SWINE FLU

Swine flu is a respiratory disease which affects pigs. From time to time, the flu strains found in pigs mutate making them capable of passing from pigs to human hosts. Once strains of swine flu have passed into the human population, the disease is able to be spread from person to person. Each time influenza passes from pigs to people the form of the virus is unique. Sometimes the virus is virulent, deadly and easily passed. Other times it is hard to pass and less lethal.

The 2009 strain of Swine Flu (H1N1) which infected people in Mexico, the U.S., and Spain is able to be passed from person to person and appears to have a mortality rate of between 1-7%. It is not yet known how easily this H1N1 strain can be passed. An infected person is contagious from 1 day prior to symptoms throughout the 7 day symptomatic period. It is important to take precautions to prevent infection. These include: Thoroughly washing hands with soap and water (for at least 20-25 seconds.), washing with antibiotic gels, covering mouth/nose when sneezing, getting plenty of rest, staying active, and eating healthy foods.

Symptoms are nearly identical to the common flu and include: fever, body aches, cough, sneezing, headache, chills and fatigue. In some cases people have reported diarrhea and vomiting. Tests exist to accurately indicate whether an ill person is suffering from H1N1 or common influenza.

The H1N1 strain of Swine Flu is susceptible to treatment with oseltamivir or zanamivir. The severity of illness varies greatly from person to person. Some people become only mildly sick, while others develop dangerous respiratory infections which require hospitalization.

Normally, influenza is only dangerous to the very young, very old or people with compromised immune systems. H1N1 has shown itself to be lethal to a broader swathe of society, primarily those between the ages of 20 and 40.

There is currently no vaccine for the H1N1 Swine Flu, but Baxter International, a pharmaceutical company, is working to develop a vaccine within 6 months.

INFLUENZA

Contrary to colloquial usage, the term "Influenza" or "The Flu" does not refer to every illness resulting in coughing, sneezing, vomiting or fever. Rather, "Flu" is an illness caused by a very specific family of RNA viruses called Orthomyxoviridae, which mutate on a, typically, yearly cycle to frustrate our bodies attempts at immunity. It is the ubiquity and prevalence of Influenza in all cultures and demographics that has caused us to generalize many unrelated illnesses under the heading of "Flu."

Influenza kill hundreds of thousands of people each year, typically the very old and the very young, as it makes it's annual sweep across the globe. In an average year, 200,000 Americans are hospitalized because of Influenza.

Every year, the flu virus returns to its animal reservoirs (primarily pigs and birds) and undergoes various mutations. These mutations generate a unique yearly Influenza strain. Strains vary in lethality, contagion and severity from year to year. Scientists are constantly monitoring emerging strains in an effort to develop each year's vaccine. However, they are never 100% certain which strain will emerge.

When a person receives their yealry Flu shot, they are taking a gamble. It is possible that the devised vaccine will prevent the strain of Flu that comes around, but it is also possible that a different strain of Flu will unexpectedly emerge which is not affected by the vaccine leaving people unknowingly unprotected from infection.

The major symptomatic differences between cold and flu are as follows:

Flu vs. Colds: A Guide to Symptoms
Questions	Flu	Cold
Was your onset of illness …	sudden?	slow?
Do you have a …	high fever?	no (or mild) fever?
Is your exhaustion level …	severe?	mild?
Is your head …	achy?	headache-free?
Is your appetite …	decreased?	normal?
Are your muscles …	achy?	fine?
Do you have …	chills?	no chills?

Influenza is so common that we often forget about the huge toll it takes each year in human life and health care resources. It has historically proven to be one of the worst scourges of human kind. With that in mind I rate this sick

a 2 on my "lethality scale" (1-10)
and a 2 on my "disturbing scale" (1-10)