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Some Manitoba medical clinics are pulling magazines and children’s toys from patient waiting areas to prevent the spread of swine flu.

The decision comes following a recommendation from Manitoba Health in June.

One Winnipeg clinic stripped its waiting area since the H1N1 virus first emerged in the spring.

Dr. Darcy Johnson said Wednesday there’s been no backlash from patients over the move.

“They understand the reason for it. I’m sure the kids miss the toys, but that’s OK,” Johnson said, adding the clinic’s stark waiting room may become a permanent feature.

Johnson said even more is being done to combat a swine flu outbreak this fall.

“We have some masks to give out to people. If they have serious coughs, we’ll often send them out to the parking lot and bring them back in,” Johnson said.

He admits removing patients from the clinic prior to treatment is impractical come winter time.

Johnson said he’s more concerned about the length of time some clinics are waiting to get access to flu-fighting supplies like extra gloves, masks, sanitizers and anti-viral drugs.

He said he’d like to be able to treat people in-house, rather than have them attend pharmacies where they could infect other people.

If you are after a bargain, Mexico is where it’s at. We’ve posted about how a group of hotels have a deal for those who do get swine flu from their trip to Mexico. But since that probably isn’t going to happen, there are deals for those who don’t get sick.

There’s a “Biggest Hotel Sale Ever” campaign in Mexico through Expedia. In general prices are 26% cheaper than this time last year. Resorts also have deals on spa treatments, dinners and alcohol, so check out a resort to see what you can snag.

In case you’re worried about catching swine flu, check out this AP article . As the article explains, getting swine flu in Mexico is a long shot, and people have begun to see that these deals are not to be missed.

Here’s my take. There’s a lot of sickness you can get in all sorts of places, but they don’t end up on the news. I’m not saying that swine flu is a sickness to pooh pooh, but in reality, a person can get sick by heading to any place that has a lot of people milling about. Staying home sounds boring.

• Flu Shots a Must for New York Health Care Workers (blogs.wsj.com)
• H1N1 vaccine will arrive too late, scientists warn (thestar.com)
• 936 U.S. Flu Deaths Recorded So Far in September (shoppingblog.com)
• Small businesses told to prepare for swine flu (msnbc.msn.com)

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