Everyone, stop panicking about swine flu - the guardian and I have the answer…
A few tips and questions answered what with everyone panicking and sh1t….
What is swine flu?
Swine flu is a form of influenza that originated in pigs but can now be caught by and spread among people. The current outbreak started in Mexico, with cases now confirmed in the US, Canada, New Zealand, Spain, the UK, Germany, Austria, Israel, Costa Rica and South Korea. At the time of writing there have been more than 150 suspected deaths from the infection in Mexico (the WHO figure for confirmed deaths is now nine) but only one death elsewhere, a 23-month-old Mexican boy in Texas.
Human strains of flu kill a few hundred thousand people worldwide every year, but strains of flu virus that originate in livestock such as pigs or chickens have the potential to kill millions worldwide if they start spreading among people. This is because, unlike ordinary strains of winter flu, humans have little resistance to them.
Swine flu is caused by a type A influenza virus, and the new strain belongs to the most common subtype, known as H1N1. Public health experts are particularly concerned about strains like this one that have spread from pigs to humans, because the animals can act as “crucibles”, harbouring several flu viruses at once which can swap genes and become more virulent.
Influenza viruses are made up of only eight genes: the new strain has six genes from a swine flu virus known to have been circulating in North America – itself a mixture of human, pig and avian flu viruses – and two from a swine virus found in European and Asian pigs.
How do humans catch it?
Swine flu spreads to people in two ways. They can acquire the virus after being in contact with infected pigs or areas where the pigs have been – which is only likely to happen in Mexico – or they can catch it from an infected person. The disease spreads in the same way as human flu, when people inhale airborne particles from coughs and sneezes, or by touching a contaminated surface and then touching their nose or mouth.
You can’t catch it from eating pork products.
It should be emphasised that in most cases the infection makes people unwell but is not life-threatening. For reasons that are not yet known, the infection seems to be more severe in Mexico than elsewhere. From published data on confirmed cases, the mortality rate in Mexico appears to be 4% and outside Mexico 1%.
What can I do to avoid infection – and stop spreading it to others?
Virus particles can survive for hours on surfaces such as doorhandles, so it’s important to wash your hands frequently with soap and water. You should cover your mouth with a handkerchief if you cough or sneeze. If you don’t have a handkerchief, cover your mouth with the crook of your elbow rather than your hand. But if you do use your hands when coughing or sneezing, wash them as soon as possible afterwards.
Avoid touching your mouth and nose with your hands or rubbing your eyes.
Should I wear a mask?
There is little point wearing a mask unless you yourself or someone you are caring for is suspected of having the infection. Masks only work if changed regularly and they get damp easily, becoming an infection risk. Not all masks will be effective. Surgical masks are not designed to prevent virus particles being inhaled but to stop germs spreading from doctors to patients. Masks that protect against viruses conform to the European standard FFP3 and the US equivalent N95.
What are the symptoms?
The symptoms of swine flu are similar to normal flu and include fever, cough, sore throat, headache, aching limbs, chills and fatigue. Some patients infected with swine flu have also reported loss of appetite, diarrhoea and vomiting. In very young children, the warning signs include fast or troubled breathing, a bluish skin tone, a failure to interact with others, and being highly irritable.
As with seasonal flu, swine flu varies in severity, with the worst cases leading to fatal pneumonia and respiratory failure. The new strain seems to be more lethal to those in the 25 to 45 age range. This was a hallmark of the Spanish 1918 flu pandemic that killed tens of millions worldwide. Younger people were probably hit harder than the elderly by the 1918 flu virus because their immune systems overreacted.
What should I do if I think I’m infected?
This is highly unlikely in the UK unless you have recently returned from Mexico or the US, or have come into contact with someone who has. Ordinary flu and any number of other infections can cause flu-like symptoms.
However, if you’ve been to Mexico or the US, or another country that has been affected by swine flu, the UK’s Health Protection Agency (HPA) says you should monitor your health for seven days after your return. If you develop flu-like symptoms during that time, you should stay at home and phone your GP, or phone NHS Direct on 0800 1513 513. Make sure you tell them where you’ve been travelling. Further information about swine flu is available online from the UK government’s Directgov website.
