It was once said that pigs would fly if a black man became the president of the United States. Indeed within 100 days of President Obama’s inauguration … wham! … Swine Flu!!
Okay, just for the record the good president did not cause swine flu. Swine Flu is actually a strain of the influenza virus that usually infects pigs. It does not normally infect human beings but from time to time human infections do occur making it be called H1N1 flu virus.
H1N1 flu virus causes respiratory illness with symptoms very similar to the seasonal flu that you all know including fever, fatigue, lack of appetite, coughing and sore throat. Some people have vomiting and diarrhea.
The transmission can go from humans to animals and back to humans by close contact with each other. When the H1N1 virus affects a human, there is a risk that it can change its genetic makeup and then spread directly from human to human. This is the danger that everyone is so excited about. More investigation is needed to find out how easy this spread can be, but for the time being it is assumed that spreading from human to human would be like any other influenza virus transmitted through droplets from the nose and throat.
Protecting yourself is very similar to what you would do with any other flu, that is, cover your mouth when you cough, cough into the sleeve of your shirt rather than into the palms of your hands, wash your hands frequently and stay away from electing black men to presidency (just kidding).
There are of course frantic efforts to develop vaccines specifically for H1N1. It is unlikely that the seasonal flu shots will protect against the H1N1 virus, so many Canadian authorities are working hard to produce a vaccine. This normally takes six months from the beginning to the end and there will be enough vaccines to cover everyone.
When someone is really ill there are antiviral drugs used for prevention and early treatment of influenza. Two of the antiviral drugs that appear to be effective in treating this illness are oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza). The government is stocking up on this should it become necessary.
There has been lots of press on H1N1 and many of my patients have asked me whether pandemic means it is time to panic. This is not the case. Pandemic influenza simply means a new influenza virus that spreads easily between humans and affects a wide geographic area. Though we are not, at this point, even sure whether there is an easy spread between humans. So, the attitude should be to deal with H1N1 just like any other flu which we do every year and there is no need to panic.
Children, who have chronic illnesses including asthma, cystic fibrosis, chronic heart disease or are on medications that compromise immunity in any way, may be at more severe risk. As soon as the immunization is available it will be a good idea to vaccinate them first.
If you are in doubt as to whether a virus is the H1N1 flu virus, a short call to your family physician may help to put your mind at ease and answer all your questions. Also, there may be a hotline in your area which you should check into if you think you might need assistance.
All in all, this is just another virus and I trust with this bit of information you will be able to handle it.
