Spotting, Treating, and Preventing Swine Flu

Symptoms of H1N1 Virus and How It's Different Than Regular Influenza

May 5, 2009

The World Health Organization has now declared swine flu a global pandemic. H1N1 is all over the news and a lot of people are worried. But before you panic, here are some need-to-know facts about the H1N1 influenza pandemic.

Transmission of Swine Flu

Swine flu normally occurs in people who work around pigs, but the virus can be transmitted from person to person. It's uncertain how easily the virus spreads from person to person, but the H1N1 virus is thought to be passed to others by an infected person coughing or sneezing, much like seasonal flu.

Swine Flu Versus Normal Flu

Swine flu and seasonal influenza are very similar, both in symptoms and makeup. The main difference is that complications like pneumonia are more likely in swine flu. Also, less of the population is expected to be immune to the strain.

In the majority of cases of swine flu, infected people recover just fine. But as with any type of influenza, pregnant women, children under 2, and the elderly are more at risk for serious or fatal complications.

Symptoms of Swine Flu

Part of the difficulty in detecting swine flu is that symptoms are pretty much identical to other flu symptoms. They include:

Treatment for the H1N1 Virus

If a person has any of the above symptoms, he or she should stay home from school or work, get adequate rest, and drink clear liquids. Body aches and pains could be eased by over-the-counter medications, if necessary. In some cases, antiviral medications like Tamiflu and Relenza may be prescribed to ease flu symptoms. A person suffering from flu should call his doctor to ask how to proceed rather than showing up at the office and spreading the virus around the waiting room.

For more information on the H1N1 swine flu vaccines now available, see Types of H1N1 Vaccines.

Swine Flu Prevention

Getting a yearly flu shot will not prevent the H1N1 virus, but these commonsense tips will help a person and his family to avoid it:

Swine flu is scary, but most people don't have to worry much about it if they follow some commonsense flu prevention steps. Symptoms are much like "regular" influenza, and the most at-risk categories are pregnant women, young children, and the elderly.

The copyright of the article Spotting, Treating, and Preventing Swine Flu in Diseases/Viruses is owned by Jenny Evans. Permission to republish Spotting, Treating, and Preventing Swine Flu in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Jun 16, 2009 12:35 PM

Guest :

There is so much hype by the media about swine flu. They blow it way out of porportion and scare people half to death. yes it's a flu bug, yes it's dangerous to some people and yes its widespread. But it's no worse than any other flu bug. I am immunosuppressed and have been for almost 10 years. I have gone thru 10 flu seasons without any problems. The labs, hospitals are overflowing with ppl with sniffles and coughs who think they should be tested just in case. The tests take 12 days to come back so even if you test negative at the time the test was done, you could be dead by the time the "negative" results come back. What a farse this is and I totally blame the media. We rely on media so much that we trust their word way too much, it's just absolutely ridiculous!

Jul 1, 2009 1:12 PM

Guest :

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....

Jul 13, 2009 2:36 PM

Guest :

Don't know what I have but I have all the symptoms of the above. Normally I get strep throat this time of year and if this is my normal strep .. it's taken on new characteristics. My children also have it and they took meds that didn't work. I would like to know if one contracts the swine flu and lives ..... if we end up with a stronger resistance to the next strain should one come around.