Swine Flu

Identified in April 2009, the new strain of the influenza virus (A\H1N1) spread rapidly across the globe. As individuals did not have immunity to this virus, the WHO, declared it a pandemic in June 2009. The pandemic alert was a level 6, which is the maximum alert level for a pandemic. Each day countries are reporting new cases of swine flu (H1N1). The global death toll as a result of swine flu pandemic continues to rise. It’s difficult to give an exact number of lethal cases because they are increasing day by day. All countries have pressed the red alert button and have started a very significant threat.

The resemblance between the symptoms of this strain and that of the common seasonal flu is uncommon. Individuals diseased with swine flu suffer from such symptoms as muscle aches, fatigue, fits of coughing, and fever. In more serious stages it also causes diarrhea. So this is a new strain of the influenza virus, known as Influenza - A virus, subtype H1N1.

Let us see exactly what are the swine flu symptoms.

Symptoms of swine flu (H1N1) are: fever, coughing, chills, tiredness, joint pain, muscle ache, headaches, sore throat, runny nose. In many cases, severe vomiting and diarrhea have also been seen as the symptoms. It’s important that you get yourself checked by the doctor as soon as you feel you have these symptoms. Swine flu in its early stages can be treated. Some of the severe symptoms of this disease include the inability to stay awake, shortness of breath, dehydration and dizziness amongst different others.

What are the preventive measures? Swine flu has been around for some time now and the experts predict that the main attack of swine flu is yet to come. By building your immune system, you will stay healthy!

Tamiflu is the most common antiviral drug for swine flu treatment available on prescription. These pills decrease the potential in patients for developing serious complications like pneumonia and serious breathing disorders. Tamiflu decreases the spread of the virus through the body and thus helps in reducing the associated symptoms.

The H1N1 swine flu is a respiratory disease caused by a virus. The virus is spread from human to human in the same way that regular seasonal influenza and common colds spread. H1N1 swine flu is an influenza virus causing mild to severe symptoms. Many people contracting the H1N1 swine flu have recovered on their own without a doctor or hospitalization. The H1N1 swine flu has most of the symptoms of seasonal flu. Seasonal influenza symptoms include fever, headache, aches and pains, fatigue, cough and chest discomfort. Sometimes you may have a runny or stuffy nose, sore throat and sneezing.

The H1N1 Swine Flu has differences from seasonal flu - the symptoms may be more severe, and a significant number of cases have reported vomiting and diarrhea. These symptoms are different from the common cold. The common cold usually has a runny or stuffy nose, sneezing, sore throat, cough and occasionally some chest discomfort. Aches and pain can occur, but are typically slight compared to the flu. It is rare to get a fever or headaches with the common cold. To complete the comparison of symptoms - Airborne allergies usually have sneezing and runny or stuffy nose. Sometimes a sore throat and cough might occur along with fatigue. It is rare to have chest discomfort or headache with an airborne allergy.

The warning signs for children with H1N1 Swine Flu include: fast or troubled breathing, bluish or gray skin color, severe or persistent vomiting, extreme difficulty waking up, not drinking enough liquids, not interacting with others, extreme irritability.

The warning signs in adults are similar and include some additional symptoms such as: difficulty breathing or shortness of breath, pain or pressure in your chest or abdomen, sudden dizziness, confusion, and severe or persistent vomiting.

The H1N1 Swine Flu, just like the common cold and airborne allergies can be slight, mild or severe. Every person reacts differently. 70 percent of the patients hospitalized with the H1N1 Swine Flu have had one or more medical conditions that placed them in the ‘high risk’ category. High risk includes: pregnancy, diabetes, heart disease, asthma and kidney disease.

Swine flu is affecting the rich countries and the poorest of the poor. What is this pandemic all about? The first thing that one must understand about this pandemic is that is a potent mix of different genetic elements. The virus is a coming together of various elements that have originated from North American Swine Flu, various human and swine flu strains that are commonly found in Europe and Asia; and last but not the least, the North American Avian Flu.

1. Why does the H1N1 flu virus have genes from humans, birds, and from pigs on various continents?

Swine can be infected by influenza viruses found in birds and other animals as well as humans. So pigs represent a mixing vessel in which influenza viruses from various species can swap genes. For instance, in a place where humans and animals are in contact, pigs can be infected by influenza viruses found in pigs, poultry or humans. For 80 years, influenza viruses (classical swine H1N1 viruses) have circulated in North American pigs. In the late 1990s, a series of reassortment events occurred between influenza viruses found in pigs, humans and birds. As a result, swine influenza viruses with genes from humans, North American pigs and birds have existed in many parts of the world for around ten years.

