Swine Influenza: An Overview

As the name suggests, Swine Flu is a disease related to pigs, which has lately proved harmful to humans, too. This is a type of influenza that victimizes pigs and almost 1% to 4% of pigs with Swine flu die with the disease. This is widely spreading all around the globe and has gone to almost 40 countries, especially in United States, Mexico, South America, Canada, Japan, Spain and UK.

What is Swine Flu?

It is a contagious disease, called Swine Influenza, also known as Swine Flu, hog flu and pig flu. It is caused by Influenza type A virus subtype H1N1. It is said to be a mutation of four identified strains of Influenza type A virus subtype H1N1. Thus, humans have no immunity against this new virus.

Mode of Transmission:

There are basically two modes of transmission of swine flu to humans:

1.    From pigs to humans:

It is the most common mode of swine flu transmission to humans. Those who work closely with the animals especially those who work with poultry or swine and the veterinarians are most exposed to the virus.

2.    From humans to humans:

It is not the common mode of transmission of swine flu, although it is expected to be a reason of the extensive spread of this virus in humans, as the virus is also seen in people who had no direct interaction with the pigs. The virus gets into the air when the infected person sneezes or coughs or the droplets at one’s body come into direct contact with another person’s.

Symptoms:

Symptoms of this disease are almost same as of the ordinary influenza.

• Fever
• Cough
• Sore throat
• Runny nose
• Body aches
• Fatigue
• Headaches
• Chill
• Diarrhea
• Vomiting

You can well understand that there is not such symptom in the above mentioned ones that show that one has been inflicted with swine flu, thus a special lab test is necessary in order to be informed of one’s health status.

Who is at the Highest Risk?

Most of the victims were older children or younger adults. Following are at the highest risk of this disease:

1. Young children under the age of 12 months
2. Elderly and aged people
3. Pregnant women
4. People having heart diseases or risk factor for heart diseases
5. People having chronic ailments and diseases
6. People with HIV infection
7. People who are taking immune suppressing drugs, like chemotherapy or anti-rejection drugs for transplants

Treatment:

Antiviral medicines are good to make the patient feel better and get the sickness milder once he gets infected with the virus. Within two days of the symptoms, the antiviral treatment must begin.

Use of Tamiflu (oseltamivir) or Relenza (zanamivir) have been recommended by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Prevention:

Following steps should be taken to prevent the disease, recommended by the CDC:

• Use of alcohol based hand cleaner
• Washing hands regularly after coughing or sneezing with water and soap
• Avoiding close contact with sick people
• Staying at home if one feels ill

Neither is it an epidemic nor an endemic; this is a pandemic. Care must be taken in order to avoid the virus and remain healthy.

Source: Medical News Today