keyboards are likely to be shared.  

 

To help beat the flu this season we’ve cut the price of our most popular waterproof keyboard by 50% - Everyone can afford one: it’s “Better Hygiene For All”.

Our flexible silicone keyboard is one of the most durable washable keyboards available - NOW the lowest priced medical-grade keyboard!