Swine flue -First pandemic

All are worried ,the people coming from usa or going usa or somewhere outside world are worried abt swine flue.
Swine flu is still with us although the media hype has died down. There have been
numerous cases and many deaths, but nothing on the scale of the millions
predicted early on. Could this first wave strain now be evolving into a more
virulent form that will affect the northern hemisphere more severely after the
summer is over?
For the last ten years or so bird flu and Asia have
been the focus of much research and concern. However, the wave of swine flu
(H1N1) infections that began in March-April 2009 in Mexico highlight the fact
that a potentially lethal strain of virus can emerge from other species and not
necessarily in Asia.

Currently, not all the deaths attributed to swine flu have been definitively
associated with type A H1N1 influenza, the actual mortality rate could be as low
as 1% or as high as 6.5% depending on how you count.
Should we be worried?
No. We should be cautious, but not worried. While some observers are suggesting
serious caution others are advising that there is no reason for real concern yet.
We are not quite at the danger levels of even the worldwide SARS epidemic and
certainly not close to the Spanish flu pandemic that ravaged the world in 1918-9.
Is the WHO scaremongering too?



The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the Mexican/US swine flu
outbreak as a “public health emergency of international concern”. It moved us to
a Phase IV alert and then a Phase V alert and told us that the disease could no
longer be contained. However, as things are panning out it would seem that this
latest emergent virus is not even as bad as the common seasonal flu that kills
tens of thousands of people every year. But, there a new strain could evolve in
the coming weeks and months.



What is swine flu?
Swine flu is a type A influenza virus. It’s a subtype of H1N1 and is something of
a misnomer.
Why is this new H1N1 virus called swine flu?
In the original testing many of the viral genes were shown to be similar to
influenza viruses that normally occur in pigs in North America. But further
studies have shown that this new virus is very different. It also has two genes
from flu viruses present in European and Asian pigs as well as genes from bird
flu and human flu strains. It is referred to as a “quadruple reassortant” virus.
What is unusual about the present strain?
The new strain is a hybrid of swine, human and avian flu viruses and the US
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says it might spread from human
to human but the level of virulence is not yet clear. UPDATE: There have been
numerous deaths, but so far the vast majority of people infected have shown only
mild symptoms and after treatment have recovered.

What are the symptoms?
Symptoms are similar to regular human flu: fever and chills, a cough, sore
throat, aching limbs, headaches, and general malaise. However, there are reports
of swine flu also causing diarrhoea and vomiting. Pneumonia and respiratory
failure can occur leading to death as also happens in regular human flu.
Are there warning signs in children?
Children having trouble breathing, being averse to drinking, lethargy not waking
up or not interacting, being so irritable that the child does not want to beheld,
flu-like symptoms improve but then return with fever and worse cough, fever with
a rash.
Are there any drugs to treat swine flu?
Oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza) are the possible pharmaceutical
frontline defences against the virus and are proving effective in treating
patients diagnosed early enough. There is as yet no vaccine, although researchers
are working hard to develop one. It takes several months to create a flu vaccine
and any such vaccine will be effective against only the specific strain for which
it was created. By the time we have a vaccine the virus may have either died out
or evolved into a different strain resistant to the vaccine.

Has the disease spread to the USA/india ?
Cases in California, Texas, and Kansas, have been confirmed and tests are being
carried out on students at a school in New York. Cases have been seen in New
Zealand, Spain, Scotland, and elsewhere; those infected have been recovering
well.And same as in india well very less cases are found here.

How can we prevent the spread of swine flu?

People at risk should cover their mouth when they cough. They should regularly
wash their hands with an alcohol-based cleaner and and avoid close contact with
the sick. Patients with the disease should stay at home. There is no need to
avoid eating pork.
Will there be a global flu epidemic?
“We do not know whether this swine flu virus or some other influenza virus will
lead to the next pandemic,” says, Richard Besser, acting director of the CDC,
“However, scientists around the world continue to monitor the virus and take its
threat seriously.” UPDATE: the WHO raised its alert level from Phase IV to V,
with recent infection rates in Japan, the WHO has been hinting that they will
need to upgrade to pandemic Phase VI.
Will there be a second wave?
One of two outcomes are being forecast, first that this rather poorly virulent
strain will continue spreading slowly but ultimately die out, thanks to a
combination of low virulence and monitoring and isolation of outbreaks, or
secondly it will mutate into something much more virulent and bring with it a
fast-spreading and more lethal wave of influenza. Thankfully, in the Northern
hemisphere, we are heading into summer and influenza viruses do not spread as
efficiently in the summer as they do in the winter.
What’s next?
It is impossible to predict what virus will emerge from which host, there are
countless different types of pathogen lying dormant in the countless different
mammals across the globe. No one predicted SARS, AIDS, Ebola, West Nile virus, or
swine flu. This time, health agencies have responded well and although the WHO is
saying it is now impossible to “contain” swine flu, it seems that the first wave
is not revealing itself to be quite as lethal as was at first feared. However,
that does not detract from the possibility of a second wave of H1N1 emerging.
Is this a wake-up call?
At the very least this swine flu outbreak should wake us all up to either getting
the dust off our (bird flu) pandemic plans (as the response is the same) or
getting started with putting them together. This includes both businesses and
individuals. If the outbreak dies out quickly and this turns out not to be the
next global pandemic then we can be sure another strain will try to be at some
point in the future. Pandemic preparedness for businesses should now be at the
forefront of every business manager’s mind.
What is cyberchondria?
Cyberchondria is an anxiety disorder related to hyperchondria and brought on by
reading too many tweets with the #swineflu tag, listening to conspiracy
theorists, and viewing online news stories about diseases that scare the sheesh
kebab out of you. But, just because you’re paranoid does not mean the disease
isn’t out to get you.