For several years the media has been cautiously following the possibility of a bird flu outbreak, but swine flu has beaten it to the punch.  Influenza is a nasty little virus that can be deadly under the right conditions, and bird flu is a particularly bad strain that is deadly more often.  No matter which strain happens to be floating around; the symptoms are the same; coughing, sneezing, aching and fever.  If you have a cold, this could also describe how you feel except for the fever; which only occurs with the flu.  Education is always the best way to combat fear, so knowing the facts about influenza can help ease the mind.

There are dozens of different possible flu strains that can circulate through the population at any one time.  Once you get one of these strains, your body learns to produce a defense against that particular strain and you can’t get it again after your body beats it.  If you could get all of them, you would never get the flu again; but only a few strains float around at once.  As time passes and new people are born, old strains begin to come back and infect a whole new population with no immunity.  About 2% of all the people who catch the flu will die from it due to complications like old age and compromised immune systems.  The worst outbreak happened in 1918 and killed about 20% of everyone who contracted the virus, but our knowledge is far greater now than it was then.

The first thing to remember about swine flu is that it’s just another flu strain; and this isn’t the first time we have seen it.  Every year doctors guess which strains will float around the population and they produce a vaccine to fight them.  Swine flu wasn’t what they guessed for this year, but even last years flu vaccine seems to be partially effective in preventing people from getting this strain.  It also responds very well to every type of treatment we currently use to fight influenza.  All in all, less than 1% of people who catch swine flu die from it; so it’s even lighter than just a regular flu.

The last time swine flu showed up was in 1976, and just like now there was a large panic in the population because of bad information.  The government spent millions of dollars on a flu vaccine that did little to help with the strain, and people were urged to get the shot for the whole family.  When it was all said and done, more people had died from the vaccine than from the flu itself because the strain never swept through the population.  This time around, it is more widespread and it appears to be hitting the population with a fury.  A feverish, achy, take a couple days off and you will be fine fury.  You may get it and you may not, but unless you are at risk from any other virus; it isn’t anything to really worry about.

If you have a fever and it rises over 102, it’s time to go get treatment; regardless of the cause of the fever itself.  Health insurance or discount plans like Ameriplan will help with the cost, so don’t hesitate to go to the doctor if you find yourself in this situation.  Another warning sign that you may be at risk is if the symptoms are still getting worse after the fourth day.  Most people have had at least one strain of the flu in their lives, and it isn’t much fun; but the panic that is currently in the media is unfounded.  Over the course of 2009 we will most likely see this strain slow down and then resurge later in the year, and some people will die from it.  Given the choice though, swine flu is easier to deal with than the various other flu strains we see every other year.

The threat of a pandemic is sweeping the world, through a new strain of swine flu. Many deaths have been recorded in Mexico. Several other countries also have suspect cases reported, from as far apart as France, Hong Kong, Canada, Israel and New Zealand.

Caused by type A influenza Swine flu, is a respiratory disease. Studies have shown that the swine flu H1N1 is common throughout pig populations worldwide, with 25% of all animals displaying antibody evidence of having the disease.

Swine flu viruses do not usually affect human beings. However, the current swine flu has a deadly mixture of a gene segment from bird flu, a segment from human flu, plus two genes from pig flu. Pigs are known to be the world’s best ‘mixing bowls’. This totally unknown virus is causing extreme concern, as humans have no immunity to the disease.

Swine flu can’t be contacted through eating pork products, however human-to-human infections are happening, without the victims having any contact with infected animals.

Here are simple precautions you need to use to provide self-protection against the threatened pandemic:

• Make sure you cover your nose and mouth if you sneeze or cough. Ensure you get rid of the tissue in the rubbish can after you use it. Keep a mask handy in case anyone sneezes or coughs around you.

Just one sneeze thrusts 100,000 droplets into the air at around 90 mph, landing on everything around you. British researchers have found that in a subway train during rush hour, as many as 10% of all commuters can come in contact with the spray and residue from just one sneeze. 150 commuters may become ill from one uncovered sneeze, or cough. The rush of air from a cough travels at speeds of nearly 600 mph.

• Always wash your hands frequently, for up to 20 seconds, with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Always wash your hands thoroughly prior to eating and whenever possible do not eat with your hands.

It is estimated over 80% of all infections are spread by hands. If you are not able to wash your hands, resort to using hand-sanitizers with 60% alcohol content. These are available in handy pocket size containers.

• Attempt to avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth and definitely avoid kissing on the cheeks.

Germs are passed more quickly that way than any other method of transmission.

• Try to stay away from sick people. Isolation and keeping your distance are your most efficient protective measures.
• If you get sick, stay home from work or school and limit contact with other people, to keep them from becoming infected.
• Keep aware and recognize any abnormal symptoms. If you are in doubt, go and seek professional advice.

• Make sure you eat well, be careful of your sleep habits and take regular exercise. Increase your daily dose of vitamin C and practice good hygiene.

Swine flu can be treated. Though it is resistant to two of the four drugs approved for treating flu, two new arrivals, Tamiflu and Relenza have proven to be successful.

Mexico houses hundreds of industrial-scale hog facilities, known as ‘confined animal feeding operations’, where pigs are packed tightly in rows. Thousands of pigs are confined to indoor pens and grain-fed for market. Breeding sows are held in small metal crates where they spend the major part of their lives pregnant, or feeding a new litter of piglets. Up until now, Mexican hog workers, infected with swine flu, have rarely been the cause of infecting other humans, except for close family members.