Your doctor may arrange diagnostic tests, which can be carried out at home or in hospital. Until you get the results you should avoid contact with other people. You should also take sensible hygiene precautions (see above) to avoid spreading the virus.
Are there effective treatments?
The antiviral medicines oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza) are effective treatments for swine flu. The UK has sufficient stocks to provide a total of 33.5 million treatment courses.
Is there a vaccine for swine flu?
The seasonal flu jab given to the elderly over the winter months works well against human flu viruses, but is unlikely to be effective against swine flu. The World Health Organisation will decide whether to divert resources from manufacturing regular flu vaccine into making swine flu vaccine.
What is the UK government doing to control the spread of infection?
GPs and hospitals across the UK are preparing for a pandemic, and the UK government is working with the WHO to monitor the situation. Confirmed cases are being treated with antiviral drugs. The UK has agreements with manufacturers to produce a vaccine if the WHO gives the green light.
What do the WHO’s pandemic categories mean?
The WHO defines stages in the progression towards a pandemic from level one to six, with level one meaning there are no animal viruses reported to be infectious to people, and level six meaning an animal virus has caused sustained community outbreaks in two or more WHO regions and a pandemic is declared. At the time of writing we are at level five.
Is my child’s school likely to close because of swine flu?
Not necessarily. The HPA’s advice to schools is that if any pupils are diagnosed with H1N1, they should do a risk assessment to decide whether it is necessary to close the school. They should consider carefully how likely it is that other children will be infected.
The factors to take into account include how much exposure other children have had to the child who is ill and the way the way the school is laid out, how much the different classes and year groups intermingle, and whether everybody eats together in a communal dining room, for instance. It might be possible to send home certain children but allow school to continue for the rest.
How long will a school stay closed?
The HPA advises that the school should consider closing initially for seven days. It can re-open if there is no evidence of further spread. It can re-open earlier if the illness does not turn out to be swine flu.
Should my office close if a colleague goes down with swine flu?
The HPA is not recommending the closure of offices, factories or other work places. They consider schools a special case because children are in close contact with each other, through play and in classrooms. If an adult becomes ill with swine flu, all their close contacts will be traced and offered Tamiflu. That means anybody who has been within one metre of somebody with the infection for an hour or more.
Wouldn’t it be better to have this kind of flu now, when it appears to cause mild illness, and get some sort of immunity to it if there is a chance it will come back in a more deadly form in the autumn?
Although it has been mild so far in the UK, public health experts say complications can set in with any flu and it can turn into a more serious illness, so it has to be taken seriously. They also say we are only at the very early stages of the epidemic, and experts are not yet sure what course it is going to take so they feel the need to limit its spread as much as possible.
• This article was amended on Wednesday 6th May 2009. We originally said at the time of writing that there had been more than 150 confirmed deaths from swine flu in Mexico but this should have read ’suspected deaths’. This has been corrected
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Sugar Rush edited this post 10 months, 2 weeks ago. Read the previous text »
Everyone, stop panicking about swine flu - the guardian and I have the answer…
A few tips and questions answered what with everyone panicking and sh1t….
What is swine flu?
Swine flu normally infects pigs. The virus has “crossed over” to humans before, but previous outbreaks have been small and short-lived. The latest strain is a mixture of pig, avian and human virus. Health officials are concerned that the new strain could cause a wave of infections around the world.
How do humans catch it?
The disease was initially spread by infected pigs, but it spreads between humans in the same way as normal flu, through coughs and sneezes and by touching surfaces contaminated with the virus and then touching the nose or mouth.
What are the symptoms?
Feverish illness, sore throat, headache, tiredness and muscle aches. Some people have reported diarrhoea and vomiting. In young children, warning signs include fast or troubled breathing, a bluish skin tone and irritability.
What should I do if I think I’m infected?
