The swine flu has been killing hundreds of people each week. With that in mind, it’s difficult to tell how many people it is actually killing. Many nations, including the US, only test certain people to see whether or not they’ve had swine flu. In the US, for example, they don’t need to test people who have died at home from some sort of pneumonia. On top of that, rapid tests typically give a negative result, so if you have the flu but test negative and then die, they won’t feel the need to test you again and you’ll just go down as a pneumonia and influenza death, not as an H1N1 death.
Because of these reporting issues, it’s hard to tell how many people have really died from the flu. In the US, it’s probably safe to estimate that close to 5,000 people have died so far. This… Read More
The swine flu pandemic has given rise to all sorts of myths and misconceptions. On the one hand, many believe it is no different from a normal bout of flu, and merits little concern; on the other, some have worried that it will be as devastating as the influenza pandemics of 1918-19, which claimed almost as many lives as the world war which preceded it.
The reality lies somewhere between these two extremes. Swine flu is a genuine threat (it has claimed almost 8,000 lives worldwide), but it causes only mild problems in the majority of people it infects, and the risk of infection is limited provided you take proper precautions. This article aims to help you understand the origins and symptoms of swine flu, giving you all the information you need for complete peace of mind.
Where has it come from?
The current swine flu pandemic is not… Read More
Due to the rising interests and questions being posted to around the web I thought it might be helpful for some of you out there to gather some information on the facts about the swine flu outbreak.
The swine flu influenza transmission use to jump from pig to pig and only in rare cases transmit to humans. The origins of it might be that humans first transmitted the influenza virus to pigs before they developed their own. The influenza season brings a mix of influenza viruses resulting in the increased risk of transmission and infection from pig to humans, causing cross-species transmission. Known swine flu viruses are the H1N1 subtype as well as less popular subtypes like H1N2, H3N1 or H3N2. Therefore a pig can be infected by more than one virus type at the same time.
Infection Risk
Human-to –human infection was once limited to a close… Read More
An outbreak of the H1N1 virus (swine flu) has lately caused concerns of a worldwide pandemic. As of this writing, the World Health Organization (also known as WHO) reports that thirty-nine countries have documented cases of the disease.
So, what is H1N1? The H1N1 virus, frequently called the swine flu is a virus that causes influenza in humans. The virus has gone through a recent mutation into its current form. Due to this mutation, humans have no protection from the disease. This is why authorities are worried about the chance of a pandemic.
The virus contains 2 genes from a typical pig virus, 1 gene from the avian flu virus, and 1 gene from human influenza virus. So now that we’ve responded to the query of what is H1N1, what about the symptoms? The symptoms of the H1N1 swine flu virus in people are similar to the… Read More
Under certain conditions, some individuals have an increased risk for complications and possibly even death. Asthma and swine flu is one of the factors that can increase your risk. Those who have asthma have a significantly higher chance of having serious complications than others.
Almost 41% of swine flu hospital patients in New York City suffered from asthma. And recently, 7 swine flu deaths were reported in New York. Of those seven deaths, six of the individuals had asthma. If you have asthma you should call your doctor and see if he recommends any special precautions regarding the swine flu, even before an outbreak occurs in your area.
The H1N1 swine flu is a virus that induces influenza in humans. The pathogen has gone through a mutation into its present form. Due to this mutation, humans have no immunity to the virus. This is the reason that governments worldwide… Read More
