“Influenza has a long history of devastating epidemics throughout human history, most notably the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic which infected a large portion of the world’s population and caused millions of deaths; today, the influenza vaccine is crucial because the virus constantly mutates, requiring annual vaccination to prevent widespread outbreaks and reduce the severity of illness in individuals, especially those at high risk of complications. The flu pandemic lasts from 1918 to 1920. From spring of 1918 to spring of 1919, the flu causes more than 550,000 deaths in the U.S. and more than 20 million deaths worldwide.

In the fall of 1918 at Mayo Clinic, people with the flu and other contagious illnesses are cared for in the isolation hospital. Keeping patients with these illnesses isolated and keeping high standards of cleanliness likely prevented infections and saved lives.

 From 2020 Flu vaccines prevent about 7.5 million illnesses, 3.7 million doctor visits, 105,000 hospital stays and 6,300 deaths.”

MAYO CLINIC (https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/history-disease-outbreaks-vaccine-timeline/flu)

Influenza A (H1N1), Influenza A (H3N2), and one or two influenza B viruses (depending on the vaccine) are included in each year’s influenza vaccine now.

FLU Pandemics

In the 20th century, three influenza pandemics occurred:

Spanish influenza in 1918 (~50+ million deaths),

Asian influenza in 1957 (two million deaths) and

Hong Kong influenza in 1968 (one million deaths).

How Influenza got started:

1918 Spanish Flu

Influenza was discovered not by a direct study of the disease in humans, but rather from studies on animal diseases. In 1918, J.S. Koen, a veterinarian, observed a disease in pigs which was believed to be the same disease as the now famous “Spanish” influenza pandemic of 1918.  If not the most severe pandemic than one of the most severe pandemics in history was the 1918 influenza virus, often called “the Spanish Flu.” The virus infected roughly 500 million people—one-third of the world’s population—and caused 50 million deaths worldwide (double the number of deaths in World War I). In the United States, a quarter of the population caught the virus, 675,000 died, and life expectancy dropped by 12 years. With no vaccine to protect against the virus, people were urged to isolate, quarantine, practice good personal hygiene, and limit social interaction.  The World Health Organization declared an outbreak of a new type of influenza A/H1N1 to be a pandemic in June 2009=Swine Flu.  Swine flu (H1N1) is a type of viral infection.  Swine flu it resembles a respiratory infection that pigs can get. Influenza—more specifically the Spanish flu—left its devastating mark in both world and American history that year. The microscopic killer circled the entire globe in four months, claiming the lives of more than 21 million people. The United States lost 675,000 people to the Spanish flu in 1918-more casualties possibly compared to World War I,  the Korean War and the Vietnam War combined not World War 2.   Pharmaceutical companies worked around the clock to come up with a vaccine to fight the Spanish flu, but they were too late. The virus disappeared before they could even isolate it.  It took 1/3 of the lives on earth.

Until February 2020, the 1918 epidemic was largely overlooked in the teaching of American history, despite the ample documentation at the National Archives and elsewhere of the disease and its devastation. Over 100-years-old, from 1918, that just months ago seemed quaint and dated now seem oddly prescient. We make these records more widely available in hopes that they contain lessons about what to expect over the coming months and ideas about ways to avoid a repeat and prepare for what may follow.  H1N1-RX=VACCINE is the answer!

In 2009, an H1N1 pandemic infected millions of people worldwide. Today, you can prevent H1N1 with an annual flu shot. You can treat it with rest, fluids and antiviral medications.  The 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic, also known as the swine flu, was the first major influenza outbreak of the 21st century.   Swine flu first appeared in Mexico and the United States in March and April 2009 and has swept the globe with unprecedented speed as a result of airline travel.

1957 – Asian Flu

In February 1957, a new influenza A (H2N2) virus emerged in East Asia, triggering a pandemic (“Asian Flu”). This H2N2 virus was comprised of three different genes from an H2N2 virus that originated from an avian influenza A virus, including the H2 hemagglutinin and the N2 neuraminidase genes. It was first reported in Singapore in February 1957, Hong Kong in April 1957, and in coastal cities in the United States in summer 1957. The estimated number of deaths was 1.1 million worldwide and 116,000 in the United States.

