I recommend everyone in North America read this page produced by the Center for Disease Control. It contains important information regarding the flu virus we know commonly as the Swine Flu, and the more we know about it the more we can fight it.
The H1N1 Virus is actually not related to pigs in any way. The "Swine Flu" was an incorrect name for it when the virus first surfaced, because it had appeared to contain some genes found in flu viruses that occur in pigs, but later it was found that it wasn't exactly the same. This virus is not from pigs. We don't know where it's actually from, but all pig owners can give a sigh of relief.
This virus is assumed by the CDC to be very similar to most flu viruses in its way of spreading through sneezing and coughing and by laying on whatever an infected person has touched. Washing your hands often with soap and water, or some alchohol based cleaner like Pure-el, is how we think we can kill it. Notice there's a lot of guesswork here. CDC is still researching this, trying to find out everything they can before we get hit hard this fall with cases in the Northeast.
Symptoms of H1N1 include fever, chills, coughing, runny nose, stuffy nose, body aches, headache,and fatigue. A number of people have reported diarrhea and vomiting. Cases range from very mild to severe, in which some people have died.
People who are pregnant, have diabetes, heart disease, asthma or kidney disease are considered "high risk" for H1N1, like with any flu symptom.
H1N1 differs from the average flu because it strikes a different age range harder. The regular old influenza was more dangerous to children under 5 years old or elderly over 65. H1N1 seems to be more dangerous to people under age 25. That's us, the college and high-school age folks. The lucky ones.
So please, for once, don't think you're invincible and that by some divine lottery you'll make it out alright. It can't hurt to take some precautions.
Again, read the information on this site. It's an investment of time worth spending.
I just want to add something- PLEASE if you have to sneeze or cough- do it properly.
A sneeze has the potential to travel 30+ feet and so in a classroom, if you have not sneezed properly, everybody inhales what you just spit out. The proper way to cough/sneeze is to put your mouth in the fold of your arm. If you don't know the area I'm talking about- basically the front of your elbow- I'm really not sure what its called but it prevents your sneeze/cough from traveling to other people. I cannot count the number time I have been sneezed on lately and it freaks me out- so PLEASE sneeze properly even if you are wearing nice clothes- nobody around you wants to ingest your germs (especially if you have the flu and are unaware of it.)
The technical term is the antecubital area. Also known as the AC.
~C
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Thank you so much for posting this! I wasn't too concerned a few months ago about the swine flu. I thought the precautions we took this summer at the camp that I worked at were a little silly and I didn't understand. Then, last month, my 4 year-old sister was diagnosed with severe asthma. I had heard before that asthmatics were very prone to the flu, but I hadn't really given it much thought. Not only is my sister high-risk, but my step dad is diabetic, another scary thing.
Even further beyond that I spend two weeks of my summer when I'm not with general session campers with diabetic campers and another week with asthma and CF campers. All of those kids, and millions more are at risk for H1N1. That's a scary thought.
Hey, no problem! I think we all deserve to be a little more informed, especially about a health risk like this. Most of this year, I just didn't think much about the whole swine flu thing, but now that it's coming up North, I feel we all need to be prepared.
I had heard before that asthmatics were very prone to the flu, but I hadn't really given it much thought.
o.O As one who has dealt with life-long (and for a time, undiagnosed) Asthma, I'd like to know where you heard that from, because I've never heard of it.
Granted, those with any chronic illness are more prone to coming down with any given opportunistic illness, but those with Asthma aren't so much more prone that they're practically guaranteed to come down with something every month, nor are they guaranteed to have complications (which is what it seems you're afraid of). For example, I don't remember the last time I came down with any flu strain.
That said, if you're really that worried about it, get your flu shot. They have a general one and one specifically for H1N1. You can probably get it at your local pharmacy.
I am treated as evil by people who claim that they are being oppressed because they are not allowed to force me to practice what they do. ~D. Dale Gulledge
The "swine flu" name actually is partly accurate (not as inaccurate as you seem to imply). H1N1 is a hybrid strain containing DNA from flu strains common in birds, humans, and pigs (your CDC link also notes this).
H1N1 actually isn't more dangerous than any other flu strain, however, what makes it unique and why it's been deemed a "pandemic" is because it does hit the younger people with the medical burden that usually falls on the elderly people. So far, the elderly have had no more complications from H1N1 than any other demographic.
It's also not the most deadly of even the flu pandemics. The Spanish flu killed between 5 and 10 million people in the beginning of the 20th century. The current H1N1 outbreak has a current death toll of about 3,500 worldwide, the vast majority of which are in non-industrialized countries. Various seasonal flu strains (including H1N1, H3N2, and B) kill up to half a million every year. (It should also be noted that while the Spanish Flu was an H1N1 strain, there have also been significant medical advances in the last century, making a repeat of it highly unlikely.)
What's that mean for those of us in that "under 25" bracket? Get vaccinated, be sensible about things like washing your hands and covering your mouth when you cough or sneeze. While it's definitely good to be prepared and take precautions if you feel you're at risk (not just one of the "at-risk" demographics, either, if you work with the general public or at a school or similar setting, you should probably consider yourself "at risk"), it's still just the flu. It's responsive to common flu medicines, such as Tamiflu, and the same complications that might come with H1N1 can come with any of the other strains. Yes, it's odd as far as flu strains go, but it's no Black Death, either.
