Tag: Center for Disease Control

The Latest Killer Flu: Swine Flu And You

The Center for Disease Control has probably had some very wild times this past decade. First SARS, then the bird fle, and now today’s potential epidemic is the swine flu. First manifesting itself in Mexico this past April, this new and terrible strain of Type A H1N1 influenza is one of those things that every microbiologist and health care professional is afraid of.

The reason for that fear is pretty simple. Like the bird flu, this particular strain crossed species. Specifically, it crossed over from the swine population, a species that has an in-built resistance to it, to the human population, a population that does not. If this spreads and becomes a full blown epidemic, the swine flu may reach the heights of the 1918 Spanish Flu, which killed fifty to a hundred million people worldwide and devastated the post-World War I generation.

The CDC has stepped up its alert levels and some governments have instituted quarantine procedures, but still more and more cases are emerging across the world. Mexico City has most of the fatalities though, with most other cases outside of city being less severe in symptoms. However, this is just a month into the outbreak and anything can still happen. With the continuing spread of the disease, let’s talk about how this affects you.

Let’s be honest here, after all that I’ve just said, there’s actually no real reason to panic. Actually, we shouldn’t panic. That’s because panic just confuses people and to deal effectively with something of this magnitude, being confused is not the state of mind you want to be in. What you really need to be is to be aware and knowledgeable about what you’re dealing with. This and quick ddecisive action is what got the world through SARS and the bird flu, and it most likely will help us make sure that the swine flu isn’t the one that kills us all.

The swine flu is pretty much like your normal human flu. It has all the same infection vectors, all the same symptoms, and all the same treatments. It’s all just heightened by a factor of two, mostly because humans haven’t any natural resistance to the disease. If you want to avoid getting infected do all the same things that you’d do to avoid getting the flu: wash your hands regularly, take your vitamins, and avoid sick people.

If you somehow get sick, it’s not the time to run around like a headless chicken. You immediately isolate yourself so you won’t infect others and observe your symptoms, all of the while taking your regular flu medicine. Note that even if it is called swine flu, it’s still a virus and antiviral drugs are pretty effective in putting a dent in the symptoms you may experience and help your immune system kick the infection out.

It your symptoms persist despite your efforts, you better start calling for a doctor. Don’t worry if it really is the swine flu – the CDC has recommended the use of antiviral inhibitors that help stop the reproduction of the disease and the sickness is definitely treatable.

Let’s all just remember that the swine flu maybe deadly, but it’s still just a disease. And the only things you need to have to beat a disease is being smart and being careful. With all the noise that the media brings up about it, that fact may get lost in the shuffle. Remember it and it may just save your life.

Swine Flu: The New Pandemic

Everyone’s all abuzz with panic nowadays it seems. That’s mostly because after SARS and bird flu, another new strain of virus has managed to rear its head. The H1N1 influenza virus, more popularly known as the swine flu, exploded on to the global scene last April via a large-scale infection in Mexico City.

I think everyone’s seen the images on CNN a thousand time. Surgical-masked Mexicans crowding the hospitals with worrisome shots of full hospital beds.The Center for Disease Control and the World Health Organization raised their alert levels in hopes of catching and cutting off the infection at the bud, but it seems that cases have been reported all over the world. It seems that the current fatalities from disease are from Mexico but everyone is just expecting for the other shoe to drop.

To understand all of this panic, ypou need to have a little background. Influenza, or more popularly known as the flu, is probably one of the most infectious diseases out there. Airborne and highly contagious, it could spread like wildfire all across the world. Now you’re asking what’s the matter with a few people getting a bit of sniffles? That’s because this isn’t your ordinary flu.

A lot of the flu viruses we are exposed to have been in the human system for hundreds of years. We’ve managed to build an immunity to these strains. The big problem that’s got everyone running scared is the idea that a flu strain has crossed species. This is what happened with the bird flu and now, with the swine flu. The pigs and birds have also built up resistances to these diseases, however, since humans are not used to them, these strains of flu have a very large potential of being fatal.

The last time a large-scale flu epidemic raged around the world, electricity was just coming into vogue and cars were all Model Ts. The Spanish Flu Epidemic of 1918 literally set the bar for every modern disease in terms of casualties. Fifty to a hundred million people worldwide died over a period of two years from 1918 to 1920 as the disease spread worldwide. Following on the heels of the Great War, it was a one-two punch that killed an entire generation of young men and women. What everyone’s afraid of is this: the 1918 epidemic was a subtype of the H1N1 flu virus, the same virus that seems to have crossed over and become a real threat to humans.

This is why the CDC is keeping a close watch on Mexico and hoping all of the subsidiary cases worldwide aren’t indications of the beginning of some worldwide epidemic. The good news about this is that the disease is treatable. Medicine and vaccine production alerts have been sent out by the CDC and most pharmaceutical companies have started churning out oseltamivir and zanamivir.

The problem with that is the demand may outstrip the supply depending on the swine flu’s virulence. More common antiviral drugs are also available but they’re not exactly definitive cures. They serve to weaken the symptoms and give you a fighting chance and prevent some of the worse flu symptoms like diarrhea and vomiting.

So as the world waits and watches the situation in Mexico, it would be a good idea to take a few precautions. Regular hand washes and vitamins can help make sure you avoid the initial infection of the swine flu. Avoiding pork’s not needed though. Swine flu can’t be transmitted through food. Remember to just a take a few preventive measures and you can come through clean and healthy.

