Understanding and Preventing Swine Flu

Its not only been around the news, its around the globe. Swine flu is a disease of the pulmonary system that has resulted in the mutation of the virus known to cause influenza in pigs. It is a known Type A influenza virus similar to the virus that causes the regular flu in humans. The swine flu virus has mutated, as most flu viruses do, and is able to affect humans now.

Just as there are different types of influenza viruses affecting humans and animals, this time sporadic human infections has occurred worldwide. Infections of the swine flu virus in humans were thought to have occurred to people working closely with pigs such as those farmhands working in pigpens and pigsties and slaughterhouses.

Swine flu symptoms include the similar symptoms of the regular flu that infect human beings which include: fever, lethargy, anorexia nervosa and coughing. Other patients who have had swine flu describe having a runny nose, sore throat, vomiting and even diarrhoea.

Pigs are a source of meat called pork, and when news started spreading about the outbreak of swine flu around the world, one of the primary concerns was to know how the disease is spreading. Swine flu does not infect people by ingesting or eating slaughtered sick pigs with swine flu. It is perfectly safe to eat pork so long as the pork is cooked properly.

Swine flu is spread, first from pigs to humans. Humans who had direct exposure to pigs with swine flu have caught the disease. Pigs can also be infected by humans carrying the virus, making the containment of the disease very difficult. First patients of swine flu were suspected to be people working in pig pens and pig sties, or people visiting livestock exhibits and trade fairs. From the pig-to-human infection, the human-to-human infection is the next mode of infection the virus can take.

Transmission can also occur indirectly by touching an object or a surface laced with the flu virus as the virus can survive outside a host for a considerable amount of time. Just like the regular human flu virus, it can be spread by coughing or sneezing or kissing. By coughing or sneezing, the virus can be rendered airborne and infect the air of an enclosed space. After the virus is transmitted to a human, that human can carry and spread the virus for the next four to five days.

How would identify swine flu from regular human flu? Just by the symptoms alone would be very difficult, a lab test has to be done to culture the virus and be seen under a microscope. This is the only assured way that the disease is really swine flu and not just the regular flu.

You can use dietary supplements to improve your natural immunity. Vitamins and mineral supplements can be especially beneficial.

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This entry was posted on October 15, 2009 at October 15, 2009 and is filed under Adware & Spyware Security. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.