H1N1 Flu (Swine Flu)

Swine flu is an infection caused by a virus. It’s named for a virus that pigs can get. People do not normally get swine flu, but human infections can and do happen. The virus is contagious and can spread from human to human. Symptoms of swine flu in people are similar to the symptoms of regular human flu and include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue.

There are antiviral medicines you can take to prevent or treat swine flu. There is no vaccine available right now to protect against swine flu. You can help prevent the spread of germs that cause respiratory illnesses like influenza by

• Covering your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
• Washing your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. You can also use alcohol-based hand cleaners.
• Avoiding touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.
• Trying to avoid close contact with sick people.
• Staying home from work or school if you are sick.

Prevention

Prevention of swine influenza has three components:

Prevention in swine:

The spread of swine influenza can be controlled by executing facility management, herd management and vaccination. Standard commercial swine flu vaccines are effective in controlling the infection, when the virus strains match enough to have significant cross protection and custom vaccines should be given to the animals.

Prevention of transmission to humans:

The transmission from swine to human is believed to occur mainly in swine farms where farmers are in close contact with live pigs. Since the outbreak of transmission had occurred, the farmers were requested to use face mask while treating with infected animals.

Prevention of spread in humans:

Influenza spreads between humans through coughing or sneezing but it is restricted to pork products, since the virus is not transmitted through food. Swine flu in humans is most contagious during the first five days of the illness although some people, most commonly children can remain contagious for up to 10 days. The standard infection control, which includes frequent washing of hands with soap and water or with alcohol based hand sanitizers. New H1N1 starin vaccines are being developed and could be ready as early as June 2009.

Treatment:

If a person becomes sick with swine flu, antiviral drugs can make the illness milder and make the patient feel better. As soon as the symptoms are detected, antiviral drugs should be started soon. The US CDC recommends ostelamivir and zanamivir for the treatment and prevention of infection with swine flu influenza viruses. The virus outbreak in 2009 were found be resistant to amanatadine and rimantadine.