Asian flu pandemic was a global pandemic of influenza A virus subtype H2N2 that originated in Guizhou in Southern China. The number of excess deaths caused by the pandemic is estimated to be 1–4 million around the world (1957–1958 and probably beyond), making it one of the deadliest pandemics in history.

1968 – Hong Kong Flu

The Hong Kong flu, also known as the 1968 flu pandemic, was a flu pandemic that occurred in 1968 and 1969 and which killed between one and four million people globally.  It is among the deadliest pandemics in history, and was caused by an H3N2 strain of the influenza A virus. The virus was descended from H2N2 (which caused the Asian flu pandemic in 1957–1958) through antigenic shift, a genetic process in which genes from multiple subtypes are reassorted to form a new virus.  The first recorded instance of the outbreak appeared on 13 July 1968 in British Hong Kong. It has been speculated that the outbreak began in mainland China before it spread to Hong Kong;^[10] On 11 July, before the outbreak in the colony was first noted, the Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao reported an outbreak of respiratory illness in Guangdong Province, and the next day, The Times issued a similar report of an epidemic in southeastern China.^[13] Later reporting suggested that the flu had spread from the central provinces of Sichuan, Gansu, Shaanxi, and Shanxi, which had experienced epidemics in the spring.  However, due to a lack of etiological information on the outbreak and a strained relationship between Chinese health authorities and those in other countries at the time, it cannot be ascertained whether the Hong Kong virus was to blame.  The outbreak lasted around six weeks, affecting about 15% of the population (some 500,000 people infected), but the mortality rate was low and the clinical symptoms were mild.

There were two waves of the flu in mainland China, one between July–September in 1968 and the other between June–December in 1970.  The reported data were very limited due to the Cultural Revolution, but retrospective analysis of flu activity between 1968 and 1992 shows that flu infection was the most serious in 1968, implying that most areas in China were affected at the time.

The epidemic became widespread in December, involving all 50 states before the end of the year.  Outbreaks occurred in colleges and hospitals, in some places the disease attacking upwards of 40% of their populations. Reports of absenteeism among students and nurses grew. Schools in Los Angeles, for example, reported rates ranging from 10 to 25%, compared to a typical 5 or 6%.  The Greater New York Hospital Association reported absenteeism of 15 to 20% among staff and urged its members to impose visitor restrictions to safeguard patients.  Economic activity was also hampered by high levels of industrial absenteeism.

Peak influenza activity for most states most likely occurred in the latter half of December or early January, but the exact week was impossible to determine due to the holiday season. Activity declined throughout January. Excess pneumonia-influenza mortality passed the epidemic threshold during the first week of December and increased rapidly over the next month, peaking in the first half of January. It took until late March for mortality to return to normal levels. There was no second wave during this season.  Following the epidemic of influenza A, outbreaks of influenza B began in late January and continued until late March. Mostly elementary-school children were affected.  This influenza B activity fit within the pattern of epidemics every three to six years, but the 1968–1969 flu season became the first documented instance of two major influenza A epidemics to occur in successive seasons.  Given the widespread epidemic levels of influenza A activity in 1968–1969, the CDC in June 1969 predicted little more than “sporadic cases” of influenza A in the 1969–1970 season.

The Hong Kong flu was the first known outbreak of the H3N2 strain, but there is serologic evidence of H3N1 infections in the late 19th century. The virus was isolated in Queen Mary Hospital located in Poc Fu Lam on Hong Kong Island of Hong Kong.

The estimates of the total death toll due to Hong Kong flu (from its beginning in July 1968 until the outbreak faded during the winter of 1969–70 vary:

• The World Health Organization and Encyclopaedia Britannica estimated the number of deaths due to Hong Kong flu to be between 1 and 4 million globally.
• The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that, in total, the virus caused the deaths of 1 million people worldwide

However, the death rate from the Hong Kong flu was lower than most other 20th-century pandemics.

2009

The 2009 swine flu pandemic, caused by the H1N1/swine flu/influenza virus and declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) from June 2009 to August 2010, was the third recent flu pandemic involving the H1N1 virus (the first being the 1918–1920 Spanish flu pandemic and the second being the 1977 Russian flu).   The first identified human case was in La Gloria, Mexico, a rural town in Veracruz. The virus appeared to be a new strain of H1N1 that resulted from a previous triple reassortment of bird, swine, and human flu viruses which further combined with a Eurasian pig flu virus,  leading to the term “swine flu” in this pandemic.

