The World Health Organization (WHO) declared a level 6 pandemic on June 11, 2009, the first in 41 years. Level 6 is the highest alert level. The last pandemic was in 1968/1969 and was called the Hong Kong flu. It’s designation was Influenza A (H3N2).
H1N1 Photo from BBC
Why are we so afraid of H1N1?
Investigation of the 1918 influenza pandemic, which is now estimated to have killed up to 100 million people worldwide in 18 months, revealed that the viral culprit was a type H1N1 human flu that had infected pigs, and then circulated back to humans. — Newsweek, The Path to a Pandemic
Why shouldn’t we be so afraid of H1N1, or any other flu virus? Because 90 years later, we have had mind boggling advances in medicine, especially in the area of supportive care. IV fluids, respirators, oxygen, antibiotics for treatment of secondary infections, vaccines and anti-viral drugs to name some. We have an arsenal of more aggressive treatments. We have an understanding of viruses and how their genetic material (RNA) mutates so we can fight it much more effectively. Still, with all we have on our side, about 0.01% of the population dies because of the flu each year.
Several pharmaceutical companies are developing a separate vaccine for H1N1 while they continue making the normal flu season vaccine. This year, we may have to get 2-3 flu shots instead of just one. The pharmaceutical companies, WHO and CDC along with related agencies and governments are working as fast as they can to produce vaccine, make more antiviral drugs and organize distribution.
Even though it’s summer, Americans and many others in the Northern Hemisphere are still coming down with H1N1. A lot of them are under age 62-63. Older folks seem to have some immunity to the new virus, possibly from surviving the 1957 flu pandemic.
Photo from BBC News
The fact is about 36,000 people die each year from the normal flu season virus in the U.S., but they are mostly very young or very old. H1N1 is different in that half the people it has killed are between the ages of 4 and 60 who had no underlying health problems. A pandemic means far more people will become ill and far more people will die worldwide.
The origin of H1N1 isn’t Mexico or completely from pigs. (Ref. Newsweek: The Path of a Pandemic). I highly recommend reading this article. H1N1 started in December 2005 in Wisconsin when a teenager who worked on a pig farm and had a chicken in the house came down with the flu. No one else in his family got sick and he recovered in a few days. His blood sample showed a brand new virus never seen before: RNA from two swine flu viruses, a human flu virus and an unknown avian (bird) flu virus. When those viruses infected the teen they became a new virus.
Humans are the ones who cause these viruses to mutate and spread. When we get two or three different viruses into our cells, we cause them to mutate into new viruses. Virulence may be poor or it may be a super virus. H1N1 is going to be a bad one come this flu season. As it spreads through the Southern Hemisphere, where it is winter and flu season now, it is becoming more virulent, meaning it is spreading more easily from person to person.
I wouldn’t worry about it, though. Just get your flu shots as soon as they are available, drink some orange juice, eat fruit and vegetables, take a multivitamin and wash your hands. Reduce the number of hands you shake, too. Viruses spread far better from hand-to-face (nose or eyes) contact than from drinking after or even kissing a sick person. Saliva has some natural anti-viral properties.
If you want to prevent the spread of flu, clean the door handles and knobs in your house and at your office daily with either a bleach cleaner or an ammonia cleaner, like Windex. Clean kitchen and bathroom knobs and refrigerator handles, too. It will cut down on virus load.
Flu symptoms are different from cold or allergy symptoms. Flu is a lung infection. It starts with a sore or scratchy throat and fatigue. In about 12 hours a high fever will be the next symptom (101-104 F). With the fever come chills, severe body aches, extreme fatigue, and a cough.
CBS Photo
Go to the doctor early when the fever starts because the anti-viral drugs really work and can keep you from getting much sicker. The complications of flu are what kill people, not the flu itself. Pneumonia and blocked breathing passages are the most common causes of death that started from the flu.
If you get a secondary infection, which will show up after about 3-4 days, go back to the doctor for treatment. If you have any problems breathing, go back to the doctor immediately or go to the emergency room. You could have developed pneumonia. If you come down with a bacterial sinus infection while you’re fighting the flu, you need it treated quickly. It will make you very sick because the flu already has your defenses bottomed out.
Once you’ve been to the doc, go home, put a pot of water on the stove to boil, take something for fever and drink plenty of fluids (8 oz every hour you are awake). Fever can cause fast dehydration. Lie down and rest. Why boil water? Humid warm air will kill flu viruses and keep them from spreading throughout your house. Warm moist air also eases the cough and scratchy throat.
Stay home if you have the flu. Wearing a surgical mask will keep the flu from spreading if a sick person is the one wearing it. Healthy people will not benefit from wearing a mask.
If you wake up with your pj’s wet from breaking a fever, change them before going back to sleep. And while you’re awake, have a glass of water.
If you’re over 65, under 2, or if you have lung or breathing problems (asthma, you smoke, etc.) get a pneumonia vaccination now if you haven’t had one.
The most important thing you can do is be prepared with vaccinations and knowledge of exactly what you should do to prevent getting sick or if you or a family member or friend gets the flu.
KNSS Kansas City Star Photo
Don’t panic. This is the flu, not Ebola. Prepare, and then act decisively.
\\ tags: H1N1, H1N1 pictures, influenza A, origin, prevention, treatment
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