2. What is the best way to prevent from Swine Flu?

Now is the time to start your prevention plan and to have on hand a homeopathic remedy in case the flu bug attacks your home. Remember to take other precautions like washing your hands frequently, get plenty of home cooked meals and plenty of rest. Some homeopathy patients like to keep Eucalyptus oil on hand to use in their vaporizers, keeping the air free from bacteria. You will find the world of homeopathy very rewarding and wonder why you had not found it before.

3. Have viruses similar to the H1N1 virus been seen before?

Before the discovery of the H1N1 influenza virus in 2009, this combination of gene segments from North American and Eurasian swine had never been detected before in a single influenza virus and this new virus is different from the influenza viruses that normally circulate in North American and Eurasian pigs. It is not known when reassortment occurred to create the H1N1 influenza virus. Testing of the virus suggests that this reassortment event may have occurred years prior to the first reports of H1N1 influenza infection in people.

4. What is the best and effective medication to treat Swine Flu?

The most used medicine today is Tamiflu. Tamiflu drug works in a way whereby it stops the infection at its source. This not only helps in bringing down the symptoms of the flu but helps in completely eradicating the flu.

5. Where did the H1N1 flu virus come from?

H1N1 influenza virus was firstly detected in humans in the USA in April 2009. The virus was referred to as “swine flu” because laboratory testing showed that its gene segments were similar to influenza viruses that were recently identified in pigs. The virus resulted from reassortment, a process through which 2 or more influenza viruses can swap genetic information by infecting a single human or animal host. When reassortment does occur, the virus that emerges will have some gene segments from every of the infecting parent viruses and may have various characteristics. In this case, the reassortment appears most likely to have occurred between influenza viruses circulating in North American and Eurasian pigs.

Los Angeles (LA) County offers free swine flu vaccines today for pregnant women, babes 6-24 months, those who care for babes under six months, health care workers, and emergency personnel. The County asks that everyone else wait to get their H1N1 vaccines and suggests people begin with the seasonal flu vaccine.

About 70,000 people have been vaccinated in Los Angeles County, about 5.5 million residents fall into the priority categories. The County also asks those who want H1N1 vaccinations to fill out a form, available at www.publichealth.lacounty.gov, before arriving.

Today’s free vaccines are available at:

• Memorial Park North Recreation Center, 340 N. Orange Place, Azusa, from 11 am to 7 pm
• Salazar Park, 3864 Whittier Blvd., Boyle Heights, from 11 am to 7 pm
• the Watts Labor Action Committee building, 10950 S. Central Ave., Watts, from 9 am to 5 pm

Free H1N1 vaccinations will be offered Saturday in Orange County: Irvine Valley College, 5500 Irvine Center Drive, Building A300, Room 307; and at Santa Ana College, 1530 W. 17th Street, Johnson Center, Building U.

Drugs like remantadin and of the kind are not effective. It is supposed that Tamiflu (Roches’ product) is most effective drug, however it can be just a marketing trick. How do you think, was a dead child in the USA treated with Tamiflu? How do you think, 170 of dead Mexicans did not got Tamiflu?

In case of influenza comfort care is effective enough. There is no special vaccine. Perhaps, it is worth-while to use immunomodulator of interferon type. Perhaps, is worth-while to take antivirals of arbidol type as preventive measures. You should remember that the final effectiveness of taking those drugs can be no more than of radiotherapy (listening to a program on the village radio about beet breeding). So the most effective thing is not to get sick with swine flu.

How to protect ourselves against swine flu?

There is need in voluntary quarantine. It is necessary to avoid crowded places. Do not undertake unnecessary trips. Put off visit in Mexico, but the last measure may not help you because virus is already in your country.

Swine flu symptoms

Swine flu has the same symptoms as an ordinary flu. Prevails gastrointestinal course of the disease and this is characterized by such symptoms as vomit, giddiness and nausea.

In fact no one knows how much swine flu is virulent. Let us take, for example, Mexico where it is registered large prevalence of the virus. Official sources provide the next official data – to the present day are registered 197,172 total cases, 1,528 deaths. You should understand that those numbers are optional. They are based on cases confirmed during serological examinations. In other words, no one knows from what died old Rodriguez somewhere in Hidalgo, and what flu has aunt Rosa from Santha-Martha. Mortality can be exaggerated. Assuming that mortality is calculated from number of hospital patients, it is more possible that exact number of mortality would be much smaller than it is registered now. Many people, probably, were diseased with swine flu without any complications and so they had no reasons to go to the doctor.