If you have recently returned from Mexico, the US or another country affected by swine flu, the Health Protection Agency advises you to monitor your health for seven days. If you develop flu symptoms, stay at home and phone your GP or NHS Direct. You may need tests. Until you have your results, avoid contact with other people and take precautions. Cover your nose and mouth when you cough or sneeze using tissues and dispose of them immediately. Wash hands regularly with soap and water. Clean surfaces such as door handles.
How can I protect myself?
Follow the hygiene precautions above and keep away from sick people. Standard surgical masks offer some protection, but the most effective are called N-95 masks, which can keep out small infectious viruses.
What treatments are there?
The virus can be treated with Tamiflu (oseltamivir) and Relenza (zanamivir). Both block the viruses’ ability to replicate in the body. The drugs should be given within two days to be most effective. The WHO yesterday ordered the production of a vaccine to combat the swine flu virus.
Will the flu jab help?
The seasonal flu jab might help to reduce symptoms in infected people, but is unlikely to stop the disease.
alex_t
Sugar Rush edited this post 10 months, 2 weeks ago. Read the previous text »
Everyone, stop panicking about swine flu - the guardian and I have the answer…
A few tips and questions answered what with everyone panicking and sh1t….
What is swine flu?
Swine flu is a form of influenza that originated in pigs but can now be caught by and spread among people. The current outbreak started in Mexico, with cases now confirmed in the US, Canada, New Zealand, Spain, the UK, Germany, Austria, Israel, Costa Rica and South Korea. At the time of writing there have been more than 150 suspected deaths from the infection in Mexico (the WHO figure for confirmed deaths is now nine) but only one death elsewhere, a 23-month-old Mexican boy in Texas.
Human strains of flu kill a few hundred thousand people worldwide every year, but strains of flu virus that originate in livestock such as pigs or chickens have the potential to kill millions worldwide if they start spreading among people. This is because, unlike ordinary strains of winter flu, humans have little resistance to them.
Swine flu is caused by a type A influenza virus, and the new strain belongs to the most common subtype, known as H1N1. Public health experts are particularly concerned about strains like this one that have spread from pigs to humans, because the animals can act as “crucibles”, harbouring several flu viruses at once which can swap genes and become more virulent.
Influenza viruses are made up of only eight genes: the new strain has six genes from a swine flu virus known to have been circulating in North America – itself a mixture of human, pig and avian flu viruses – and two from a swine virus found in European and Asian pigs.
How do humans catch it?
Swine flu spreads to people in two ways. They can acquire the virus after being in contact with infected pigs or areas where the pigs have been – which is only likely to happen in Mexico – or they can catch it from an infected person. The disease spreads in the same way as human flu, when people inhale airborne particles from coughs and sneezes, or by touching a contaminated surface and then touching their nose or mouth.
You can’t catch it from eating pork products.
It should be emphasised that in most cases the infection makes people unwell but is not life-threatening. For reasons that are not yet known, the infection seems to be more severe in Mexico than elsewhere. From published data on confirmed cases, the mortality rate in Mexico appears to be 4% and outside Mexico 1%.
What can I do to avoid infection – and stop spreading it to others?
Virus particles can survive for hours on surfaces such as doorhandles, so it’s important to wash your hands frequently with soap and water. You should cover your mouth with a handkerchief if you cough or sneeze. If you don’t have a handkerchief, cover your mouth with the crook of your elbow rather than your hand. But if you do use your hands when coughing or sneezing, wash them as soon as possible afterwards.
Avoid touching your mouth and nose with your hands or rubbing your eyes.
Should I wear a mask?
There is little point wearing a mask unless you yourself or someone you are caring for is suspected of having the infection. Masks only work if changed regularly and they get damp easily, becoming an infection risk. Not all masks will be effective. Surgical masks are not designed to prevent virus particles being inhaled but to stop germs spreading from doctors to patients. Masks that protect against viruses conform to the European standard FFP3 and the US equivalent N95.
What are the symptoms?
