Swine FluJust another Totalaccessnet.com Blogs weblog

Most of the human race is now aware of the news outbreak about Swine Flu —

but are we aware of the signs and symptoms of swine flu? We already know

how to prevent but the signs and symptoms is still a puzzle in our mind. 

Well, through this article, I will give you insights if you are now a

victim of Swine Flu virus.

But before, we proceed let me introduce to you first about Swine Flu.  The

3-10% of the global population estimated to affect the yearly influenza

epidemics that can be a result in severe illness in 3–4 million patients

and causing 200,000–400,000 deaths worldwide.  Severe illness and deaths

occur mainly in the high-risk populations of infants, the elderly, pregnant

women and chronically ill patients in industrialized nations. 

In addition to these yearly epidemics, the influenza A virus has caused

three major global pandemics during the 20th century: there was the Spanish

flu in 1918, the Asian flu in 1957 and in 1968–69 was the Hong Kong flu.

These pandemics were caused by an Influenza A virus that had undergone

major genetic changes, due to which the population did not possess

significant immunity.

In pigs influenza infection produces lethargy, sneezing, fever, coughing,

difficulty breathing and decreased appetite.  In some cases especially the

pregnant women, the infection can cause abortion.  Although mortality is

usually low (around 1-3%), the virus can produce weight loss and poor

growth, causing economic loss to farmers.  Infected pigs can lose up to 10

pounds of body weight over a 2 to 3 week period.

Main symptoms of swine flu in humans can be a direct transmission of a

swine flu virus from pigs to humans is occasionally possible (called

zoonotic swine flu). Under phase one, an animal outbreak of flu symptoms in

your hog race backyard.

In phase two considered when the owner within the hog race backyard got

infected with a flu from their animal symptoms.

Phase 3 reviewed when a child within the hog race backyard got infected

together with his father, his mother and his siblings. The fourth phase,

there is a cause of community-level outbreaks of human-to-human

transmission of an animal or human-animal flu virus.  This phase will focus

to contain the spreading of the virus.

Countries will be informed asking to advice their people such as traveling

to containment areas.  All countries with infected with the swine flu must

also consider in deploying a pandemic vaccine.  (e.g. when the infected

family member went out from their backyard decided to talk to his friends

and unaware that he’s spreading the virus.)

Second to the last phase, when a man-infected virus either a family member

or any of his friends travel to another neighboring country.  You will know

if there your country is in a phase 5 dominant when there is an

announcement suspension of classes because of flu spread out. 

This final and a pandemic phase is just like when an unaware man-infected

virus travel to another continent unaware that he spread out the Swine Flu

virus to another races.  Now with the above mentioned signs and symptoms,

you are now ready to plan and prepare immediately of the possible attacks

of the Swine Flu virus.  Consult to different agencies that concerns with

the Swine Flu pandemics.

Some complications among pregnant women as the Swine Flu continue to spread

across the country, and soon to the world, and that this high-risk group

needs to take antivirals as soon as infection is suspected.  Just like what

happen to a pregnant woman in Texas who suffers and died of Swine Flu

infection.  Medical officials believe that pregnant women are at higher

risk of complications of influenza, whether it’s the seasonal influenza or

pandemics of the past.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) investigates twenty

cases of pregnant women with the swine flu, most of them experienced

complications.  Complications can include pneumonia, dehydration and

premature birth.  It is very important that doctors who are caring for

pregnant women they suspect may have influenza, that they issue prompt

treatment with antiviral medicines – the Tamiflu and the Relenza.  Doctors

can be hesitant to take care of pregnant women with antiviral drugs and

pregnant women may be disinclined to take them out of fear that they may

pose a risk during pregnancy.

The benefits of using the antiviral drugs to treat influenza in a pregnant

woman outweigh the theoretical concerns about the drugs strongly say by the

medical experts who have looked into this situation.  Of the three

swine-flu related deaths in the United States, one involved a 33-year-old

pregnant woman from Texas who had other health problems before she was

infected with the virus.

