Flu-worried public shakes off the 'weapon in our hands'

In Birmingham, Ala., state circuit Judge Gloria Bahakel bars anyone with the sniffles from her courtroom.

In Rexburg, Idaho, Broulim's grocery hands out antibacterial wipes to every customer who walks through the door.

In Colorado Springs, Roman Catholic Bishop Michael Sheridan suggests that parishioners forgo holding hands during the Lord's Prayer.

"This gesture may not be appropriate in light of the physical contact involved, which may serve as a means of spreading contagions of the flu," Sheridan wrote to 33 parishes serving 125,000 Catholics.

In addition to sickening hundreds of people, distressing thousands of parents, and inciting millions of the worried well to rush to get vaccinated, this year's flu appears to be affecting Americans' daily lives in ways not seen in years.

Schools have canceled classes, forcing parents to scramble to find child care. Some churches have scratched services. After-school activities and sporting events have been postponed.

The reaction has been prompted by an early and strong flu season, particularly out West, from a new strain of the virus, and by alarming reports that an unusual number of children may be getting seriously ill. Federal health officials stress that it is too early to tell just how bad the flu season will be this year.

But with anxiety running high, hugging a fellow churchgoer, rubbing shoulders at a social gathering, and shaking a stranger's hand have become fear-provoking gestures.

"The genesis of shaking hands is to show you didn't have a weapon in your hands," said Greg Poland of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. "To bring history a full loop, today we do have a weapon in our hands -- it's just you can't see it. It's the influenza virus."

That feeling goes for some usually backslapping, handshaking politicians, such as Aaron Broussard, president-elect of Louisiana's Jefferson Parish, who has been avoiding hand contact at public events.

"It's a rough season; you have to do several things to try to insulate yourself from contracting the flu," Broussard said. "Be sure to get your flu shot, always carry with you antibacterial gel and keep it in your pocket, or at least in the car. And use it immediately upon leaving any function. You also try to give a greeting that isn't a handshake, maybe a pat on the back or even a hug -- anything but a handshake. Hands are the easiest way to get the flu."

Although some people may be overreacting, public health specialists say they are generally pleased that so many are finally taking seriously some of the grandmotherly advice that federal, state, and local health officials and doctors, have been harping on for years: Wash your hands a lot, cover your mouth when you sneeze or cough, and stay home if you're sick.

"I think a lot of the messages about good hygiene are finally getting out," said Georges Benjamin of the American Public Health Association.

"It's a shame that it takes a tragedy and people's fears to make that happen."

Frequent hand washing and avoiding physical contact does reduce the risk of catching the flu, specialists say, though staying away from public places and barring the sick probably won't have much impact.

"Barring people from certain venues is probably not going to be an effective measure with something like influenza," said Scott Harper of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. "Once it's in the community, you come into contact with it wherever you go."

The intensity of the reaction to the flu appears to have been heightened by the SARS outbreak earlier this year, which followed new fears about bioterrorism.

"We've had a number of deaths and illnesses so far from the flu this year. That tends to grab the public's attention," Poland said. "And it is coming on the heels of things like SARS and concern about infectious agents because of bioterrorism."

The tone was set by a plan federal health officials released this fall in preparation for a possible return of SARS, recommending that hospitals institute much more strict "respiratory etiquette" procedures.

That's exactly what has happened at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, where every sneezing, coughing, feverish patient immediately gets handed a surgical mask, a packet of tissues, and antimicrobial cleanser.

"Everyone realized it would have a beneficial effect regarding the spread of influenza and other respiratory viruses," said William Schaffner, chairman of the department of preventive medicine at the Vanderbilt School of Medicine. "We're very grateful we have this in place just before the flu hit in Nashville."