Recalling the 1976 Swine Flu Debacle

In the history of the United States, this is not the first time that the country is experiencing a swine flu outbreak. The first recorded incident of H1N1 infection in the US was recorded on January 27, 1976, when there was a small outbreak of mild respiratory illnesses took place at Fort Dix Army Base in New Jersey.

According to throat cultures obtained from sick soldiers, each of the patients were infected by “swine-like flu virus” which have been unknown to humans since 1930. It was believed that the same virus was also responsible for the worst flu pandemic in the United States in 1918-1919 which led to the death of half a million Americans.

To many people, the discovery of the 1976 was more of a debacle than a victory because after only 10 weeks of implementation, vaccination efforts came to a premature close as the program led to complications which were associated to the shots.

After the death of Private David Lewis after participating in a forced five-mile march the night before his demise, Dr. David Sencer and his colleagues attributed the death to strains of swine-like flu virus. Upon the advice of specialists across the United States, Dr. Sencer called on then President Gerald Ford to launch a nationwide mass inoculation.

President Ford and the US Congress heeded the call and in October implemented the $137-million National Inoculation Program. However, after only several days of implementation, there were reports that the vaccine being used for the program made the patients prone to Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a rare neurological disorder which results to temporary paralysis but could be risky.

Prior to its premature end in December 1976, the vaccine was administered to over 40 million Americans comprising almost 25% of the population. From the over 500 people who experienced Guillain-Barre Syndrome after vaccine administration, 25 people died. As a result, the Federal Government paid millions worth of damages to the families of the victims.

Meanwhile, the epidemic which some experts predicted would affect 50 to 60 million Americans during that time never happened. According to the Center for Disease Control, there were only 200 confirmed cases and one death.

It is understandable why the current H1N1 outbreak has been a source of anxiety for the public who recalls the 1976 event. It serves as a lesson for the government and health officials who needs to make a decision on the current swine flu in the days and weeks to come.

Dr. David Sencer, who is now retired and resides in Atlanta, believes that the 1976 debacle brought good things as well as bad. The belief that the 1918-19 flu epidemic resulted from swine-like virus partly contributed to the 1976 setback.

Although current studies have shown that the cause of the epidemic was bird flu, it did not ease the current anxiety prevailing in the public. The 1918-19 epidemic led to the death of 500,000 people in the United States and more than 50 million worldwide.

In Mexico, where the 2009 swine flu outbreak, originated, 22 people have died from the most recent outbreak. Government officials have been under fire for the way they have handled the situation. However, with such a mystery surrounding the threat, Dr. Peter Katona, who is an authority on infectious disease from UCLA, believes that people have failed to understand the challenges posed by such problem.

Adolescent Pregnancy

Adolescent pregnancy in ninety nine percent of the cases is unwanted and is the major consequence of adolescent sexual activity, other than STDs. This issue has affected youth, families, educators, health care professionals, and government official. A study on the high school adolescents has concluded that forty eight percent of the males and forty five percent of the females are sexually active. One fourth of the high school students had sexual contact by fifteen years of age. The average age of boys is sixteen and a girl is seventeen, who have had intercourse. Ninety percent of adolescents, in the age range of fifteen to nineteen, say their pregnancy is unintended.

Seventy four percent of females above fourteen years and sixty percent of females below fifteen years have reported to have involuntary sex. Fifty percent of the adolescent pregnancies are within the time period of six months after the initial sexual intercourse. More than nine hundred thousand teenagers are reported to have become pregnant every year in the United States. Fifty one percent of the adolescent pregnancies result in live birth, thirty five percent result in induced abortion and fourteen percent result in stillbirths or miscarriages. Four out of ten adolescent females get pregnant, before they turn twenty, at least once. Twenty five percent of adolescent deliveries arent the mothers first child. When a teenager gives birth to her first child, she increases the risk of begetting another child. One third of the adolescent parents are themselves result of adolescent pregnancies.

There are many reasons why adolescents choose to become sexually active at an early stage in life. The reasons can be early pubertal development, poverty, sexual abuse in childhood, lack of parents attention, lack of career goals, family and cultural patterns of early sex, substance abuse, dropping out from school and poor school performance. Factors which discourage an adolescent to become sexually active are stable family environment, parental supervision, good family income, regular prayers, connectedness with parents and living with complete family and both the parents. The factors which are responsible for the consistent use of contraceptive among adolescents are academic success, anticipation for successful future, and involvement in a stable relationship.

There are many medical risks associated with adolescent pregnancies. Adolescents who are less than seventeen years are at a greater risk of developing medical complications, when compared to adult females. The risk is even more in teenagers below seventeen. The weight of the child, given birth by an adolescent, is very low in these pregnancies. It is usually below 2.5 kilogram. The rate of neonatal birth is also three times greater in adolescents, when compared to adults. Other problems caused by adolescent pregnancies are prematurity of the child, birth of underweight child, poor maternal weight gain, poor nutritional status, anemia, STDs and hypertension induced due to pregnancy.

Although there is an increase in the use of contraceptive methods by adolescents during their first sexual contact, only sixty three percent of the high school students have said to use condom while having sex previously. Adolescents, who use prescription contraceptives, delay their doctors visit until the time they become sexually active for over a year.

According to a research, youngsters who have participated in sex education programs which gave them knowledge about contraception methods, abstinence, sexually transmitted diseases and youngsters who involved in discussions in order to get a clear picture, used contraceptives and condoms effectively without any increase in sexual activity. The Center for Disease Control & Prevention has said that the solution for unwanted adolescent pregnancies and STDs are barrier contraceptive use and abstinence.

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