Sunday, December 6, 2009

What Does Santa Wants for Xmas?

By Quang Nguyen



It is that time of the year when children everywhere look forward to Santa for a gift. But have you ever wondered what does Santa want? Can you guess? Well for this year's Xmas, Santa's most wanted gifts are H1N1 flu shot and hand sanitizer.

Contacting with thousands of kids everyday until Christmas Eve, Santa does not want to get sick. Swine flu is becoming Santa's most dangerous work related hazard. The question is should all Santas get the H1N1 flu shot and answer is definitely yes. It is the top priority for Santas as well as their employers.

However, the flu shots are limited in many states, making it difficult for all Santas to get to the safe zone. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Santas are not classified as the priority high risk group in order to get the vaccine.

What even more dangerous for Santas is the fact about their demographic. Many of them are currently facing health risk with overweight. 1/3 of all Santas are estimated to be morbidly obese. Research has shown that obesity is one of the risk factor for severe swine flu. Experts advise Santas to wash their clothes daily instead of weekly to prevent germs. In addition, they also say that Santas should not wear gloves this year so they can wash their hands more frequently.

Sources:
http://money.cnn.com/2009/12/04/news/economy/santa_claus_swine_flu_vaccine/index.htm
http://wbztv.com/local/santa.claus.swine.2.1319764.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33997901/ns/health-cold_and_flu/

No comments:

Post a Comment