From the undetermined source that only one out of three Americans would get

Swine Flu vaccine.  So, it means the vaccine manufacturers have no enough

capability to do more drugs against the outbreak.
There are many people who become ill don’t seek medical attention and are

never tested for this strain of flu especially if they only knew that they

only have simple kind of flu.

In other news that we’ve read about the number of Swine Flu cases from

hospital records doesn’t match with the real numbers suspected because they

declined to seek medical attention.

The report also suggested that the true number of – largely unreported –

swine flu infections in Mexico, the outbreak’s epicenter, possibly had

already reached 32,000 cases and approximately 1% of them are pregnant

women too.  The World Health Organization’s official tally for Mexico stood

at 2,059 confirmed human infections, including 56 deaths.

The United States has now surpassed Mexico – believed to be the source of

the outbreak – as the country most affected by the epidemic, according to

WHO statistics.  The agency reported that there are 6,497 confirmed cases

of swine flu in 33 countries, with Canada, Spain and the United Kingdom

having the most cases outside of the United States and Mexico.

In the meantime, back in Mexico, federal health officials said that the

worst seemed to be over despite more deaths, toll rose to 58 deaths and

2,282 confirmed cases of swine flu – a rise of two deaths and 223 more

cases. 

World Health Organization expert expressed support for the more selective

use of antiviral medicines such as Tamiflu and Relenza against Swine Flu

even though the pregnant women and the doctors of the pregnant women are

declining the use of antiviral drugs.  According to health officials that

there are some European countries aggressively take antiviral drugs

throughout their population to save themselves. 

While countries like the United States and Mexico, they are trying to save

their patients with underlying conditions and also the other groups at

risk, such as pregnant women and be treated.  Swiss drug maker Roche

Holding AG offered a charitable work to donate some of their Tamiflu

supplies to the WHO enough for nearly 6 million people.

Swine flu is an illness which derives its name from a virus that infects

pigs. While the virus cannot affect people, they are likely to get an

infection from time to time. The virus is communicable and can be

transmitted from one person to another.

The symptoms of swine flu are like those manifested in a regular flu and

may include cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, fever, chills and

fatigue.

The H1N1 virus continues to become widespread in the United States. The

Center for Disease Control believes that the number of cases,

hospitalizations, and deaths will continue within the coming days and

weeks.

The Center for Disease Control is aggressively responding to the growing

outbreak. The objective of the agency is to curb the spread and severity of

the illness as well as to inform health care providers, public health

officials, and the general public to fend off the challenge by the medical

crisis. Likewise, the CDC is giving interim guidance on a daily basis as a

response to the rapidly growing crisis.

For treating swine flu, there are antiviral medicines that can be

administered. So far, oseltamivir, amantadine, rimantadine, and zanamivir

are the approved drugs for swine influenza treatment in the United States.
However, amantadine and rimantadine will not work against swine flu as the

H1N1 virus was found to be resistant against these medicines. Laboratory

procedures, on the other hand, have proven that H1N1 is susceptible to

oseltavimir and zanavimir.

Using antiviral drugs in the treatment of swine influenza works by making

your illness milder and making you feel relieved earlier than expected.

Aside from that, antiviral medicines prevent the onset of serious

complications.

Antiviral medicines are most effective when administered after the onset of

the illness usually within a couple of days. However, it should be

considered two days after the onset of symptoms, especially for

hospitalized patients or those at greater risk for influenza-related

complications.

Administration of anti viral drugs is also useful in preventing influenza

when given to an individual who is not sick but has exposed to a person

with swine influenza.

It can reduce the possibility of infection by 70% to 90%. The duration of

intake will be determined by the condition of the patient. Currently, there

are no accessible vaccines for protecting against H1N1.

