Closed captioning of: Flu fears spark behavior overhaul
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federal health officials are warning that
swine flu
vaccine will remain in short supply in the coming weeks because of manufacturing delays, but vaccinations are one way americans are fighting the flu.
peter alexander
reports many people are making big changes in the habits of
everyday life
.
>>
reporter: under the lights in new jersey, contact is impossible to avoid. this season
high school football
teams are tackling a vicious opponent off the field,
swine flu
.
>>
you just pray to god it doesn't hit your team.
>>
reporter: their
game plan
is notice sharing water bottles and constant reminders to clean uniforms and hands. in nevada the sheriff enforces a strict sick leave policy. if you get the virus, you stay home for at least a week, period.
>>
we get it in the jail, we don't have the facility to separate people. so it's going to be a really big issue for us.
>>
reporter: this
northern california
hospital instituted its first ever visitation ban. no children under 16, even family members, allowed to visit patients. in some churches parishioners receive communion in their hands and not their mouths. spreading flu fears have caused an overhaul of our behavior.
>>
like washing your hands frequently, like covering the cough and your sneeze. those type of things hopefully will become second nature on a year-round basis.
>>
reporter: there's more work to be done, like keeping our
hands away
from our face. the average adult does that 16 times an hour. a child under 2 does it 80 times. already we've adapted our ways and in the process become a hand sanitizing nation. one of the manufacturers of purr rel admits it can't keep up with record demand, warning consumers stockpiling could cause an actual shortage which could threaten
public health
. have we gone overboard? at new york's pole technical in this case institute they warned students against sharing cups even during
drinking games
like that old college classic
beer pong
. a frightening pandemic changing the way we live and threatening more americans to the sidelines.
peter alexander
, nbc news, new york.
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