How bad is the current swine flu problem in terms of being a global pandemic?

First you should know that the World Health Organization uses a 6 phased warning system for declaring a pandemic. The previous global bird flu problem reached phase 3 of the warning system by being able to infect humans from contact from birds but not as a person to person infection. The swine flu problem came about in April and since then the WHO has raised the warning system level from 4 then to a 5 as it was shown that the swine flu was being transmitted quite easily from person to person. It is commonly believed that the WHO will raise the warning level system to a 6 shortly, meaning that it is declaring swine flu as a current global pandemic. The WHO recognizes the swine flu as a moderately severe disease, as opposed to mild or severe. This refers to the disease’s ability to harm people as a combination of its virulence and vulnerability factors.

Understanding the signs, symptoms, and characteristics of swine flu and spreading that knowledge will be useful in our personal, community, national, and global fights against this swine flu pandemic.

Okay, let’s get started then! What is swine flu?

Each type of animal has influenza, which exists as a virus. Usually, however, the influenza virus of humans does not infect pigs or swine and vice versa; the rare cases usually occur in those humans who have frequent, direct, and prolonged contact with pigs. The new swine flu that is causing the global pandemic has evolved so much that it not only spreads swine to humans but also human to humans. In essence, this swine flu virus has also become a human flu virus. The Center for Disease Control has named this flu virus a “novel influenza A (H1N1) virus.”

What are the symptoms when you contract this H1N1 swine flu? How can you know if you have swine flu?

The symptoms of a swine flu infection are basically the same as other flu symptoms, including a fever, cough, sore throat, aches all over the body, runny nose, head congestion, chills, fatigue, and a headache. These symptoms are not unlike those of other flu infections so based on symptoms alone one cannot distinguish between swine flu and other flu infections. There is a rapid flu test that you can get from many health care settings, but be aware that a negative result may be a false negative (in that negative result does not necessarily mean that you do not have the swine flu infection). In order to diagnose a case as definitively swine flu, there are lab tests usually done by the state although because of the current volume of possible cases, only those most severe cases are being tested.

What groups are at risk for swine flu (especially for a bad outcome due to infection) and should be especially careful?

• Women who are pregnant.
• Young children, especially under the age of one.
• The elderly as they are prone to severe flu symptoms and complications.
• Patients suffering from heart disease.
• Patients with HIV or are otherwise immunocompromised or with chronic disease conditions.
• Patients who are immuno-suppressed, such as on immunity suppressing drugs as part of their cancer chemotherapy or organ transplant recipients.

I have flu symptoms! What should I do?

If you have mild flu symptoms, stay at home and rest. Cover your nose and mouth especially when you are coughing or sneezing. Wash your hands and throw away the tissues you use. Do all these things to avoid spreading your flu virus and infection to others. If your symptoms are severe or the patient is in one of the at risk groups mentioned above, you should seek the help and expertise of a doctor immediately. There is probably no need to visit the emergency room, but you should see a doctor as soon as possible.

Emergency symptoms in children include fast breathing, problems breathing, bluish or grayish tinge for skin color, not drinking fluids, not responsive, not interacting, not waking up, throwing up constantly, throwing up severely, irritability to not wanting to be held, worsening symptoms of fever and worse cough after initial improvement, and a rash with fever. Emergency symptoms in adults include problems breathing, fast breathing, shortness of breath, chest or abdomen pains, chest or abdomen pressure, dizziness, severe vomiting, and symptoms that return with a worse fever and cough after initial improvement.

The only tests that can determine for sure if you have swine flu has to be done by the state labs
Most people will recover from a swine flu infection as in other flu infections without any antiviral drugs.

How is the swine flu spread?

As mentioned before, since this new swine flu can spread person to person, you do not have to have contact with pigs to get infected. You can pick up the virus from another person who is infected either directly from aerosol droplets in the air from their sneeze or cough, or touching objects that they have touched and then touching your prone areas such as eyes, nose, or mouth. As with other flu infections, you should cover your mouth and nose should you be infected and need to sneeze or cough and to avoid touching things in public. To combat these modes of infection, you should wash your hands regularly especially after being in public.

I got my flu vaccine shot for this season, am I covered for the swine flu?

No, that flu vaccine only coveres the human flu virus that was projected for this season and not the current new swine flu.

Is it safe to eat pork products?

Absolutely, there have not been any cases shown of swine flu infection that resulted from each pork, bacon, or pork-products.