In order to keep yourself from getting infected by the virus, here are some

of the things that can be done:

- Keep yourself informed about H1N1. You can visit the official website of

the World Health Organization or check brochures from local hospitals or

medical facilities. 
- Since the influenza virus can be transmitted from one person to another

through coughing or sneezing, you can keep yourself busy by doing the

following:
 
- When coughing or sneezing, cover your nose and mouth with a tissue. After

using the tissue, dispose of it and throw it in the trash.
- Wash your hands with soap and water after coughing and sneezing. Use

alcohol-based hand sanitizers whenever necessary.
- To prevent germs from spreading, refrain from touching your eyes, mouth,

or nose.
- If you become ill, the CDC recommends that you avoid contact with other

people at work or school so as not to infect them.
- Comply with public health advice concerning school closures, crowd

avoidance, and social distancing efforts.

As far as swine flu is concerned, health authorities are doing everything

they can to prevent the outbreak of another deadly virus.

Responsible for binding the virus to host cells is called the HA

(hemagglutinin) peplomer while the virus that allows to break its bonds to

the host cell once it is ready to move on is called the NA (neuraminidase)

peplomer.  This type is also called H1N1 Flu or well-known as Swine Flu. 

Swine flu is a type of virus infected from pigs.  Humans do not normally

get swine flu, but human infections can and do happen.

But, randomly, the human race got infected with Swine flu.  Most

frequently, these cases occur in persons with direct exposure to pigs

(example: owner and or workers in the swine backyard or industry or even

the children near pigs at a fair).

The virus is contagious and can spread from human to human.  Symptoms of

swine flu in people are similar to the symptoms of regular human flu such

as cough, fever, body aches, sore throat, chills, fatigue and headache.
Swine Flu is a respiratory track infection from the hogs.  This kind of

virus can kill the human race just like what happen to a pregnant woman and

another individual in Texas with also reported death in Washington.  This

infection is a worldwide virus outbreak that started in Mexico and

eventually spread from one country to another continent including China.

A flu deadly disease occurs when a new influenza virus emerges for which

people have little or no immunity at all and those whom their hospitals are

more than 10 to 20 miles from their community can easily infected with the

Swine Flu.  The transmission of human to human of Swine flu can also be

done. 

This is thought to happen in the same way as seasonal flu occurs in people,

which is mainly through coughing or sneezing of people infected with the

influenza virus to an uninfected individual will be infected also.  People

may also become infected by touching something with flu viruses on it and

then they touch their mouth or nose.  The disease spreads easily by human

to human transmission and can be cause with serious sickness, and can

spread to other individuals in your community, spread out across the

country and even worldwide in a very short period of time. 

A big NO-NO to some individuals who think that swine flu can also get from

foods we eat.  Take note that influenza viruses cannot be transmitted by

food by means of eating pork or pork products.  Eating properly handled and

properly cooked pork is safe. 

Swine Flu can be monitor if you consult to your health officer directly if

you are not feeling well for more than 24 hours especially if you have a

hog race industry in your backyard.  They will advice you on how to plan,

prepare and prevent the Swine Flu virus that spread out worldwide.

Swine flu or influenza is a condition caused by strains of subtypes of

Influenza A virus called H1N1, H1N2, H3N1, H3N2, and H3N3. These viruses

are common in pigs located in midwestern United States, Canada, South

America, Mexico, Mainland China, Japan, Taiwan, Europe, and other Eastern

Asian countries.

Transmission of influenza virus from swine to humans is relatively uncommon

and does not always result to human influenza but often leads to production

of antibodies in the blood. When properly cooked, pig meat does not have

the potential of passing the virus. Transmission that leads to human

influenza is called zoonotic swine flu.

People who work with pigs, particularly those with direct exposure, are at

greater risk of being infected with swine flu. Towards the middle of the

20th century, identification of influenza subtypes became likely paving the

way for an accurate diagnosis of transmission to humans. Since then, 50

infections have been confirmed and recorded.

