Every time I see the news or paper a new Antrax scare is mentioned. While I hesitated to mention any current events topic, as it seems like on other boards it always causes such contoversy, I thoughtI would give one small idea as to what I am doing. When I get my mail I am not opening anything that I am not expecting to come, like my electric bill I open. Unsolicited credit card apps. and the like, I am pitching directly into the woodburner. Also I am opening my mail outside the house rather than inside. I don't consider myself a likely target, but who is to say it may not be sent from some big distribution center? Be careful friends!

-- Melissa (cmnorris@1st.net), October 16, 2001

Answers

I am almost ashamed to admit this..someone from online sent me seeds and since this whole anthrax business started I am almost afraid to open the seed packets. How ridiculous is that? Like I am any target to hit by terrorism!! Just shows what too much CNN will do to a gal! :o)

-- Alison in N.S. (aproteau@istar.ca), October 16, 2001.

I do not think it is silly. Just as you have to be careful opening attachments on the computer, you need to be careful with regular mail. It is common sense, so do not think of yourself as weird. But do not be constantly worried either. I like Melissas guidelines, and I have opened an odd package outside. (turned out to be a copy of the Constitution of the United States I sent for MONTHS ago-go figure!). I am thinking that if they do not have a return address, or one I do not know, then it must not be that important. Maybe they will re-send if it is important, and call me first. Be smart, and be happy!;o)

-- notnow (notnow05@yahoo.com), October 16, 2001.

I think this is something we are all concerned with-I know I looked at my mail carefully yesterday. I heard this morning that Packages that were thought to contain Anthrax were recieved at a Knoxville Family Planning clinic and I was worried because my Mother and sisters live in Knoxville! Now, they would not be at the Family Planning Clinic, but because its the same city I worry-does THAT make sense? We havn't watched TV in a long time, but now we are even cutting back on Radio news. A lot of news is the same items played over and over till it seems worse than it is (though, now_Its pretty bad!) and we figure if anything significant happens we'll find out soon enough. Take care, everybody.

-- Kelly in Ky (ksaderholm@yahoo.com), October 16, 2001.

I once(several years ago) almost threw away an insurance check because it was from a company I was unfamiliar with(this following the death of my husband's mother). Like Melissa, I throw away credit card aps because it's obvious what they are. But I think my hubby is right that whoever is doing this is going for high-profile and publicity. I don't think we "average" people need to worry overly about being targets. Whoever is doing this is aiming at hysteria, which at this point could be more dangerous than the treatable anthrax....As an aside, I heard on the news this morning that a woman had opened something questionable(white powder, you know), and taken it with her to an er, causing the facility to be in shut-down for 5 hours! Eventually, the powder was ruled safe, but by not being prudent, this woman risked the care of who knows how many others. If by any chance you do get something like this, by all means follow instructions and leave it lay while you call authorities.

-- mary (marylgarcia@aol.com), October 16, 2001.

I totally agree not to become hysteriacl or fanatical about it. Caution is good and I surely would not want to throw out any checks! This is one reason I am opening mail outside, to prevent bringing anything into the house. Will we all have to set up those decontamination showers? Every time we leave the house we can dis- infect before we come back in!

One thing about the media often over-playing these stories, is that it is usually not as bad as they make it out to be. Hopefully this will prove to be the case here. Has anyone heard where this anthrax is coming from? I don't imagine it is something that is readily available to the common person.

I am craving a return to innocence for my children that I am afraid will not come. Yesterday they practiced what to do if a terrorist came to their school. Made for some interesting dinner conversation.

-- Melissa (me@home.net), October 16, 2001.

