What You Need To Know About Swine Flu, The Precautions You Can Take And What Treatments Are Available
Written by bmlengel on January 31st, 2010
Today we are ever more at at more risk from the various mutations of the flu virus than we have been for a very long time. We had alarms over bird flu, but recently swine flu has manifested as a major health problem. Swine flu is a greater concern than bird flu. It was a worry that bird flu could change into a form that could infect humans, thankfully, apart from a few isolated cases, this has not occurred.
Swine flu is a greater concern, it is able to spread from person to person making it an extremely serious threat. Swine flu or influenza A (H1N1) is a flu virus which infects pigs. Outbreaks of swine flu in pigs doesn’t usually infect humans but can occur occasionally.
Swine flu is particularly dangerous to people as it is a previously unknown strain of virus. This means that no one has had contact with this particular type before, which means no one has built up any immunity to this strain. With no built in immunity a disease can be life threatening, as our body is unable to fight the virus. Absolutely everyone is susceptible, this includes healthy adults and teenagers as well as the young and senior citizens.
Swine flu can easily give rise to a pandemic flu situation. Pandemic flu occurs when an influenza viral strain develops that is different from previous influenza types that very few, if any, humans have any sort of immunity to. This lets the flu virus to spread widely and rapidly in the population.
Seasonal flu and swine flu differ as explained below Seasonal influenza happens yearly, usually in the winter. Approximately 10 to 15 percent of the population will be effected and the vast majority will recover with no treatment in 1 to 2 weeks.
A pandemic influenza outbreak affects many more people and up to half the population affected. It also affects people of all ages.
The symptoms of swine flu are similar to the symptoms of seasonal influenza. These include a sudden onset of a fever, a cough or shortness of breath. Other symptoms that may also be present include headache, sore throats, muscle aches, chills, sneezing, a runny nose, loss of appetite and tiredness.
Precautions that can be taken. Anyone showing flu or cold symptoms should take a few easy precautions. The influenza virus is spread between people from the tiny droplets from the nose and mouth when someone coughs or sneezes. This is how viruses are spread from person to person. Using your hands to cover your face when you cough or sneeze is not enough. The germs remain on your hands, and everything you touch becomes contaminated with the virus. Anyone who the touches the same surface will pick up the virus and become infected. Always use a handkerchief or tissue. A disposable tissue is better, the tissue should be disposed of as soon as possible, try to always use a fresh tissue if you sneeze or cough again.
Currently there are no vaccinations to stop anyone contracting swine flu. Swine flu is an unknown type of virus. The seasonal vaccination against seasonal influenza is ineffective for swine flu. When the type of flu causing swine flu is found, it will take many months to manufacture. By this time, it may well have mutated into a different strain again.
The only real effective precaution against swine flu is Tamiflu. Tamiflu isn’t guaranteed to prevent swine flu, but when someone has been in contact with someone else who has the flu virus, it can help in stopping the flu virus making a person ill. If Tamiflu is administered within 2 days of getting the flu virus, it will help in stopping the virus from spreading through the body, reducing the signs and symptoms and the risk associated with the swine flu virus. Governments worldwide are stockpiling Tamiflu, but these supplies will naturally be used in treating important workers before the general population.
You can however buy Tamiflu online, so if the situation arises you can offer as much protection as possible to yourself and loved ones. It can’t be emphasized enough, Tamiflu does need to be administered as early as is possible for it to be effective, any delays in treating the virus will diminish the effectiveness of Tamiflu.
Remember that swine flu is a global danger. Should an outbreak become global it is a possibility that supplies of Tamiflu could be diminished and may possibly not meet a large worldwide demand. Until a vaccine is discovered and produced in the quantities required, Tamiflu is the only really effective treatment for swine flu, it would sensible to buy Tamiflu in advance if you think you or your loved ones could be at risk.
Disclaimer: This article is based on information that is freely available in {the popular#the} press and medical articles related to swine flu. Nothing in this post is intended to be or should be construed to be any sort of medical advice. For medical advice you are encouraged to consult your own healthcare worker.
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