It is rare for these strains of swine flu to be transmitted from one human

to another. In humans, the symptoms of swine flu are similar to common

influenza as well as influenza-like illness such as chills, sore throat,

fever, coughing, muscular pains, severe headache, and general discomfort.
The 2009 swine flu outbreak in humans was caused by a new strain of

influenza A virus subtype H1N1 which have genes that closely resemble swine

influenza. The root of this new strain is not known. According to the World

Health Organization for Animal Health, this new strain has not been

isolated in pigs. It is capable of human-to-human transmission and

manifests the normal symptoms of influenza.

Swine can be infected with human influenza such as the case of the 1918 flu

pandemic and the 2009 flu outbreak. Swine flu was first proposed as a

disease associated with humans during the 1918 flu pandemic. During that

time, pigs became simultaneously sick with humans.

Influenza virus as a cause of disease in pigs was first identified in 1930.

For the next six decades, strains of swine influenza became almost

exclusively H1N1. From 1997 to 2002, new strains of three varied subtypes

and 5 different genotypes were identified as the cause of influenza among

pigs in North America. 

From 1997-1998, H3N2 strains developed. They included genes acquired

through reassortment of human, avian, and swine viruses and have been a

principal cause of wine influenza in North America. Reassortment between

H1N1 and H3N2 resulted to the development of H1N2. In Canada, a strain of

H4N6 resulted from the reassortment of avian and swine flu but was isolated

on a single farm. 

The H1N1 variant of swine flu is one of the descendants of the strain that

brought about the 1918 flu pandemic. While persisting in pigs, the

descendants of the 1918 virus have also been transmitted throughout the

20th century which resulted to the usual seasonal influenza outbreaks.
It is interesting to note that direct infection from pigs to humans is

rare, with only 12 confirmed cases in the United States since 2005.

However, since the influenza strains remain in the pigs after they have

disappeared in the human population can make these pigs a reservoir where

the influenza virus could survive and later on transmitted to humans as

soon as their immunity to the strain is no longe effective.

Swine flu has been recorded as zoonosis in humans several times, oftentimes

with limited distribution and rarely with massive distribution. Swine

outbreaks are common and can lead to significant economic losses in the

industry, mainly leading to stunting and expanded market time. Swine

influneza, for instance, the British meat industry has experienced £65

million of losses annually.

Majority of the readers in any search engine are looking of anything under

the sun.  They are looking about animation, love, pornography, showbiz,

politics, cartoons, masquerade, games, cards, download materials, travel

and leisure, heartache, etc.  They are more familiar of the mentioned

topics, but are they aware of the recent pandemics that outbreaks the

world?  What?  The pandemics! What? The Swine Flu! Swine or pigs, then Flu

means respiratory infections. 

So, a simple man will ask: “Am I interested with the Swine Flu outbreak?

There’s no flu-like in my community, even I, doesn’t have a swine flu, we

don’t have pigs in our community, why should we afraid of the swine flu?

Why should I know about that? Should I know to prevent the swine flu?”

The answer is: “Even if, there’s no swine flu in your community, you must

know how to prevent that kind.”  This article, will teach you the basic

steps on how to prevent the Swine Flu virus in a very simplest way.

First, washing our hands frequently using any germicidal soap with water

can help us prevent with the spreading virus especially if we suspected

someone.  If you don’t have available germicidal soap in the area, you can

use alcohol-based hand sanitizer.  Either if you are using soap or hand

sanitizer, you must follow this steps: connects your two palms facing each

other, rub them horizontally, vertically then squeeze each other throughout

your fingers.  Do it for five to six times a day. 

Secondly, you must cover your nose with a tissue paper before you deliver a

cough and sneeze especially if you are talking to somebody else.  Throw

your tissue in the trash can after you use it, so that transfer of the

virus coming from your respiratory will be avoided.

Third, if you are not feeling well avoid going out to your friends,

playground, schools and offices, much better you have to stay in your house

and quarantine yourself for three to four days.

Fourth, avoid hugging or kissing at any public occasions instead gesture

your hands and smile at each other until the Swine Flu Outbreak diminish.