Hubby and I had the "mail" conversation only yesterday. The post office in Boca Raton, Florida that processed the mail that contained the anthrax that was sent to the American Media building, was secured because they found traces of anthrax in that portion of the post office. My question, and I'm sure the question of many others is this? If for instance MY mail is processed at this particular post office (which it thankfully is not), and say my electric bill was processed along with the contaminated letter.......in MY opinion, My electric bill could also be contaminated. I mean after all, the postal workers are not opening the mail. They are merely processing it......TOGETHER along with hundreds of thousands of a variety of pieces of mail. Couldn't it be on the OUTSIDE of our mail, not necessarily only on the inside? What do we do? Do we wear a mask and latex gloves before taking our mail out of the mailbox and especially before opening it? Should we wear some sort of protective clothing when processing our mail? Have special mail processing rooms in our house or offices? Should we all revert to online bill paying, banking, emailing etc. in an effort to limit the amount of mail we receive? Really sounds far fetched doesn't it? But just how close are we to this becoming a reality? Someone on a radio talk show program asked, "When do you think America will begin to get back to "normal"? I say "normal" in Ammerica has been redefined forever.

Blessings,

-- Greenthumbelina (sck8107@aol.com), October 16, 2001.

Hello Melissa, Anthrax is treatable with Tetracycline. There is plenty of this antiboitic available as it it used to treat many things. Sincerely, Ernest

-- http://communities.msn.com/livingoffthelandintheozarks (espresso42@hotmail.com), October 16, 2001.

I also think it could be on the outside of some letters and packages. While I am glad it is treatable, I know many who are allergic to antibiotics, and almost no one wants to be sick. I also can't help but wonder what is next?????

-- Melissa (me@home.net), October 16, 2001.

And what about if you don't go to doctors for things like the flu (that usually has to run it's course anyway)? My husband and I don't even HAVE a doctor. If I were to get flu-like symptoms, I wouldn't go to a doctor. Well, right now I probably would find a doctor and go but under normal circumstances, it wouldn't even cross my mind to go to a doctor. And who's to say that your symptoms will be caught early enough to where antibiotic treatment would be successful? (speaking of the inhaled type of anthrax). Look at the poor guy from Boca Raton (the second man), They thought because he was being treated with high doses of antibiotics already, that he would recover and NOT develop anthrax. Not so in his case. He now has been diagnosed with anthrax and if what they say is true about it being 90% fatal, the odds of this man recovering don't look too favorable. In this case, we'll just have to watch, pray, and wait.

-- Greenthumbelina (sck8107@aol.com), October 16, 2001.

Does anyone know of a good site on the internet with information concerning smallpox? I want to know what type of medical supplies we should have on hand - thinking of a scenerio where we are exposed to smallpox and hospitals are overloaded. I am not being fearful, just want to be prepared to the best of our ability. People use to have such information but our generation has never had the need for it.

-- Terry - NW Ohio (aunt_tm@hotmail.com), October 16, 2001.

Anthrax is not usually treatable with tetracycline....Cipro is the only drug which treats all strains of anthrax. Doxycycline treats all strains of anthrax with one exception, a strain developed in the former USSR. The current strian of anthrax going around the country to various news media and the senate/congress is a weak strain which is sensitive to all kinds of antibiotics, including tetracyclines. There is a major difference between the type of antibiotics used to prevent anthrax exposure, treat anthrax exposure and treat the disease of anthrax. Cipro and doxycycline are the only two drugs which when given orally can PREVENT anthrax exposure. Say you hear on the radio that a city near you has been sprayed with inhalation anthrax and the wind is blowing your way. Only Cipro or doxycycline can prevent you from getting anthrax. If a person has anthrax spores up their nose, then it is important to do a culture of the spores to see what antibiotics that particular strain of anthrax is sensitive to. If a person has inhalation anthrax, many antibiotics are given in combination by IV to treat the disease, and even then it is only effective in less than 30% of the infected cases. The reason the CDC and the FDA approved Cipro in 1999 as the only drug to treat anthrax was because it IS the only known drug which prevents exposure and also treats exposure 100% of the time. You can find info on anthrax, smallpox and many other possible bioterrorist "stuff" at the website for the CDC in Atlanta. Just type in "CDC" and when you get to their site, type in the particular disease you are curious about. BTW, under "medical info" at the CDC site there ia a great article for medical folks regarding anthrax. A group of infectious disease specialists got together and wrote a synopsis of anthrax in July, 1999 as a possible weapon. I felt it important to tell folks that although you hear on the news that they are using penicillin, etc. to treat THIS strain, that is usually NOT the case at all. God bless.

-- lesley (martchas@bellsouth.net), October 18, 2001.