All about Swine Flu & its cures

What is Swine Flu?

Swine Flu or Influenza is a common disease found in pigs and they do not generally affect the humans. In the past it was found that any human affected by Swine Flu had direct contact with the pigs. The Swine Flu which has become almost an epidemic out break recently is quite different from the one deducted earlier. This is caused by a new swine flu virus and it is a contagious disease ,i.e, it spreads from person to person by contact. Thus it is being deducted in those persons who do not have direct contact with the pigs also!


In order to distinguish the virus from the one that infects the pigs, Swine flu virus that is found in humans is called as H1N1viruses. The World Health Organization calls it “pandemic (H1N1) 2009.” The current Swine Flu illness is called as “H1N1 flu” by CDC and the World Health Organization calls it “pandemic influenza A (H1N1).”

Symptoms:

The symptoms of the pandemic Swine Flu are similar to the common influenza, which includes fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose, body aches, headache, chills, and fatigue .Majority of the patients who are affected by Swine Flu face the problem of diarrhea and vomiting. In general it is seen that people who are affected by the pandemic swine flu are having at least two of the above said symptoms. However these symptoms are common and there is no need to panic if you find two or more of these symptoms in you. This does not mean that you be negligent towards it. Unless and until the reports of the test does not arrive neither you nor your doctor can say if you are being attacked by pandemic swine flu or not. These tests are available in the State Health Departments.

How does the disease spread?

Swine Flu influenza is common among the pigs and humans who have direct exposure with pigs can have the disease. Now it has come out as an epidemic and is being transmitted from human to human in the following ways:

· Air: Swine Flu can become air borne if an infected person coughs or sneezes with out covering his mouth and there by circulating the virus into the air and any one who is inhales this air is also infected

· Touch: If people touch any thing with the virus causing pandemic influenza and then touches his nose or mouth with the same hand is sure to get infected

Who are at severe risk by influenza?

* Infants
* Elderly people who are above the age of 65
* People with liver and kidney problems
* People with immune suppression
* People with neuromuscular disorders, neurological disorders, blood disorders
* People having HIV infections
* Residents of chronic-care facility.

People in these groups should seek medical care as soon as they get flu symptoms.

Treatment of Swine Flu:

Pandemic Swine Flu virus is very sensitive to antiviral drugs like Tamiflu and Relenza and it is advised to take the drugs with in 48 hours of the start of the symptoms. However the vaccination for Swine Flu is not available at the moment. It is under consideration and is expected to be made by mid October. The patient affected by swine flu is kept in isolation so that it is not easily transmitted to other healthy person.

Precaution against Swine Flu:

You can prevent the Swine Flu virus from attacking you by taking a few precautionary measures. Some of them are listed below:

* Wash your hands regularly with soap and water.
* Have 6 feet distance with the person infected with the disease
* Avoid touching nose, mouth or eyes as it is through these the disease causing virus enters the body.
* Wear a N95 face mask if you are treating a diseased person
* Always wear a mask while you go outside.
* Breast feeding mothers, if infected, should stop breast feeding.
* Disinfect the household surfaces by using diluted chlorine bleach solution.
* Social distancing will help you have less exposure to the disease.

Some wrong notions about Swine flu:

As the deaths from Swine flu keeps on increasing, people develop wrong notions about the disease. Some of the common notions which are found among people are

* Eating pork leads to Swine flu
* Touching the infected person will spread the disease
* Talking with the infected person will infect you too
* Eating from roadside vendors will infect you with the Swine flu.
* Getting wet in the rain will infect you with Swine Flu.

How severe is Swine Flu?

The seriousness of Swine Flu can be seen by the manner the World Health Organization has swine flu to be a pandemic. It considers the swine flu as a global emergency. Studies of the swine flu virus show that it is more infectious to lung cells, damaging the lungs completely. Scientists are watching closely to see the direction the new swine flu virus is heading — but health experts warn that flu viruses are very hard to predict