On June 11, 2009, the World Health Organization raised its pandemic level to the highest level, Phase 6, indicating widespread community transmission on at least two continents. The 2009 H1N1 virus contains a unique combination of gene segments from human, swine and avian influenza. This new H1N1 virus contained a unique combination of influenza genes not previously identified in animals or people. This virus was designated as influenza A (H1N1) virus. Ten years later work continued to better understand influenza, prevent disease, and prepare for the next pandemic.

Influenza may also affect other wild life which are horses, chickens and birds along with the pigs. In late 1917, military pathologists reported the onset of a new disease with high mortality that they later recognized as the flu. The overcrowded camp and hospital — which treated thousands of victims of chemical attacks and other casualties of war — was an ideal site for the spreading of a respiratory virus; 100,000 soldiers were in transit every day. It also was home to a live piggery, and poultry were regularly brought in for food supplies from surrounding villages. Oxford and his team postulated that a significant precursor virus, harbored in birds, mutated so it could migrate to pigs that were kept near the front.

Influenza A virus subtype H5N1, also known as A(H5N1) or simply H5N1, is a subtype of the influenza A virus which can cause illness in humans and many other animal species.  A bird-adapted strain of H5N1, called HPAI A(H5N1) for highly pathogenic avian influenza virus of type A of subtype H5N1, is the highly pathogenic causative agent of H5N1 flu, commonly known as avian influenza (“bird flu“).  It is enzootic (maintained in the population) in many bird populations, especially in Southeast Asia.

CDC Centers for Disease Control blog site states, “There are four types of influenza viruses: A, B, C and D. Human influenza A and B viruses cause seasonal epidemics of disease almost every winter in the United States. The emergence of a new and very different influenza A virus to infect people can cause an influenza pandemic. Influenza type C infections generally cause a mild respiratory illness and are not thought to cause epidemics. Influenza D viruses primarily affect cattle and are not known to infect or cause illness in people.

PMC U.S. National Library of Medicine (National Institutes of Health) states, “the announcement in 2005 that a virus causing fatal influenza during the great influenza pandemic of 1918–1919 had been sequenced in its entirety [1], in the laboratory of co-author JKT, has prompted renewed interest in the 1918 virus. The ongoing H5N1 avian influenza epizootic, and the possibility that it might also cause a pandemic [2], increase the importance of understanding what happened in 1918. However, in reviewing the scientific approach to unlocking an old puzzle, it is important to note that the sequencing of the 1918 virus took place after more than century of exhaustive and sometimes disheartening efforts to discover the cause of influenza (Figure 1). Indeed, the influenza search not only pre-dated the great pandemic of 1918, but also attracted the efforts of some of the greatest researchers of the 19th and 20th centuries. Along the way, the new fields of bacteriology and virology were advanced, and a productive marriage between microbiology, epidemiology and experimental science began. In describing here the 10-year effort (1995–2005) to sequence the genome of the 1918 pandemic influenza virus, we attempt also to place it within this important historical perspective.”

Influenza virus C is a genus in the virus family Orthomyxoviridae, which includes the viruses that cause influenza.  Nearly all adults have been infected with influenza C virus, which causes mild upper respiratory infections. Cold-like symptoms are associated with the virus including fever (38-40ᵒC=100.4 to 104F), dry cough, rhinorrhea (nasal discharge), headache, muscle pain, and achiness. The virus may lead to more severe infections such as bronchitis and pneumonia.  Lower tract complications are rare.  There is no vaccine against influenza C virus.

The species in this genus is called Influenza C virus. Influenza C viruses are known to infect humans and pigs.

Influenza D viruses primarily affect cattle and are not known to infect or cause illness in people.

“Flu viruses are divided into four types: A, B, C, and D. During flu season (October through May), you’ll mostly hear about flu A and flu B. Flu C viruses only cause mild illness in humans and are not linked to large outbreaks. Flu D viruses do not appear to infect humans at all and are mainly found in cattle.

Now that we know there are two main types of flu viruses that affect humans, you may be wondering: Which flu is worse, A or B? Answering that question starts with learning more about their differences and how they affect us.