The symptoms of swine flu are similar to normal flu and include fever, cough, sore throat, headache, aching limbs, chills and fatigue. Some patients infected with swine flu have also reported loss of appetite, diarrhoea and vomiting. In very young children, the warning signs include fast or troubled breathing, a bluish skin tone, a failure to interact with others, and being highly irritable.
As with seasonal flu, swine flu varies in severity, with the worst cases leading to fatal pneumonia and respiratory failure. The new strain seems to be more lethal to those in the 25 to 45 age range. This was a hallmark of the Spanish 1918 flu pandemic that killed tens of millions worldwide. Younger people were probably hit harder than the elderly by the 1918 flu virus because their immune systems overreacted.
What should I do if I think I’m infected?
This is highly unlikely in the UK unless you have recently returned from Mexico or the US, or have come into contact with someone who has. Ordinary flu and any number of other infections can cause flu-like symptoms.
However, if you’ve been to Mexico or the US, or another country that has been affected by swine flu, the UK’s Health Protection Agency (HPA) says you should monitor your health for seven days after your return. If you develop flu-like symptoms during that time, you should stay at home and phone your GP, or phone NHS Direct on 0800 1513 513. Make sure you tell them where you’ve been travelling. Further information about swine flu is available online from the UK government’s Directgov website.
Your doctor may arrange diagnostic tests, which can be carried out at home or in hospital. Until you get the results you should avoid contact with other people. You should also take sensible hygiene precautions (see above) to avoid spreading the virus.
Are there effective treatments?
The antiviral medicines oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza) are effective treatments for swine flu. The UK has sufficient stocks to provide a total of 33.5 million treatment courses.
Is there a vaccine for swine flu?
The seasonal flu jab given to the elderly over the winter months works well against human flu viruses, but is unlikely to be effective against swine flu. The World Health Organisation will decide whether to divert resources from manufacturing regular flu vaccine into making swine flu vaccine.
What is the UK government doing to control the spread of infection?
GPs and hospitals across the UK are preparing for a pandemic, and the UK government is working with the WHO to monitor the situation. Confirmed cases are being treated with antiviral drugs. The UK has agreements with manufacturers to produce a vaccine if the WHO gives the green light.
What do the WHO’s pandemic categories mean?
The WHO defines stages in the progression towards a pandemic from level one to six, with level one meaning there are no animal viruses reported to be infectious to people, and level six meaning an animal virus has caused sustained community outbreaks in two or more WHO regions and a pandemic is declared. At the time of writing we are at level five.
Is my child’s school likely to close because of swine flu?
Not necessarily. The HPA’s advice to schools is that if any pupils are diagnosed with H1N1, they should do a risk assessment to decide whether it is necessary to close the school. They should consider carefully how likely it is that other children will be infected.
The factors to take into account include how much exposure other children have had to the child who is ill and the way the way the school is laid out, how much the different classes and year groups intermingle, and whether everybody eats together in a communal dining room, for instance. It might be possible to send home certain children but allow school to continue for the rest.
How long will a school stay closed?
The HPA advises that the school should consider closing initially for seven days. It can re-open if there is no evidence of further spread. It can re-open earlier if the illness does not turn out to be swine flu.
Should my office close if a colleague goes down with swine flu?
The HPA is not recommending the closure of offices, factories or other work places. They consider schools a special case because children are in close contact with each other, through play and in classrooms. If an adult becomes ill with swine flu, all their close contacts will be traced and offered Tamiflu. That means anybody who has been within one metre of somebody with the infection for an hour or more.
Wouldn’t it be better to have this kind of flu now, when it appears to cause mild illness, and get some sort of immunity to it if there is a chance it will come back in a more deadly form in the autumn?
Although it has been mild so far in the UK, public health experts say complications can set in with any flu and it can turn into a more serious illness, so it has to be taken seriously. They also say we are only at the very early stages of the epidemic, and experts are not yet sure what course it is going to take so they feel the need to limit its spread as much as possible.
• This article was amended on Friday 1 May 2009. We originally said at the time of writing that there had been more than 150 confirmed deaths from swine flu in Mexico but this should have read ’suspected deaths’. This has been corrected
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