Fifth, if you suspected yourself of a possible flu-like virus, you better

report to your nearest Health Officer in the community for proper

diagnostic.  (Note: if you suffered fever, sore throat and cough for more

than two days, don’t hesitate to go to your Health Officer, its better to

check as early as possible than to die early).

Sixth, there are a number of things that you can do in preparing yourself

and those around you for a flu pandemic.  It is important to think of it

the challenges that you might face, particularly if a pandemic is severe.

Seventh, for assurance in planning for the impact of a Swine Flu virus on

you, your family and your business, go to your Health Officer for more

information about swine flu careers from individuals, families, and your

workplace, and for information directed from schools, health care

providers, community organizations and governments

Aside from your own Swine Flu prevention, there are some government

agencies such as the Department of Health, Department of Education and the

Department of National Defense to help us strengthen our immune system and

detect a possible Swine Flu in our community.  Planning and preparation can

be lessened the effects of a pandemic if do it ahead of time.

Vaccine against seasonal influenza strain H1N1 is not believed to protect

us.  Vaccines against the Swine Flu to cope with seasonal flu to minimize

infection rates are typically developed, and yet annually it still kills

around half a million of the world’s population.  Today, they use an

injection of “killed virus”, the world’s flu vaccines.  Manufacturers are

asked to produce a vaccine for H1N1, they are unlikely to be able to

respond quickly enough if a global pandemic is declared.

About a billion doses of any one vaccine each year is the only they can

produce, so that even if all the capacity was switched to fight a pandemic

flu, as opposed to a seasonal flu.  Few years ago, the supply of the

vaccines they have produced were enough to epidemic but now is not enough

for the total population’s outbreak.

Deadlier wave of a new H1N1 strain they forecast will reappear this fall

and they have to produce pandemic vaccines as early as now to prepare for a

turn out as the vaccine may not be as effective will be sure to a big waste

of resources with serious results, and there would also be a shortage of

seasonal flu vaccine available.  Only a few more weeks were needed for the

World Health Organization (WHO) and Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention) CDC to develop a “seed strain” of the pandemic virus on the

first days May, but producers would then need four to six months before

they could create large volumes of vaccine.

In other point of view, the WHO will attempt to make sure that a

substantial amount is available and should a pandemic be declared and a

vaccine produced, for the benefit of developing countries.  Vaccine

manufacturers and countries with standing orders, such as the U.S. and some

European countries will be asked to share with developing countries from

the moment the first batches are ready if an H1N1 vaccine is made.

2009-2010 flu seasons are ineffective against the new strain with the

previous influenza vaccines for the north and south hemispheres.  The WHO

claims that two separate immunizations will be required for seasonal and

swine flu, but no decision would be made on whether to begin producing a

swine flu vaccine.  The board will receive inputs from manufacturers (e.g.

GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi-Aventis, Novartis and Baxter International)

regarding when they are able to finish manufacturing the seasonal shot and

begin production of the swine flu vaccine, waiting from the WHO of their

recommendations and “seed virus”, and some may be ready to proceed with

production at that time.

There also antiviral drugs available for treatments of influenza, the virus

is resistant to amantadine and rimantadine but sensitive to the oseltamivir

and zanamivir.  There remains concern that this strain may mutate develop

resistance to oseltamivir in the future.  For the treatment and prevention

of the Swine Flu, the CDC recommended the use of Tamiflu (oseltamivir) and

Relenza (zanamivir).  Studies shows that the medication continues to

maintain its effective that why the U.S. government had already extended

the shelf life of federally stockpiled Tamiflu from their original five

years to seven years.

Buying medications from online sources is not recommended by the WHO

because they believed that half of the drugs they sold are counterfeited. 

Others are thinking if they grab up antiviral drugs for their safe even if

they have no symptoms, the health officials warned them may eventually lead

them to the Swine Flu virus developing drug resistance.

The 2009 outbreak of swine flu or H1N1 virus is recently hugging the

limelight due to the potential harm or effects it can have on a patient or

on a community. Unfortunately, the source of the virus still cannot be

traced.