While flu A and flu B both cause seasonal flu, there are several differences in terms of their structure, behavior, and who they impact.

Flu A is the more common of the two main flu types, making up about 75% of all cases.”

National Council on Aging – NCOA (https://www.ncoa.org/article/whats-the-difference-between-flu-a-and-flu-b/)

The CDC states the following:

“There are four types of influenza viruses: A, B, C and D. Human influenza A and B viruses cause seasonal epidemics of disease (known as flu season) almost every winter in the United States. Influenza A viruses are the only influenza viruses known to cause flu pandemics, i.e., global epidemics of flu disease. A pandemic can occur when a new and different influenza A virus emerges that both infects people and has the ability to spread efficiently among people. Influenza C virus infections generally cause mild illness and are not thought to cause human epidemics. Influenza D viruses primarily affect cattle and are not known to infect or cause illness in people.

Influenza A viruses are divided into subtypes based on two proteins on the surface of the virus: hemagglutinin (H) and neuraminidase (N). There are 18 different hemagglutinin subtypes and 11 different neuraminidase subtypes (H1 through H18 and N1 through N11, respectively). While more than 130 influenza A subtype combinations have been identified in nature, primarily from wild birds, there are potentially many more influenza A subtype combinations given the propensity for virus “reassortment.” Reassortment is a process by which influenza viruses swap gene segments. Reassortment can occur when two influenza viruses infect a host at the same time and swap genetic information. Current subtypes of influenza A viruses that routinely circulate in people include: A(H1N1) and A(H3N2). Influenza A subtypes can be further broken down into different genetic “clades” and “sub-clades.” See the “Influenza Viruses” graphic below for a visual depiction of these classifications.

Currently circulating influenza A(H1N1) viruses are related to the pandemic 2009 H1N1 virus that emerged in the spring of 2009 and caused a flu pandemic (CDC 2009 H1N1 Flu website). These viruses, scientifically called the “A(H1N1)pdm09 virus,” and more generally called “2009 H1N1,” have continued to circulate seasonally since then and have undergone genetic changes and changes to their antigenic properties (i.e., the properties of the virus that affect immunity).

Influenza A(H3N2) viruses also change both genetically and antigenically. Influenza A(H3N2) viruses have formed many separate, genetically different clades in recent years that continue to co-circulate.

Influenza B viruses are not divided into subtypes, but instead are further classified into two lineages: B/Yamagata and B/Victoria. Similar to influenza A viruses, influenza B viruses can then be further classified into specific clades and sub-clades. Influenza B viruses generally change more slowly in terms of their genetic and antigenic properties than influenza A viruses, especially influenza A(H3N2) viruses. Influenza surveillance data from recent years shows co-circulation of influenza B viruses from both lineages in the United States and around the world. However, the proportion of influenza B viruses from each lineage that circulate can vary by geographic location and by season. In recent years, flu B/Yamagata viruses have circulated much less frequently in comparison to flu B/Victoria viruses globally.”.

Consider the FLU VACCINE!

“Enjoy a safe and happy holiday season by doing the following:

● Place candles where they cannot be knocked down or blown over, and out of reach of children
● Keep matches and lighters up high and out of reach of children in a locked cabinet
● Use flameless rather than lighted candles near flammable objects
● Don’t burn trees, wreaths or wrapping paper in the fireplace
● Use a screen on the fireplace at all times when a fire is burning
● Never leave candles or fireplaces burning unattended or when you are asleep
● Check and clean the chimney and fireplace area at least once a year

● Prepare your car for winter and keep an emergency kit with you
● Get a good night’s sleep before departing and avoid drowsy driving
● Leave early, planning ahead for heavy traffic
● Make sure every person in the vehicle is properly buckled up no matter how long or short the distance traveled
● Put that cell phone away; many distractions occur while driving, but cell phones are the main culprit
● Practice defensive driving

● Keep potentially poisonous plants – mistletoe, holly berries, Jerusalem cherry and amaryllis – away from children
● If using an artificial tree, check that it is labeled “fire resistant”
● If using a live tree, cut off about 2 inches of the trunk to expose fresh wood for better water absorption, remember to water it, and remove it from your home when it is dry
● Place your tree at least 3 feet away from fireplaces, radiators and other heat sources, making certain not to block doorways
● Avoid placing breakable ornaments or ones with small, detachable parts on lower tree branches where small children can reach them
● Only use indoor lights indoors and outdoor lights outdoors, and choose the right ladder for the task when hanging lights”

National Safety Council (https://www.nsc.org/community-safety/safety-topics/seasonal-safety/winter-safety/holiday)

Safety in the house with decorations:

Turn off and unplug decorations when leaving the house or going to bed.

