Swine flu has yet to escalate into a global pandemic, but here's what to do if it does

豬流感還沒有升級為全球性的大規模流行病，但是如果真的發生了這種情況，你應該按照如下5種方法來做。
 
5 Ways to Protect Yourself (and Others) from Swine Flu

Experts say that the steps you should take to shield yourself from swine flu are not much different than those you might take to ward off seasonal flu.

1. Don't touch your face
Above all, keep your hands away from your eyes, mouth and nose, all of which serve as pathways for the virus to enter your respiratory tract, says Allison Aiello, an epidemiologist at the University of Michigan School of Public Health in Ann Arbor.

2. Wash your hands
If you must touch your face, scrub your hands, getting under the fingernails and inside all crevices, for 20 to 30 seconds with hot soap and water beforehand, Aiello says. "In addition to dislodging dirt that may contain virus particles, soaps contain surfactants [the primary components of detergents] which can damage the lipid [fat] protecting virus particles," she explains. Soap should therefore be effective against all flu viruses.

3. Use a hand sanitizer
No sink nearby? Then use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, Aiello advises. About a quarter-size spot, rubbed all over the hands until the sanitizer evaporates (usually 10 to 15 seconds), should do it. Alcohol can inactivate viruses by destroying the structure of their proteins, she notes.

4. Cover your nose and mouth
When someone sneezes or coughs, liquid droplets packing flu viruses can travel as far as three feet (one meter) through the air and descend on your nose or mouth, so it's best to maintain at least an arm's-length distance when talking to someone who shows signs of infection, says Louise Dembry, director of epidemiology at Yale–New Haven Hospital in Connecticut. And to protect others, cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze, and clean your hands afterward, she says, noting that viruses can remain infectious for hours, if not longer, when they linger on the skin or other surfaces such as keyboards and subway poles.

5. Consider buying a mask in case you need it in the future
From press photos, it seems that Mexico's entire population has donned surgical masks, but the verdict is still out on how effective they are in stemming the spread of flu, according to Aiello. Some research suggests that masks—either the surgical variety or respirators called N95's specially designed to filter out water droplets containing viruses—reduce the risk of contracting the flu or other respiratory pathogens by as much as 80 percent, but research by Aiello's team suggests that masks do little unless used in conjunction with diligent hand washing.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is "extremely limited" data on the effectiveness of face masks and respirators for blocking flu spread in communities. The agency suggests, however, that people consider using them when it's impossible to avoid "crowded settings or close contact with others" in areas where swine flu transmission has been confirmed: face masks for crowded places and respirators for situations that involve close contact with people who have respiratory infections (caring for a sick family member, for example).

面對豬流感，保護你自己（以及別人）的5種方法

專家們說防止豬流感的方法和防止季節性流感的方法沒有很大的差別。

1.不要觸摸你的臉
Allison Aiello說，首先，不要用手摸你的眼睛、嘴以及鼻子，這些都容易使病毒進入你的呼吸道。Allison Aiello是位于安娜堡的密歇根大學公共健康學院（University of Michigan School of Public Health in Ann Arbor）的一名流行病學專家。

2. 勤洗手
Aiello說，如果你必須接觸臉的話，那么在這之前，你需要用香皂和熱水搓洗你的手，把你的手指甲以及所有的指甲縫在熱水中洗20到30秒。Aiello解釋說: “香皂除了能把可能含有病毒顆粒的塵土洗掉外，因為香皂中還含有表面活性劑（洗衣粉的主要成分），它還能破環保護病毒顆粒的類脂層。”因而香皂對于所有的流感病毒都是有效的。

3.使用洗手液
就近沒有洗手池？Aiello建議說，那么就使用含酒精的洗手液。把洗手液到一些到手上，大約25分硬幣那樣的面積，然后搓滿全手，直到洗手液蒸發掉（通常需10到15秒），這個方法一般都奏效。Aiello解釋說，酒精通過破環病毒蛋白質的結構，從而使病毒失去活性。

4.遮住你的鼻子和嘴
當一個人打噴嚏或者咳嗽的時候，含有流感病毒的小液滴能在空氣中傳播3英尺（一米），從而降落到你的鼻子或者嘴上，所以，來自康涅狄格州紐黑文的耶魯大學醫院（Yale–New Haven Hospital in Connecticut）的流行病學主任Louise Dembry說，當和有感染跡象的人交談的時候，最好保持一臂遠的距離。另外為了保護其他人，當你自己咳嗽或者打噴嚏的時候，用紙巾遮住你的嘴和鼻子，打完噴嚏和咳嗽后，需要洗手。當病毒停留在皮膚或者其它表面上的時候，比如鍵盤以及地鐵的扶手柱，病毒在幾個小時內，甚至更長時間內，仍具有傳染力。

5.考慮買一個口罩以防萬一你用得著
從媒體的圖片上看，好像墨西哥的全國人民都戴上了手術口罩，不過根據Aiello的觀點，口罩對抑制流感傳播的有效性仍然沒有定論。有些研究表明口罩---不管是手術用口罩還是名為N95's的專門用于過濾掉含病毒水滴的防毒口罩---能減少感染流感或者其它呼吸性病原體的風險達80%，但是Aiello的研究小組的研究表明，如果不經常洗手，戴口罩幾乎不起作用。

根據美國疾病控制與防治中心（U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention）的說法，面罩和防毒口罩對阻止流感在社區中傳播的有效性的數據“非常有限”。不過，該中心建議，在豬流感傳播已經確認的地區，如果我們不能避免“擁擠的環境或者和其他人緊密接觸”，我們還是要使用面罩和防毒口罩：在擁擠的地方使用面罩，需要與患有呼吸道感染的人近距離接觸時候戴防毒口罩（比如照顧家庭中的病患）。

Vocabulary:

swine flu：豬流感
escalate：升級
global：全球的
pandemic：大規模流行病
shield：保護某人或某物（免遭危險、傷害或不快）
ward off：防止，避免
seasonal flu：季節性流感
virus：病毒
respiratory tract：呼吸道
epidemiologist：流行病學家
scrub：擦
crevice：細縫
dislodge: 去除; 取出
surfactant：表面活性劑
primary：主要的
component：成分
detergent：洗衣粉
lipid：脂類
sanitizer：消毒劑；洗手液
alcohol：酒精
sink：水池
evaporate：蒸發
inactivate：使失去活性
protein：蛋白質
sneeze：打噴嚏
cough：咳嗽
descend：降臨
maintain：保持
tissue：紙巾
infectious：感染的
linger：逗留
don：穿戴
surgical mask：手術口罩
verdict：裁決；結論
contract：感染疾病
respirator: 口罩；面罩；防毒面具
pathogen：病原體
conjunction：結合
diligent：勤奮的
transmission：傳播
confirm：確認