Before the first case in the United States was discovered, the illness was

believed to have started in Mexico which eventually spread to other

countries. Recently, the first case of swine flu was reported in
Costa Rica. Alarmed that it could grow into a worldwide flu epidemic, the

World Health Organization of the United Nations and the Center for Disease

Control Prevention (CDC) in the United States raised its pandemic alert

level to Phase 5, which signifies that a “pandemic is imminent.”
While experts believed that the recent outbreak is not as fatal as previous

epidemics, such as the SARS virus, health officials believe that the number

of cases could go up as the new flu is expected to make its way throughout

the United States.

The new swine influenza strain is apparently a new variant of four strains

of influenza A virus subtype H1N1. According to the Center for Disease

Control and Prevention, one of the strain is endemic in humans and birds

and a couple are endemic in pigs.

However, according to scientists the 2009 H1N1 outbreak is of swine origin

which is associated with the virus isolated in North America in 1998. To

hasten understanding of the current outbreak as well as in coming up with a

vaccine, scientists from Canada have completed the full genetic sequencing

of the H1N1 virus.

The new strain of H1N1 has become widespread in Mexico and the United

States with confirmed cases in 18 countries and suspected cases in 42

others. Travelers have been warned not to travel to affected countries such

as Iceland, Singapore, Thailand, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, to name

a few.

In addition, warnings have also been issued warnings to visitors of

countries affected by the outbreak. It is advisable for visitors to see the

doctor right away if they experience flu-like symptoms.
In Mexico, schools, universities, and all public events were suspended from

April 24 to May 6, 2009. In the United States, over 400 schools were closed

as of May 3, 2009, which included schools in Texas and about 250,000

confirmed or probable cases.

Dr. Keiji Fukuda, who is the Assistant Director-General for Health Securiy

and Environment of the World Health Organization confirmed that efforts to

control the outbreak is already too late and should now focus on lessening

the effects of the virus. He also clarified that closing borders or

limiting travel to infected areas will do little in stopping the spread of

the H1N1 virus.

On April 28, 2009, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention suggested

that as much as possible, people should avoid non-important travel to

Mexico.

According to Dr. Ira Longini, who is an expert in the mathematics and

statistics of epidemics, staying at home, seeking medical care, closing

public venues, and making anti-flu medicines accessible can help reduce the

sickness by almost two-thirds.

Finally, according to Dr. Longini, the focus of efforts is to slow

transmission until there is a vaccine that can be developed and made

available for controlling swine flu outbreaks.

Newsbreak on the flash: “A new strain of Swine Flu that has killed 149 and

sickened nearly two thousand in Mexico has spread to the United States and

is raising fears of a possible pandemic.”  Through this article you will

learn more about the disease and why it is causing concern among health

officials and inform the readers about the two suggested antiviral drugs by

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to fight Swine Flu

pandemics.

This prescription of antiviral medication that can be used to treat

influenza infections between children and adults is called Tamiflu.  If

their symptoms have started within the last two days they are advice to

start taking the Tamiflu.  This antiviral medication can also be used to

prevent children, teens and adults if they are exposed to the influenza

virus.

Relenza (ruh-LENS-uh) is more active than the Tamiflu.  This kind of

medicine, aside from treatment of influenza they can also prevent the

suspect to getting the flu again.  While some antiviral medicines only

protect against influenza A, Relenza is effective against both influenza A

and B.  This Relenza drug belongs to neuramidase inhibitors group of

medicines.  These medications target the influenza virus and prevent it

from spreading inside your body.

Relenza treats the cause of influenza at its source, rather than simply

treating the symptoms like the role of Tamiflu.  Simulations suggest that

if physicians choose a second effective antiviral such as zanamivir. 

Zanamivir is the generic name of Relenza as first-line treatment in even a

few percent of cases, but can solve to delay the spread of resistant

strains.