Use decorations that have safety certification labels.

Use battery-operated candles to avoid shock or fire

Inspect electrical connections before use and don’t leave any lithium battery operated things in your house.

Here a few tips to stay healthy in December:

Light Your Tree, but Not on Fire: Christmas trees are reported to cause 200+ structure fires annually. Pick a flame retardant tree or a live, healthy tree with fresh green needles that don’t fall off easily. Make sure to keep all trees at least 3 feet away from all heat sources.

Deck the Halls Safely: Fires caused by decorative lights account for $7.9 million in property damages annually. Use safe lighting that’s tested, rated and stamped with the (UL)) label. Make sure your lighting isn’t frayed and that you use only 3 sets of lights per extension cord.

Cook with Care: 2/3 of all holiday fires start in the kitchen. Don’t leave your pots and pans unattended!

More tips regarding your diet:

• Exercise regularly
• Stay away from tempting foods and eat slower
• Wear clothes that can keep you warm
• Avoid sugary drinks and foods
• Drink more water
• Visit your doctor regularly to diagnose health problems before they become worse

“The scientific evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that appropriate hand hygiene is the single most effective action to stop the spread of infection, while integrated with other critical measures.

• • Appropriate hand hygiene prevents up to 50% of avoidable infections acquired during health care delivery, including those affecting the health work force.
  • The WHO multimodal hand hygiene improvement strategy has proved to be highly effective, leading to a significant improvement in key hand hygiene indicators, a reduction in health care-associated infections (HAIs) and antimicrobial resistance, and substantially helping to stop outbreaks.
  • Appropriate hand hygiene reduces the risk on SARS-CoV-2 – the virus that causes COVID-19 – infection among health workers.
  • Investing in hand hygiene yields huge returns. Implementation of hand hygiene policies can generate economic savings averaging 16 times the cost of their implementation.

Hand hygiene compliance is recommended as one of the key performance indicators for infection prevention and control programmes, patient safety and quality of health services worldwide.”

World Health Organization-WHO (https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-hand-hygiene-day/2021/key-facts-and-figures)

• All Posts

Facts about Handwashing:

• On average, you come into contact with 300 surfaces every 30 minutes, exposing you to 840,000 germs.
• Only about 5% of people wash their hands correctly.
• Most people only wash their hands for 6 seconds.
• Around 33% of people don’t use soap when washing their hands.
• Up to 80% of communicable diseases are transferred by touch.
• Proper handwashing can reduce diarrhea rates  by 40% and respiratory infections by close to 20%.
• Failing to wash hands correctly contributes to nearly 50% of all foodborne illness outbreaks.
• Only 20% of people wash their hands before preparing food, and 39% before eating food.
• About 7% of women and 15% of men do not wash their hands at all after using the bathroom.
• Most bacteria on our hands is on the fingertips and under the nails. The number of bacteria on our fingertips doubles after using the bathroom. Most people wash the palms of their hands and miss everything else.
• Damp hands are 1,000x more likely to spread bacteria than dry hands. Only about 20% of people dry their hands after washing them.
• There is fecal matter on 10% of credit cards, 14% of banknotes and 16% of cellphones.
• Approximately 39% of people don’t wash their hands after sneezing, coughing or after blowing their nose.
• Elevator buttons harbor 22% more bacteria than toilet seats.
• Reminder signs are successful in encouraging more handwashing.
• Dirty sinks result in less handwashing.
• Handwashing rates are higher in the mornings than evenings.

If everyone did handwashing properly many infections could be decreased from respiratory, nasal, to foodborne illnesses.  Good handwashing techniques can block alot of illnesses.  While the majority of people as high as 95% claim to practice proper hand hygiene, studies show that only 67% of people practice any sort of hand hygiene.

