With flu season approaching, and a second wave of the swine flu expected, the unemployed and uninsured are most likely to feel the pain first if they can't afford to get medical care.

Healthcare providers in southeast Texas, for example, are preparing for more drop-in patients who are uninsured because they don't have jobs anymore, according to a story by KMBT in Texas.





While it's hard to disagree with providing free flu shots for the unemployed and under insured, it might also help to give them as much hand sanitizer as they can carry.

Common-sense measures to keep viruses from spreading are becoming more widespread, with everyone from airlines to churches handing out hand sanitizers.

Hand sanitizers are available in some church pews and many faiths have been modifying practices at their services, such as temporarily removing the Holy Water from the entrances to minimize exposure to the H1N1 flu, or swine flu.

"Please remember that when greeting people before and after Mass and during the Sign of Peace, a simple head bow can replace the handshake and be healthier for everyone," according to a bulletin for parishioners at a St. Patrick Cathedral in Pennsylvania.