In another sign of our changing perception of flu dangers, many pharmacies and doctor's offices have already run out of standard seasonal flu-vaccine shots -- not the H1N1 vaccines, which have yet to reach these places -- and don't expect any more in this year. The public definitely doesn't see this autumn as a ho-hum flu season.

Marketers are scrambling to be prepared. The most obvious beneficiary of the hand sanitizer spike, according to blogger Paul Kedrosky, is the category leader, Purell. A subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Purell makes up tiny portion of the healthcare giant's revenues, but its increase is impressive: P&G ordered 128 large waterborne shipments of hand sanitizer from overseas manufacturers in the third quarter, up from 56 shipments a year earlier, according to Panjiva. And on a shipment weight basis, the amount of hand santizer sent out in the third quarter was actually triple that of the same period in the year prior.