Symptoms of Swine Flu

Lately it seems a day does not go by without hearing additional reports about swine flu. This is truly starting to be scary.

What is Swine Flu?

Swine flu, also known as Swine Influenza, as well as the H1N1 Virus (among its many other names), is a virus that – believe it or not – actually does originate in pigs, and is rarely – but not negligbly – transmitted from pigs to humans. Although there are multiple strains of Swine Flu (i.e. H1N1, H1N2, H3N2), since 1998 the H1N1 strain was most common in pigs.

Swine flu dates back to the previous century, and probably existed before as well. There were at least 3 large pandemics related to it: in 1918, 1976 and 1988.

In 2009 a new strain of H1N1 has appeared – one which is biologically resembling swine flu, but in fact was never seen in pigs. This strain is transmitted from human to human and is consequently a great source of concern. Note that if adequately cooked, the meat of a pig – even one infected – does not pose any risk of infection.

Although it has so far, fortunately, resulted in only a small number of deaths (and even of these were of people with compromised immune systems, i.e. one person had cancer), the true rates of infection are unknown, since it is possible that many people have been infected and have simply dismissed this as an ordinary flu.

What are the Symptoms of Swine Flu?

H1N1 symptoms greatly resemble ordinary influenza, that is having one or more of the following: fever, a sore throat, cough, headaches, fatigue, chills and body aches. Interestingly, the most recent strain also seems to be causing more frequent gastrointestinal problems (such as vomitting and diarrhea).

How Can We Prevent Getting Infected?

Similarly to ordinary flu, H1N1 can be transmitted by touching something that someone infected has coughed, sneezed at, or simply touched it with his or her mouth. Therefore, avoiding it can be done in the same way one would avoid any disease: by washing and sanitizing hands properly after returning from a public place, staying way from people who are ill, and staying at home if a disease appears to be spreading in your local area (i.e. it would be wise to to not send your kids to school if a case has been found).

Another alternative is boosting one’s immune system. Since so far the mortality rate has been strongest for those with compromised immune systems, boosting the immune system may be the best way to prevent getting infected in the first place.

As for vaccines, there are a variety of vaccines for older versions of the swine influenza virus, but unfortunately none are yet available for the new strain. However, since the swine flu pandemic is of such great concern, numerous companies are working on this, and it is believed a vaccine may be created possibly in November 2009.

Note that eating pork meat is not a source of concern as long as is it properly cooked.

What are Possible Treatments?

Fortunately, there are antiviral drugs that can be used to treat a person infected with swine flu. Although they may not cure the person at times, they will reduce the symptoms and prevent life threatening complications. Additional treatment is reminscent of ordinary influenza: making sure the fever is under control, drinking plenty of fluids.

The CDC recommends the usage of Relezna or Tamiflu to treat swine flu, though most people should be able to recover without any treatment.

What are Some Risk factors

• - If your work requires dealing with pigs, then you are more likely to get swine flu.
• - If you have a chronic disease that compromises your immune system, you need to be more careful. This is also true for elderly and children.