Tag: Spanish Flu Epidemic

Don’t Touch That Pork: A Few Swine Flu Truths And

Don’t Touch That Pork: A Few Swine Flu Truths And Myths

With all the wailing and gnashing of teeth involved with the latest flu outbreak, I think it’s time we set a few things straight about the swine flu. Think of it as a little public service announcement just to shock some of you out of that panic and get you thinking straight.

First of all, pork is safe. Yes, I know it’s called swine flu but it’s nothing like mad cow disease. That’s why there’s a flu at the end instead of disease, of course. The disease spreads via the same way normal flu spreads: contact with a contaminated area or person then contact with either the eyes, nose, or mouth of the prospective infected. Cooked pork can’t possibly be ever infected because cooking and preparation make sure that the meat is clean and healthy for consumption. So, yeah, no need to worry about the ham and bacon in the supermarket.

Secondly, there’s a treatment. Zanamivir and oseltamivir are neuroaminidase inhibitors which is a fancy description of what they do; they’re a type of antiviral drugs that inhibits cell reproduction of viruses so that they won’t spread in the patient’s body. The Center for Disease Control has highly recommended their use for the treatment and control of the disease. Actually, if you find yourself sick, you can do initial treatment via the normal over-the-counter antibiotics that you use when dealing with the normal flu. These can help make the symptoms more bearable and help your body resist the disease better. Those and quite a bit of bed rest can go a long way to make you feel better.

Thirdly, it’s not gonna kill us all. Even at the height of the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic, with its more than fifty million worldwide death count, the human race wasn’t exactly in danger. Plagues and diseases have been a part of human civilization and history for years. Humans have a way of surviving and infections eventually burn out, one of the disadvantages of killing your hosts too quickly. The bodycount may pile high but no natural disease can eliminate the human species that easily. Besides, like I mentioned earlier, it is treatable and you can recover from it.

Fourth, it’s not that contagious. Okay, yeah, it’s contagious, but like all diseases it has its particular infection vectors and if you know those vectors, a disease can easily be avoided. In this case, swine flu it may be, but it’s still the flu. This means it spreads through the contact points I said earlier. Regularly washing your hands before eating is a step in the right direction and, also, not hanging around sick people, though that one should be pretty obvious.

Fifth, it’s still the flu. The description maybe a bit vague and the name exotic, but it’s still the flu in the beginning. You’ll know you’re from it the same way you know you’re sick from the flu: colds, coughs, chills, and fatigue. That’s the initial stuff though. If you were smart, you’d have taken your antibiotics and lessened the effects. If you’re okay after a few days, that was just the normal flu. However, if the symptoms persist, and you start to vomit or start to suffer from diarrhea, then it’s swine flu and you better call for a doctor.

Well, that’s all then. Hopefully, these bits of information help clear up a few things about the swine flu and help you to undestand the currect situation the world is in.

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.