No sarcasm intended!

The Swine Flu strain, called H1N1 2009, is passed on just like seasonal flu, in fact, seasonal flu is another variety of H1N1. As discussed in another article, What is Influenza, the H and N are abbreviations for the proteins on the outside of the flu virus.

The symptoms are also the same for Swine Flu as they are for seasonal flu. These symptoms include coughing and/or sneezing, fever, cough, sore throat, aches, headache, chills, and fatigue.

The World Health Organization has given Swine Flu a threat level of five out of a high of six. This means they are watching it carefully, but it is still too early to tell just how severe it will be. On June 11, 2009 the World Health Organization declared a pandemic, but has since backed away from that declaration. They also lowered the threat level from six (6) to five (5) just this last month.

Ruth Karron, director of the Center for Immunization Research at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health states: "There probably will be additional deaths reported. We do have deaths from seasonal influenza, and I think it's important to bear that in mind."

Virologists are also not panicked about this form of flu, but they are concerned. What concerns them is the following:

• Swine Flu is genetically different than seasonal flu so there is no widespread immunity to it
• Swine Flu is as easily spread as seasonal flu
• Swine Flu has been deadly in other parts of the world, notably Mexico
• Typical Flu season starts in late November; this flu started two months earlier
  

For all of that there are strategies that most people can employee to slow or hinder the progression of Swine Flu. These are same steps one would take with seasonal flu:

• Stay home if you experience flu like symptoms
• Be aware the flu viruses can be "killed¹" by disinfectants, sunlight, and detergents.
• Wash hands often
• School closures when necessary
• Hospital visitation policy changes

Bear in mind that virologists and other health specialist scientists are paid to be concerned.

Dr. Anne Schuchat, of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases was asked why pregnant women are more at risk.

Dr Schuchat stated: “There are probably two factors that influence the risk that pregnant women have for influenza complication. And this applies to both seasonal flu and the H1N1 flu. In pregnancy, there’s a change in the immune system which makes it easier for the woman to hold the fetus and not have an immune reaction to the baby. And so risk of infections can be greater.

“The second issue,” she added, “is probably more mechanical, that as the woman gets larger with the baby growing, there can be pressing on the airways and really a restrictive lung disease. So it’s harder to take a deep breath and it’s harder to fight off a lung infection especially in the later stages of pregnancy.”

If you are pregnant and think you've contracted the flu (Swine or Seasonal) you should:

• Contact a health care provider immediately. They may be able to prescribe an anti-viral.
  
• Talk to your health care provider before taking any "over the counter" flu medications; these may affect your baby.
• Talk to your health care provider before taking herbal or natural supplements; these may also affect your baby.
  
• Get lots of rest and drink plenty of (non-alcoholic) fluids.

Virtually every year the world is hit with seasonal flu. This flu "travels" around the globe primarily infecting people roughly in line with changes in climate. When the weather turns cold, flu typically is on the rise.

Annual Seasonal Flu typically causes the following in the United States:

• One hundred fifty (150,000,000) million to six hundred (600,000,000) million people contract the flu. That's 5% to 20% of the population
  
• Thirty-six (36,000) thousand on average die from seasonal flu
• Roughly two hundred (200,000) thousand are hospitalized with seasonal flu

To date, Swine Flu figures do not even come close to those of seasonal flu in the U.S.:

• Two hundred eighty (280,000) thousand "confirmed²" cases so far
• Twenty eight hundred (2,800) "fatalities²."
• Twelve thousand three hundred eighty-four (12,384) people have been hospitalized

All of the Swine Flu figures to date are much lower than the annual seasonal flu.

Susan Rehm, medical director for the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases says: "It's a situation where we should be cautious but not panicky. From what we understand so far, the severity doesn't seem to be much different than what it is in regular seasonal influenza."

There have now been over one hundred (100) deaths of children in the United States related to Swine Flu or 2009 H1N1.

Two thirds (²/₃) of those children had other medical conditions including asthma and/or cerebral problems such as palsy. Forty percent (40%) of the children who died had a co-infection, typically bacterial in nature.

I have written six articles so far about Influenza and Swine Flu.This is the seventh.

The purpose of this article is to point out that even though Swine Flu is making a lot of press,  health-care professionals simply want the public to be aware of both Seasonal and Swine Flu and take the appropriate precautions including being inoculated if possible.

¹ The exact wording is "deactivated" not killed.

² Some sources are reporting almost three thousand cases, but the media is reporting one thousand. Some sources are also reporting two thousand eight hundred dead, while the media is reporting one thousand. These are a big discrepancies, thus the quotation marks.