Red Zone

My room has unofficially become the red zone of Gunma. For influenza, that is. ^^ I live between two other foreigners who have contracted the influenza virus during the winter holiday. One guy has gotten better, but another has just been told by the doctor to stay in his room and not have any contact with anybody for 5 days.

It seems that some people do not know the difference between influenza(abbreviated as flu) and a simple cold(風邪) and how dangerous it is. Well, in a simple sentence, in the worst case, influenza might cause pneumonia and the person contracted would eventually cease breathing. The worst case lar.. hehe.. A healthy teenager wouldn't die so easily though. The highest death rate is among the elderly. However, it is absolutely not fun to contract the virus at any costs!

Anyways, to check if you are in the red, please visit Influenza Info. For Japan lar.. Malaysia don't have yet kua...... For those who have checked the map, you would notice that Hokkaido is in the red. Well, commonly, the virus has a long life where it is cold, and Hokkaido also has many forest reserves which allow a lot of bird emmigration. So, to our friends in Hokkaido, please be careful! Remember to wash your hands properly! (no matter how cold the water is.. hehe)