The swine flu (H1N1 influenza A) virus is a novel strain of pandemic influenza, to which humans have no natural immunity. While most healthy people recover from the flu without problems, certain groups of people are at higher risk for serious complications.
How is Swine Flu Spread?
While distinct from the regular seasonal influenza, the H1N1 flu virus is contagious and spread in the same manner as seasonal influenza. H1N1 virus infection can occur when an infected person coughs or sneezes and their germs enter the nose, eyes, or throat of another person. H1N1 virus can also rest on hard surfaces like doorknobs, handles and counters and can be picked up and transmitted to the respiratory system when someone touches their hands to their eyes, mouth or nose. Contrary to popular rumor, you cannot catch swine flu by eating pork products or through blood transfusions.
Symptoms of Swine Flu
Symptoms of swine H1N1 influenza can vary from person to person, but they almost always include cough and fever, and frequently include fatigue, muscle aches, sore throat, headache, chills, decreased appetite, and runny or stuffy nose. Nausea, vomiting or diarrhea may also occur in some individuals.
The Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates that people may be infected with the flu, including 2009 H1N1, and have respiratory symptoms without a fever. Illness with the 2009 H1N1 virus has ranged from mild to severe. While most people who have been sick with the flu have recovered without needing any medical treatment, severe illnesses requiring hospitalizations and deaths have occurred as a result of illness associated with the swine flu.
What to Do if You are Sick with the Flu?
If you have H1N1 flu, you should stay home, follow your doctor's orders, and watch for signs that you need immediate medical attention, including difficulty breathing or chest pain, purple or blue discoloration of your lips, are vomiting and unable to keep liquids down, or show signs of dehydration, such as feeling dizzy when standing, or being unable to urinate.
Swine Flu Contagiousness
According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, it is believed that a person is infectious (able to spread the virus symptom to others) from one day before the onset of symptoms through to seven days after symptoms have started. It is believed that it takes between two and seven days following infection to begin experiencing flu symptoms.
Swine Flu High Risk Groups: Who is At Risk of Catching Swine Flu?
According to the CDC, about 70 percent of people who have been hospitalized with the swine flu virus have had one or more medical conditions previously recognized as placing them at "high risk" of serious seasonal flu-related complications.
In seasonal flu, people 65 years and older, children younger than five years old, pregnant women, and people of any age with certain chronic medical conditions are at high risk of serious complications. These chronic medical conditions may include diabetes, asthma, lung disease and respiratory illnesses, heart disease and kidney disease.
Unlike seasonal flu, it appears that H1N1 is more seriously affecting more young and healthy people (under age 25) than the regular seasonal flu.
CDC testing has shown that no children and very few adults under age 60 years old have existing antibody to the pandemic strain of swine flu. Unlike the seasonal flu, people 65 and older are the least likely to be infected with the swine flu since about one third of people in this group have antibodies which may protect against this virus. However if people over 65 do get sick, they are also at high risk of developing complications from their illness.
Sources:
http://www.emedicinehealth.com
http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca
http://www.cdc.gov
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca
http://www.flu.gov
 |
