The H1N1 form of swine flu is one of the descendants of the Spanish flu that caused a devastating pandemic in humans during 1918 -1919. It would have been persisting in pigs and was then circulated into humans during the 20th century, contributing to the normal seasonal epidemics of influenza.

This virus constantly changes its form, thereby eluding the protective antibodies that people may have developed in response to previous exposures to influenza vaccines. Every two or three years, the virus undergoes minor changes.

But at intervals, a bulk of world’s population has developed some level of resistance to these minor changes and it easily infect populations around the world, often infecting hundreds of millions of people whose antibody defenses are unable to resist it.

In 1957, an Asian flu pandemic infected 45 million Americans and killed 70,000. It caused
about two million deaths globally. Once again, the cycle turns back in 2009. So far, 300 peoples in Mexico have been infected by the influenza A swine strain. Thus making evident, the outbreak of swine flu and making contingency plans for a possible global pandemic.

Symptoms:

Swine flu symptoms are similar to the symptoms of regular flu and include fever of over 100.4°F, fatigue, lack of appetite, and cold. Some people with swine flu have also reported runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea. Nearly everyone with flu has at least two of these symptoms.

So, how do you know if you have flu or just cold?
There is one clue: when you have the flu, you feel flu symptoms sooner than you would cold symptoms, and they come on with much greater intensity. With the flu, you may feel very weak and fatigued for up to 2 or 3 weeks. You’ll have muscle aches and periods of chills and sweats as fever comes and goes. You may also have a stuffy or runny nose, headache, and sore throat.

Can I compare flu symptoms with cold symptoms?
Yes. The following chart can help you compare flu symptoms with cold symptoms. Use it to lean the differences and similarities between flu and cold symptoms. Then, if you get flu symptoms, call your doctor and ask about an antiviral drug.

Prevention:

1. Prevention in swine: The spread of swine influenza can be controlled by executing facility management, herd management and vaccination. Standard commercial swine flu vaccines are effective in controlling the infection, when the virus strains match enough to have significant cross protection and custom vaccines should be given to the animals.
2. Prevention of transmission to humans: The transmission from swine to human is believed to occur mainly in swine farms where farmers are in close contact with live pigs. Since the outbreak of transmission had occurred, the farmers were requested to use face mask while treating with infected animals.
3. Prevention of spread in humans: Influenza spreads between humans through coughing or sneezing but it is restricted to pork products, since the virus is not transmitted through food. Swine flu in humans is most contagious during the first five days of the illness although some people, most commonly children can remain contagious for up to 10 days. The standard infection control, which includes frequent washing of hands with soap and water or with alcohol based hand sanitizers. A new H1N1 starin vaccines are being developed and could be ready as early as June 2009.

Treatment:

If a person becomes sick with swine flu, antiviral drugs can make the illness milder and make the patient feel better. As soon as the symptoms are detected, antiviral drugs should be started soon. The US CDC recommends ostelamivir and zanamivir for the treatment and prevention of infection with swine flu influenza viruses. The virus outbreak in 2009 were found be resistant to amanatadine and rimantadine.

Eating nutritious food and building immunity against the swine flu pandemic is on top of everyone`s mind today

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