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Written by Shirley T
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Thursday, 30 April 2009 04:08 |
Deadly Swine Flu or Mexican Flu alert made the international headlines on news last week. Today, suspected Swine Flu are reported in 18 countries worldwide with 7 countries of confirmed cases and death toll rises more than 100 in Mexico!
Commonly found in swine and seldom detected in human, Swine Influenza is an influenza A of H1N1 subtype although other subtypes H3N2 and H1N2 had been isolated from swine. In the confirmed death cases reported in Mexico, tests show some died of new strain of swine virus although majority were probably due to same strain. According to CDC (US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at Atlanta), this flu virus contains DNA from avian, swine and human viruses! Dealing with unknown and probably mutated strain or 'reassortant' virus, this is an extreme challenging situation.
Thus, we have to understand better on how to work together against this potential pandemic!
Transmission from human to human is through the contagious droplets via coughing, sneezing or kissing. Touching infected objects or touching nose, mouth and/or eyes with infected hands may also cause it to transmit. Basically, it is transmitted just like the common flu which makes it relatively easy to spread.
Once infected, the virus may transmit to another host even though it will incubate between one to four days before
manifesting any symptoms. Among the symptoms observed in human includes substantial rise in body temperature (high fever), coughing, sneezing or having breathing difficulties. Upper respiratory complications like sore throat and runny nose besides muscles aches, lethargy, vomiting and diarrhea are also among the list to be observed as symptoms for Swine Flu. Diagnosis of Swine Flu infection can only be confirmed by laboratory testings from respiratory specimen (simple nose or throat swap).
At present, there is no vaccine to protect against this virus and the treatment recommended by US CDC is neuraminidase inhibitor antiviral medications namely zanamivir and oseltamivir since this virus is susceptible to them.
The next question is what can I do to protect myself and my family from Swine Flu. Personal hygiene is one of them that is viewed as effective measure; always keep our hands clean using soap or sanitizer, avoid sharing cutlery or glasses with others and avoid sick people.
If outbreak is reported at your area, stay away from crowd, avoid public gatherings or public places like airports, bus
stations, schools and get masks called N95 respirators as studies indicated its effectiveness when is properly used. And in Malaysia, if you have any doubts in regards to Swine Flu, immediately ring the hotline at +60-3-88810200/300.
Sources:
WHO (World Health Organization)
CDC (US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Bloomberg
Swine Flu Wikipedia
The Star Malaysia
The Sun Malaysia
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Swine Flu | What You Need To Know
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