Today we are ever more at a greater risk from the various strains of the influenza virus than we have been for a very long time. We had concerns about bird flu, and recently swine flu has become a major concern. Swine flu is of more concern than bird flu. It was feared that bird flu could mutate into a form that could infect humans, apart from a few isolated cases, this has not occurred to date.
Swine flu is a greater concern, swine flu has the ability to pass from person to person which makes it an extremely serious health problem. Swine flu or influenza A (H1N1) is a flu virus which infects pigs. Swine flu outbreaks in pigs doesn’t usually infect people although it can occur occasionally.
Swine flu is a unknown type of virus and is therefore extremely dangerous. No one has had contact with this strain previously, which means no one has developed any immunity to this particular strain. With no inbuilt immunity a virus can be life threatening because our body is unable to defend against the virus. Absolutely everyone is susceptible, this includes healthy adults and teenagers as well as the young and the elderly.
Swine flu can easily result in a pandemic flu situation. Pandemic flu situation occurs when an influenza viral strain develops that is dissimilar to previous influenza strains that few, if any, people have any immunity to. This allows the flu virus to spread rapidly in the population.
Pandemic flu is different from seasonal flu as explained below. Seasonal flu occurs annually, usually in the winter. About 10 to 15 percent of people are effected and the majority will recover without treatment in 1 to 2 weeks.
A pandemic flu outbreak affects far more of the population and up to half the population infected. Pandemic flu affects people of every age.
Swine flu symptoms are very similar to the symptoms of ordinary influenza. These include a sudden onset of fever, cough or a shortness of breath. Symptoms that may be present can include headaches, sore throats, aching muscles, sneezing, chills, a runny nose, appetite loss and tiredness.
What precautions should you take. Anyone with flu or cold symptoms needs to take a few easy precautions. The flu virus spreads between people from the small droplets from the nose and mouth when someone sneezes or coughs. This is how a virus such as swine flu are spread among the population. Covering your face with your hands when you sneeze or cough is not effective enough. The virus simply sit on your hands, then everything you touch becomes contaminated. Other people can then touch these surfaces and become infected with the virus. Therefore, always use a handkerchief or disposable tissue. A tissue is better, this should be disposed safely as soon as possible, try to always use a new tissue if you sneeze or cough again.
A vaccination for swine flu is not yet available. The vaccination for ordinary influenza is not effective in the fight against swine flu. By the time a vaccination is discovered, it will take many months to manufacture, and by that time the virus may have changed again making a new vaccination ineffective.
The best precaution you can take against swine flu is Tamiflu. Tamiflu isn’t guaranteed for the prevention of swine flu, but when someone has been exposed to another individual who has the swine flu virus, it may help to stop the virus making you ill. If Tamiflu is administered within 2 days of acquiring the flu virus, Tamiflu may help to stop the virus spreading through the body, thereby alleviating the symptoms and risk associated with the swine flu virus. Governments are stocking Tamiflu, but these supplies will be used to treat important workers before the general population.
however you buy Tamiflu online, if the situation arises you can offer as much protection as is possible to yourself and loved ones. Although it can’t be emphasized enough, Tamiflu needs to be administered as soon as is possible to be effective, any delays in treating the virus will reduce how effective Tamiflu is.
Also, remember, swine flu is a worldwide problem. Should a pandemic outbreak become global it is possible that the supplies of Tamiflu may become diminished and may not meet a huge global demand. Until such time that a vaccine is found and manufactured in the amounts needed, Tamiflu is the only really effective treatment for swine flu, it is therefore be prudent to buy Tamiflu beforehand if you feel you or your family are at risk.
Disclaimer: This article is based on information that is freely available in {the popular#the} media and medical journals related to swine flu. Nothing in this post is intended to be or should be taken to be medical advice. For medical advice you should consult your physician.