(USA Today) — The only thing experts can say for sure about this flu season is that it will be unlike any other, with multiple flu viruses circulating, one of which most people are defenseless against. “This year we are in uncharted territory,” says Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Thomas Frieden. “What will happen in the coming weeks and months will only become clear in the weeks and months ahead.” Here is a handy guide to prepare for flu season by USA TODAY’s Steve Sternberg, compiled from information provided by the CDC and other sources.

What is Novel H1N1 (swine flu)?

It is an influenza virus that has never been seen in humans before and is spreading around the world. On June 11, the World Health Organization issued its highest form of global public health alert when it labeled the disease a pandemic.

What are the symptoms?

The symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. Many people also have reported diarrhea and vomiting. Most people recover without hospitalization, but some people get so sick they need intensive care, and some of those don’t survive.

Can I protect myself from getting sick?

Get vaccinated. Vaccine for H1N1 flu is due in October, although certain groups are asked to move toward the head of the line. Vaccine for seasonal flu is available now. Public health experts advise adults and children to get both vaccines, because seasonal flu, by itself, kills 36,000 people a year and causes 200,000 hospitalizations. Jon McCullers of St. Jude’s Children’s Research also recommends that children get vaccinated against pneumococcal pneumonia, which has been a major cause of deaths in previous flu epidemics.

Who should get vaccine?

• The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization recommends swine flu vaccination for pregnant women, people who live with or care for children younger than 6 months old, health care workers, young people ages 6 months to 24 years and people 25 to 64 with chronic medical conditions or weakened immunity. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has urged health workers and people who care for infants to get vaccinated, because they so often come in contact with those who are most vulnerable to severe flu complications. “The best way to protect babies is to protect those who come in close contact with them,” she says.

• Seasonal vaccine is recommended for infants and young people 6 months to 19 years old; people caring for infants up to 6 months old; pregnant women, people 50 and older, people with chronic disease, health care workers and others who want to reduce their risk of getting sick.

Is vaccine the only option?

No, it’s the most reliable option. But the CDC recommends these common-sense approaches:

• Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. If you don’t have a tissue, cough or sneeze into your elbow. Throw out dirty tissues immediately.

• Wash hands often with soap and water, especially after coughing and sneezing. Alcohol hand sanitizers are effective.

• Keep hands away from your eyes, nose and mouth.

• If you’re sick with flulike illness, keep away from others to keep from making them sick.

• Avoid close contact with sick people, if possible.

A washable keyboard and mice are another great way to help protect yourself from the flu. Cleanable keyboards from WETKEYS, can be easily sanitized and cleaned with virtually and cleaning solution, or even just soap and water. Keeping your washable keyboard clean can really help strengthen your hand-washing efforts.

With all the news reports of H1N1 headed our way this flu season from CNN, Bloomberg, and the World Health Organization, it’s incredibly important to do all we can to protect ourselves and those we care about; especially the elderly and children.

Wetkeys.com helps you do this with their low cost, high quality washable computer keyboards and other equipment. They got your health at the forefront of their minds. These are heavy duty keyboards that are silicon keyboards and washable keyboards. A great addition to the health of your loved ones.

Unless you live under a rock, you know that flu season is going to be a whopper this year. With CNN, Bloomberg News, and World Health Organization warning about Swine Flu and all the updates from the CDC, it’s important to be prepared.

Part of being prepared includes purchasing and easily washable keyboard for wetkeys.com. This is a heavy duty, silicon, waterproof keyboard that can be cleaned as often as necessary. Get one for your family today! 

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

The CDC, Bloomberg News, and The World Health Organization have reported Swine Flu is on its way this flu season. With this in mind, it’s important to think about our children’s health. Some good ideas include teaching them to wash their hands, cover their mouths when coughing, and other good hygiene habits.

At Wetkeys.com, we’d like to add another good hygiene habit that is often overlooked and that’s using washable keyboards. These durable, waterproof, silicon keyboards are easy to clean and don’t get damaged from it. This is especially important considering that kids love to share, and this includes shared keyboards. 

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

I recently purchased my low cost, high quality washable keyboard and mouse from Wetkeys.com. While dealing with the people at Wetkeys, I was amazed at how well informed they are regarding not only their products, but also on what’s going on around the world with regard to health related issues like Swine Flu. They get their information from sources like the CDC and World Health Organization. 

In Wetkeys, I not only found a resource for environmentally friendly technology and health maintaining gadgets, I also found a consistent source of information that helps me keep my family safe.    

The World Health Organization reports that:

The countries and overseas territories/communities that reported their first pandemic (H1N1) 2009 confirmed case(s) since the last web update (6 July 2009) as of 22 July 2009:Afghanistan, Andorra, Belize, Bhutan, Botswana, La Réunion (French Overseas Community) , Haiti, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Namibia, Sint Eustatius (Netherlands Antilles) , Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, the Sudan, Tonga, Turks and Caicos Islands (UK Overseas Territory), the United Republic of Tanzania, American Samoa (US), Guam (US)

It’s only a matter of time till it’s here. To protect my family I purchased my Unotron washable keyboard and mouse at Wetkeys.com. This cool piece of technology is a cleanable keyboard that I can wipe down as often as I like with cleaning solution. My kids have freinds over all the time and they share the keyboard. It’s too risky to have such a breeding ground for harmful bacteria in my home, especially with flu season coming. It was one of my smartest puchases.

Unotron keyboards are a great addition to any household or business. They are washable keyboards that are heavy duty and help in combatting harmful germs and bacteria that are living on your keyboard (especially if you share a keyboard with others).

With the CDC, World Health Organization, and Bloomberg News reporting on the increasing number flu-related sicknesses around the world, it’s smart to be prepared. The Unotron keyboard and mouse are easily cleanable keyboards. Just wipe or wash them down with any antibacterial solution and they’re good as new (and sterile too). I purchased mine at wetkeys.com and wetkeys.com keeps me informed about health issues around the world.      

Since purchasing my washable full size keyboard and mouse from wetkeys.com, I check their website regularly for updates on Swine Flu info around the world and get their info from sources like the CDC, Bloomberg News, and World Health Organization. These guys are great about posting the latest numbers, which is important to me and my family.

I purchased these heavy duty keyboards, that are cleanable keyboards and they are a great addition to my family’s health care maintenance. You can’t be too careful, especially with school starting back soon, and flu season around the corner.