In the USA statistics is based on cases when diseased people are registered in the hospital. It is supposed that the disease is not in acute stage. The real mortality in the USA and Mexico nobody knows.

The severity of the disease however is notable from fact of first death in the USA. It is clear that to save a 2-year child was made everything possible and impossible, and were used all modern methods of treatment of swine flu. If he died then it means that the disease is very serious and now the main question is about how quickly it will spread.

How Swine Flu is transmitted?

Remember that swine flu is transmitted as an ordinary flu. The World Health Organization (WHO) has officially confirmed that swine flu is not transmitted via pork. Stupid reaction of the Ukraine and Russia is based on the affirmation “in swine flu is guilty pork”. To that day no one swine got sick with swine flu. Swine reputation of an good and nice animal was destroyed by a journalist that absolutely unjustifiably called this flu “swine”.

Swine flu pandemic dynamics

The transmission rate says that the number of infected people could be a lot more than it is registered. Look, in several days swine flu has spread around the all continents. Swine flu virus is transmitted as an ordinary flu, their epidemiological and clinical pictures are similar. Several scenarios can be suggested.

In 1918 Spanish influenza occurred in April. Was an outbreak. Somebody died. Very quickly noise quieted down and was decreased. In August the virus was risen and it killed about 40 million of people in the whole world. It should be noticed that Spanish influenza protein formula is H1N1.

Can this swine flu virus behave the same? Yes, it can, but not obligatory.

In 1959 and in 1968 virus had another scenario. They killed 2 million and one million of people respectively.

After 17 diseased cases with swine flu died, after messages in mass media that virus has been mutated, in Britain has appeared information that by August daily would get ill about 100 thousands of people and mortality of swine flu will be increased.

According to the last data, every week the number of diseased with swine flu increases twofold, against the end of August daily will occur more than 100 thousand of new cases of diseased with swine flu. The disease caused the death of 17 people. Admittedly, with swine flu is infected ex-premier wife Cherie Blair. Due to assumption of swine flu she missed the ceremony of handing of a honorary degree at Liverpool Hope University.

After a six-year girl died in two days after manifestation of first symptoms of disease anxiety raised into panic.

Every day in transport we meet more and more people in white masks, parents try not to go with their kids in public places, highly allergic individuals feel themselves aliens of the society. There is a risk that in the next weeks every eight worker will take sick leave because of the virus that can break the operations of business and even the whole transport infrastructure of the country.

Andy Burnham, the Health Secretary, that revealed last data, says “Most of swine flu cases were not serious and we are well prepared to stop pandemic.”

Government promises that by August vaccine will be produced. However, the head of the World Health Organisation, Dr Margaret Chan, criticizes the Government. She says that swine flu vaccine will appear only in two-three months because it is necessary to make all clinical tests.

Swine flu is a virus of influenza A of subtype H1N1. Usual swine flu is transferred from animal to a human quite rarely. As medics say, the danger of novel influenza is in that it can be transferred not only from pigs, but also from humans via saliva and mucosa when coughing and sneezing at one meter. Doctors consider that virus can live on dry surfaces (for example, on buttons of computer keyboard). It cannot be transferred when eating meat of a diseased pig.

Swine flu has the same symptoms as other ARVI including usual flu: temperature, sore throat, headache, myalgia, cough, sometimes vomit, diarrhea, fever, cold is observed rarely. Incubation period lasts from 24 to 48 hours. The final diagnosis can be made only after laboratory analysis of viral particles obtained from blood and rheum.

When specialists talk about treatment, they say that Tamiflu is effective enough to treat most widespread flu strains. Data for strain is necessary to control epidemiologic situation and it can help in prognosis of clinical course both concrete case and general contagious situation.

Ban Ki-moon, the secretary general of United Nations, says that before the year is out developing countries need one billion dollars to fight swine flu.

“According to our summing-up, till the end of the year the developing countries can require about one billion dollars”, said UN secretary general in a press conference in Geneva.

The World Health Organization (WHO) have published the last data on the number of infected people. Officially they confirmed 94 thousand 512 of cases with swine flu.

From this new form of flu were dead 429 of people.

Most of cases are confirmed in the USA – 33 thousand 902 of people, in Mexico – 10 thousand 262 of people, in Canada – 7 thousand 983 of people, in UK - 7 thousand 447 of people, in Chile – 7 thousand 376 of people, in Australia – 5 thousand 298 of people.