Swine Flu and Safe Drinking Water -- Update # 2 -- I actually broke a news story on my blog!

This photo that I took during my last trip to Latin America

shows a child filling a bag with water from a stream

I wanted to post another quick update on the Swine Flu (or as we are supposed to call it now "Influenza A H1N1") and the role of safe drinking water.

Basically, any flu hits you a lot harder if you have a compromised or weakened immune system. The sad reality is that many people in developing countries live their entire lives with weakened immune systems because of poor nutrition and lack of access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation and hygiene. So an epidemic like this is just magnified and multiplied.

I was reading commentary about this on CNN.com that verified this:

Up to now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, has gone only so far as to advise people to avoid nonessential travel to Mexico, which seems to be ground zero in the imminent pandemic.

It's there that at least 2,500 people may have been infected. Mexican authorities also suspect that 159 deaths have resulted from the infection, although only a small number of cases -- less than a dozen -- have been confirmed. And in most of those cases, it wasn't the flu that was fatal but some another illness that took advantage of a weakened immune system caused by the H1N1 flu.

By not having access to safe drinking water, good nutrition and basic health, sanitation and hygiene, what would be a "typical" flu outbreak in the United States has a much more profound and far reaching impact in a developing country like Mexico.

NPR picked up a story about this just yesterday. I couldn't believe it, I was driving to work at Healing Waters International on Thursday listening to the radio. I had made my blog post on Monday talking about the link between safe drinking water and the flu outbreak in Mexico, and sure enough, NPR did a story on it. I will be honest with you, I felt kind of vindicated when I heard the story. (That tall, goofy blond guy that works for the water org was on the cutting edge of news and actually "broke" a story before the mainstream media covered it. . . cool!) You can click anywhere on the preview of the story below to link to the NPR website and listen to the 4 minute clip.

Global Health
Sanitation Problems Thwart Mexico's Flu Battle
by Jason Beaubien

Morning Edition, April 30, 2009 · Mexico's President Felipe Calderon on Wednesday night encouraged citizens to stay in their homes. Mexico City remains the epicenter of the swine flu outbreak. The lack of water has made sanitation a challenge in many working-class neighborhoods.

Feel free to e-mail me, Greg Allen-Pickett, with any questions, comments or feedback. Thanks for reading and LET THE CLEAN WATERS FLOW!