The available antiviral treatments for influenza, the virus is resistant to

rimantadine and amantadine, but sensitive to the oseltamivir and zanamivir.

 Oseltamivir is the generic name Tamiflu.  This strain may mutate develop

resistance of oseltamivir in the future.

Tamiflu and Relenza is highly recommended by the CDC for both treatment and

prevention of the new strain.  The shelf life of federally stockpiled

Tamiflu from the original five years to seven years because studies

indicated that the medication continues to maintain its effectiveness had

already extended by the United States government and Roche Applied Science.

 Not only that, the other members of the G8 Countries extended their

contract stockpiled of Tamiflu from vaccine manufacturers.

It is highly recommended not to buy from online pharmacies without an

address of these two types of medications because their stockpiled are

counterfeited.  Consult to the World Health Organization for information

about the antiviral drugs before making any steps in your country.

Medical experts warned the public not to take the antiviral drugs if you

are not ill.  You only want to be safe but the worst thing is if you take

any of this antiviral drugs may lead you to a virus developing drug

resistance.  They suggest that antiviral drug should be taken only to very

sick people or an individual with low immune system. 

From the undetermined source that only one out of three Americans would get

Swine Flu vaccine or antiviral drugs.  So, it means the vaccine

manufacturers especially the manufacturers of Tamiflu and Relenza have no

enough capability to do more drugs against the pandemics.

According to CDC, testing has found that the Swine Flu virus remains at

risk to two common antiviral drugs, Tamiflu and Relenza.

With the new strain of influenza running around, I think everyone should

know a few things. The thing is with any disease, even the swine flu, is

it’s not the disease that really kills you. It’s ignorance that does it.

You have to know enough to take care of yourself.

One of the things you have to remember is that influenza is spread via

germs, and germs are spread via contact with contaminated items then

contact with either your eyes, nose, or mouth. Germs can’t get through the

pores of your skin and need a convenient opening to get into. Don’t give

them that opening. There’s a simple and easy way to do it: just wash your

hands regularly, especially before eating anything or touching anything

that you want to eat – like that tasty sandwich you’re about to have for a

snack

It may seem rather simplistic but the regular act of rinsing and

disinfecting your hands can help make sure that you never get infected with

the swine flu. Another way to avoid infection is to avoid close contact

with sick people. Remember germs can also be transmitted by air though

microscopic droplets that are released when a person coughs or sneezes.

Standing around sick people increases the chance of infection so try to

avoid doing that, mostly because you can’t avoid touching stuff that

they’ve sneezed on and those germs can go directly into your nose and mouth

when you inhale.

So what if you suddenly get the sniffles? Is it time to hie off to the

doctor for a consult? The smart thing to do is to just stay at home first

and monitor your condition. The problem with identifying the swine flu is

that it shares many of the same symptoms as the normal run-of-the-mill

human flu: coughs, colds, fevers and the whole nine yards. Take the usual

medicine at first and see if you settle down after that.

The over-the-counter antiviral drugs aren’t as effective on swine flu as

human flu but they can make you feel a whole lot better and rev up you

immune system to deal with your infection. You should also try your best to

limit the infection to yourself. Cover your mouth when sneezing or coughing

so as to prevent the spread of germs in your environment.

If your symptoms are taking too long to cure, you might be infected. Note

that swine flu is like the normal flu in that it manages to weaken your

immune system for other respiratory diseases like pneumonia and bronchitis

to spread. It can also worsen any conditions that you might currently have,

like asthma. If you start vomiting or start suffering from diarrhea, it’s

time to have the doctor drop by immediately.

Although it has caused a few deaths, the swine flu is nothing to worry

about. As long as it has been caught early, there is treatment available in

the form of antiviral inhibitors that help stop the virus from reproducing,

which should help make you feel a whole lot better.

The current situation may all seem a bit frightening, but the swine flu is

just a disease. All you need to protect yourself from it is to act smart

and be prepared. Hopefully, this information can help a bit and act as

theat ounce of prevention so you won’t have to use that pound of cure.