I am treated as evil by people who claim that they are being oppressed because they are not allowed to force me to practice what they do. ~D. Dale Gulledge
From the CDC site: "This virus was originally referred to as “swine flu” because laboratory testing showed that many of the genes in this new virus were very similar to influenza viruses that normally occur in pigs (swine) in North America. But further study has shown that this new virus is very different from what normally circulates in North American pigs."
So...at first it looked to be the "swine flu", but in reality it was only similar looking on a genetic level. So I guess we're both right in this case...
You're 100% correct--this is still "just a flu" in the sense that you combat it the same way. The site emphasized regular and thorough hand washing repeatedly and said that a vaccine was being worked on. I don't think it's ready at this time yet, but the regular flu vaccine is, so it doesn't hurt to be extra prepared.
The H1N1 vaccine is supposed to be ready and out in a couple months, at least according to my doctor, who I saw a couple days ago (she insisted I get it when it comes out because I'm pregnant).
I am treated as evil by people who claim that they are being oppressed because they are not allowed to force me to practice what they do. ~D. Dale Gulledge
Congratulations!! :-D
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Thank you. :)
I am treated as evil by people who claim that they are being oppressed because they are not allowed to force me to practice what they do. ~D. Dale Gulledge
Double Congrats!
So far, Swine Flu has killed about 3,500 people worldwide this year. The regular flu kills between 250,000 and 500,000, every year.
It's bad enough that the media has decided to make such a huge deal out of it, but it's even worse that sane, intelligent people are buying into the uproar. The only thing vaguely remarkable about it is that it tends to infect younger people more often. Anyone under 25 will survive Swine if they are in reasonably good health, if it becomes bad enough to become deadly i'd consider going to the hospital... same as with any other illness. and that's all i have to say
Sources: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jQFSkHL1Ij-9QJvxRfj-C...
http://www.theblogofrecord.com/tag/annual-flu-death-toll-per-year/ (has an article from CDCP)
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Thanks a lot for posting this kind of information to warn the people about the H1N1 Virus. I also wanted take the H1N1 vaccine too but my doctor said it's not going be out until a few more months.
The nasal spray is available now, but I think health departments are largely limiting its administration to higher risk groups... though people under 18, over 49, and people with asthma, and people who care for individuals with compromised immune systems are not eligible to take it.
Personally, I'm waiting til the vaccine comes out. I can't stand things going up my nose.
~C
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Well....technically speaking, the nasal spray is a vaccine. =P (Yes, I know, nit-pick.)
Here in Ohio, the Columbus Public Health Department has been doing vaccine clinics for high-risk groups. These groups are pregnant women, caretakers of children under 6 months old, and healthcare workers that give direct patient care (tier 1 risk). Pregnant women actually get the shot, while the other two groups get the nasal spray.
After that, as far as I know, Tier 2 risk people will be next, which includes children, and I assume those with things like asthma. This will probably be more likely to happen as the shot becomes more readily available, as the only eligibility requirements that I know of are for the nasal spray, which contains a live (albeit weakened) virus, while the shot is a dead one.
Anyone over 25 is low-risk because they have already been exposed to a similar H1N1 strain in their lifetime (more than half of those hospitalized have been under 25). H1N1 has been known to strike every few decades or so for the past few hundred years. Even if those over 25 aren't completely immune, they're less likely to have to be hospitalized for it. Healthcare workers, even if they are over 25, are considered high-risk because of their increased exposure to sick people and increased exposure to other high-risk groups (healthcare worker could then be a carrier, posing a threat to the high-risk group members).
I am treated as evil by people who claim that they are being oppressed because they are not allowed to force me to practice what they do. ~D. Dale Gulledge
I know it's a vaccine, I just think of vaccines as shots, rather than nasal sprays. I don't think of oral polio (do they even still give that?) as a vaccine either...
And I wasn't eligible for the nasal spray, despite being a healthcare worker with direct patient care, because it's a live virus... I wouldn't have been able to be around anyone with a compromised immune system for a week, minimum. And since I love to draw on the oncology unit, I didn't want to get the nasal spray. So, I'm waiting til our hospital gets the shots.
That being said, I haven't seen many kids in at all on flu precautions... most of the people I see on flu precautions are older. And some of them are getting the flu while in the hospital...
~C
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I can only speak for the statistics and what my local government is doing.
I am treated as evil by people who claim that they are being oppressed because they are not allowed to force me to practice what they do. ~D. Dale Gulledge
I was under the impression that this was a "new" virus, and so that's what all the hooplah was about.
This particular strain/substrain/variation (whatever the hell you want to call it) is "new," but H1N1 as a whole has actually been around for centuries. I've actually seen the 1918 variation described as making Black Death look like "a pussy" because it killed about the same amount of people as Black Death, but did so in a two-year span, instead of a two-century span. However, it should be noted that the 1918 epidemic happened in the middle of World War I and before the advent of anti-virals and whatnot.
I am treated as evil by people who claim that they are being oppressed because they are not allowed to force me to practice what they do. ~D. Dale Gulledge