The Swine Flu - some essential facts

According to wikipedia, "Swine influenza (also called swine flu, hog flu and pig flu) is an infection of a host animal by any one of several specific types of swine influenza virus . In 2009 the media labeled as "swine flu" caused by 2009's new strain of swine-origin A/H1N1 pandemic virus just as it had earlier dubbed as "avian flu" flu caused by the recent Asian-linage HPAI (High Pathogenic Avian Influenza) H5N1 strain that is still endemic in many wild bird species in several countries."

So now we know what it is,let's analyze what are the symptoms that we should be aware of if in case we are unfortunate enough to contract the virus.

Symptoms
The symptoms of swine flu are very similar to the common flu that occurs in humans. The symptoms are mostly fever, cold, cough, runny nose, body aches, diarrhea, vomiting, headache etc. In swine flu the symptoms might be more severe like breathlessness, very high grade fever, loss of appetite and fluid intake, listlessness etc. The important fact is to prevent the spread of this infection. Since it spreads through fomites i.e. through air, infected articles like tissue, paper, pen etc, the preventive measures are very important.

The swine flu virus is resistant to the antiviral medications amantadine (Symmetrel) and rimantadine (Flumadine), but is sensitive to oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza). There is no vaccine available right now to protect against swine flu.

Preventive Measures
As the saying goes "Prevention is better than cure". So the measures that can be taken to prevent spread of this particular swine flu are –

• Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
• Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. You can also use alcohol-based hand sanitizers.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.
• Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
• Stay home from work or school if you are sick.
• Consult a doctor immediately when in doubt about your symptoms.

Important thing to remember is that people with swine flu are likely contagious for one day before and up to seven days after they began to get sick with swine flu symptoms.

Stay safe.