Swine Flu Virus
Posted by Health articles on April 29th, 2009
News results for Swine Flu virus
A Swine Flu virus has health officials around the world working to contain the growing outbreak. One out of every five residents of Mexico’s most populous city wore masks to protect themselves against the virus as Mexico City seems to be the epicenter of the outbreak. As many as 103 deaths have been attributed to the swine flu so far with many more feared to be on the horizon. The health department of Mexico said an additional 1,614 reported cases have been documented.
Diseases articles
So far, however, only 18 of the deaths in Mexico have been confirmed by laboratory tests to be from swine flu virus and reported to the World Health Organization as such.
Swine Flu virus
In the US preparations have been upgraded for a possible swine flu virus outbreak after 20 cases were reported, also the first cases of the virus was reported in Canada on Sunday – six mild cases.
Swine flu or Swine Influenza is a contagious respiratory sickness that is normally only found in pigs. It is caused by a type-A influenza virus. Outbreaks in pigs occur year-round. The current strain is a new variation of an H1N1 virus, which is a mix of human and animal versions.
Normaly the swine flu virus only spreads from animal to person containing the spread but When the flu spreads person-to-person, it can continue to mutate, making it harder to combat because people have no natural immunity.
The symptoms are similar to the common flu. They include fever, lethargy, lack of appetite, coughing, runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Learn more about swine flu and how to treat it in the link below.
The swine flu virus spreads when an infected person coughs or sneezes around another person. People can become infected by touching something with the flu virus on it and then touching their mouth, nose or eyes.
Calling it a “public health emergency of international concern” the World Health Organization (WHO) is very concerned. The WHO also says a public health emergency is an occurrence or imminent threat of illness or health conditions caused by bioterrorism, epidemic or pandemic disease, or highly fatal infectious agents or toxins that pose serious risk to a significant number of people.
Swine Flu Virus Protection?
Advice of health experts is to follow common-sense instructions: Wash your hands, stay home if you’re sick and listen to your local health authorities. Advice from the CDC about the situation is, “Very frequent hand-washing is something that we talk about time and time again and that is an effective way to reduce transmission of disease,”. They also advise, “If you’re sick, it’s very important that people stay at home. If your children are sick, have a fever and flu-like illness, they shouldn’t go to school. And if you’re ill, you shouldn’t get on an airplane or another public transport to travel. Those things are part of personal responsibility in trying to reduce the impact. “