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Computer club takes steps to ward off H1N1

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By LAURA CONE

THE SUN

Published: October 28, 2009

John A. Fischer of Sun City Center remembers getting the swine flu shot in 1976. Although people in his age group are not currently being offered the H1N1 swine flu shot, Fischer said the Computer Club is taking special precautions to ward off all versions of the flu.

"I had the shot when the government was saying everyone should get it," he said. "They had mass inoculations."

Fischer, who is the director of communications for the Computer Club, said they recently installed 20 special Kensington keyboards to ward off H1N1 flu and other viruses.

He said the keyboards have special antimicrobial protection to prevent the spread of viruses. They are also washable. Members spray them each evening with an alcohol-based sanitizer.

"When you have people using the computers all day for classes you get a lot of fingers on those keyboards," he said. "We thought this would be a wise way to prevent the spread of the disease."

Russ Merritt, a member of the club, said even before the purchase of the new keyboards, people were considerate enough to use sanitary wipes to wipe down the mouse and keyboards after use.
Merritt said he does not usually get a flu shot each year, but his physician gave him reason to consider getting the seasonal flu shot.

"I might this year," Merritt said, pointing out thousands of people die each year from the flu. "I realized maybe I need to revise my thinking."

Editor Laura Cone may be reached at lcone@mediageneral.com.

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