“Handwashing with soap removes germs from hands. This helps prevent infections because:

• People frequently touch their eyes, nose, and mouth without even realizing it. Germs can get into the body through the eyes, nose and mouth and make us sick.
• Germs from unwashed hands can get into foods and drinks while people prepare or consume them. Germs can multiply in some types of foods or drinks, under certain conditions, and make people sick.
• Germs from unwashed hands can be transferred to other objects, like handrails, tabletops, or toys, and then transferred to another person’s hands.

Teaching people about handwashing helps them and their communities stay healthy. Handwashing education in the community:

• Reduces the number of people who get sick with diarrhea by 23-40%
• Reduces diarrheal illness in people with weakened immune systems by 58%
• Reduces respiratory illnesses, like colds, in the general population by 16-21%
• Reduces absenteeism due to gastrointestinal illness in schoolchildren by 29-57%”

Center for Disease Control and Prevention – CDC (https://www.cdc.gov/clean-hands/data-research/facts-stats/index.html)

When & How to Wash Your Hands

Keeping hands clean through improved hand hygiene is one of the most important steps we can take to avoid getting sick and spreading germs to others. Many diseases and conditions are spread by not washing hands with soap and clean, running water. If clean, running water is not accessible, as is common in many parts of the world, use soap and available water. If soap and water are unavailable, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol to clean hands.

When should you wash your hands?

• Before, during, and after preparing food
• Before eating food
• Before and after caring for someone who is sick
• Before and after treating a cut or wound
• After using the toilet
• After changing diapers or cleaning up a child who has used the toilet
• After blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing
• After touching an animal, animal feed, or animal waste
• After handling pet food or pet treats
• After touching garbage

How should you wash your hands?

• Wet your hands with clean, running water (warm or cold), turn off the tap, and apply soap.
• Lather your hands by rubbing them together with the soap. Be sure to lather the backs of your hands, between your fingers, and under your nails.
• Scrub your hands for at least 20 seconds. Need a timer? Hum the “Happy Birthday” song from beginning to end twice.
• Rinse your hands well under clean, running water.
• Dry your hands using a clean towel or air dry them.

What should you do if you don’t have soap and clean, running water?

Washing hands with soap and water is the best way to reduce the number of germs on them in most situations. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers can quickly reduce the number of germs on hands in some situations, but sanitizers do not eliminate all types of germs and might not remove harmful chemicals.

Hand sanitizers are not as effective when hands are visibly dirty or greasy.

How do you use hand sanitizers?

• Apply the product to the palm of one hand (read the label to learn the correct amount).
• Rub your hands together.
• Rub the product over all surfaces of your hands and fingers until your hands are dry.

 Almost everyone has dropped food on the floor and still wanted to eat it. Some people apply the “5-second rule” — that random saying about how food won’t become contaminated with bacteria if you pick it up off the floor in 5 seconds or less.

The 5-second rule has become such a part of our culture that scientists actually tested it. As you can probably guess, they found that the “rule” is mostly myth: Bacteria can attach to food even if you pick it up super fast. So, depending on which types of bacteria happen to climb on board, you could still get sick.

Here are two facts to consider whenever you feel tempted by the 5-second rule:

1. A clean-looking floor isn’t necessarily clean. A shiny linoleum floor is probably cleaner than a 1970s-era carpet. But even clean, dry floors can harbor bacteria. Newly washed floors are only as clean as the tools used to wash them (picture eating food off the mop in the cafeteria if you need a visual). Even with a brand-new mop or sponge, stubborn germs can still remain on the floor after cleaning.
2. Fast is better — but it may not be fast enough. Although a piece of food does pick up more bacteria the longer it’s on the floor, bacteria can attach to it instantly. So any food that makes contact with the floor can get contaminated if conditions are right. And foods with wet surfaces, like an apple slice, pick up bacteria easily.

When in Doubt, Toss It Out

Some bacteria are not harmful. But others can torture you with miserable stuff like diarrhea. Even if there’s no visible dirt on your food, you can still get sick. You just can’t tell what kinds of bacteria may be lurking on the floor.

So what are you to do with the piece of watermelon that just slipped from your grip? The safest choice is to throw it out. Or let the dog have it. (And there’s another thing to consider — even the 5-second rule can’t get around the fact that your food may have landed right in a spot where Fido parked his butt.)