Let's talk about the filthy act of hand-shaking

[El]

I guess the swine flu has an upside?

The Swedish Football Association has recommended players avoid shaking hands before and after matches because of fears over the spread of swine flu.

There has been one reported case of the illness in Sweden with several players from one team sidelined, but as yet no top-division sides affected.

"It's not a ban, but a recommendation," said Per Renstrom, the SFA physician.

"It's up to the players, but during a shorter period we think that handshakes should be avoided."

The Swedish Football Association has more than 3,300 member clubs with a total of more than one million members.

Renstrom, a former sports medicine professor at the University of Vermont, said it's up to the discretion of team leaders to recommend if handshakes should be avoided during World Cup qualifiers.

In July, Manchester City defender Micah Richards was diagnosed with swine flu whilst on holiday in Ibiza but recovered fully following a period of quarantine and treatment.

In the same month, French league club Monaco revealed that four players were being treated for the illness, all of which made a full recovery.

In May, two Mexican clubs - Chivas Guadalajara and San Luis - withdrew from South America's Copa Libertadores because of the swine flu outbreak in the country.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/europe/8247338.stm

Swine flu has put an end to a beloved French custom, at least for now.

France's health ministry has issued a warning that the air kiss, or "la bise," could spread the H1N1 virus.

Worries about the possible winter pandemic have lead one major corporation, the insurance giant AXA, to insist that employees salute each other in place of a kiss or a handshake, reports Telegraph.co.uk. Some companies are asking that employees respect a one-yard buffer zone between each other.

"It might seem excessive, but given that it [the virus] might knock out half the population, fear of others will set in and people will say if 'I kiss my colleague, I might catch it,'" Frederic Chapelle, a psychiatrist, told Le Parisien.

The bise ban was first implemented in the town of Guilvenec in Brittany where the mayor told teachers and students not to kiss anymore.

"I felt the protections sought to wash hands regularly, not throw used handkerchiefs around, and not cough any old way had no meaning if we let the kids keep kissing," the mayor said.

A "bise box" has been introduced at schools into which pupils slip heart-shaped greetings that are passed around.

The ban is not yet a legal measure, but is just one of the many health protocols that will be introduced this winter. While foreign visitors may welcome not getting double-pecked at every turn, the French worry the kiss may become part of their past.

"What if la bise disappeared from our customs for good after H1N1's passage," asked Pascal Riche in a news Web site rue89.fr. Until now, he wrote, people "didn't realize risks they ran by touching each other, and it was better that way."

Riche called on the French to "enter resistance" against the ban on kissing, drinking from the same glass and backslapping.

from http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/health/2009/09/08/2009-09-08_la_bise_is_a_swine_flu_casualty_french_govt_warns_against_cheek_kisses_due_to_h1.html

[Blasted]

I didn't get to go to Glastonbury cause of stupid swine flu 

[Adam]

swine flu was a massive disappointment

the way they built it up i was expecting mass graves and bodies in the street

bubonic plague would have been better 

[The_Chosen_One]

Well, we did cop a recent dose of Soleiyu, if that's any help.

['andersom']

swine flu was a massive disappointment

the way they built it up i was expecting mass graves and bodies in the street

bubonic plague would have been better 

Well, you could try visiting China, the plague does pop up there regularly.
But somehow it does not spread world wide.

[The_Chosen_One]

Suprisingly, conditions aren't as conducive to bubonic plague as they were back in the 14th and 17th centuries. Even though we have more movement of people around the globe. Just shows how much medical science has done to sort the problem out.

[renaeden]

swine flu was a massive disappointment

the way they built it up i was expecting mass graves and bodies in the street

bubonic plague would have been better 

I had the H1N1. It wasn't as bad as the flu I had before it, in 2002.
I think the H1N1 will spread again in the northern hemisphere this coming winter.

[renaeden]

My stepdad likes my hand-shake, he says it's a strong one. My mum gives wussy hand-shakes, not even her whole hand, ugh. It was the way she learnt it growing up.

I loved it in Japan - bow to everyone. Only thing is, everyone wants to give you a business card, which is a way of transferring germs. And it's the height of rudeness not to accept those cards.

[Jack]

Don't refuse handshakes, but also don't offer them. It's not a germ thing; it simply doesn't occur to me to touch strangers. The worst are people who want high fives; it strikes as apish behavior and can't stand it. Husband likes anything that makes me laugh, so my contempt for the high five is a delight for him. Never see it coming when he does it, so it's always an initial reaction of annoyance followed by a laughter filled fuck you.

["couldbecousin"]

Don't refuse handshakes, but also don't offer them. It's not a germ thing; it simply doesn't occur to me to touch strangers. The worst are people who want high fives; it strikes as apish behavior and can't stand it. Husband likes anything that makes me laugh, so my contempt for the high five is a delight for him. Never see it coming when he does it, so it's always an initial reaction of annoyance followed by a laughter filled fuck you.

  You and the husband sound like a wonderful match. 

[Jack]

He's alright.