Swine Flu Symptoms and its cure
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What is swine flu?
Swine flu, also known as 2009 type A H1N1 flu is a human disease. People get the disease to other people, not pigs.
The disease was originally nicknamed swine flu because the virus that causes the disease initially jumped to humans from live pigs in which it evolved. The virus is a "regrouped" - a mix of genes from swine, bird and human flu virus. Scientists are still arguing about what the virus should be called, but most people know it as the swine flu virus H1N1.
The swine flu that normally extend between pigs are not the same as human flu virus. Swine flu does not usually infect people, and the rare human cases that have occurred in the past have mainly affected people who had direct contact with pigs. But the current outbreak "swine flu" is different. It is caused by a new strain of swine flu that has changed in ways that allow transmitted from person to person - among people who have had no contact with pigs.
Swine flu, also known as 2009 type A H1N1 flu is a human disease. People get the disease to other people, not pigs.
The disease was originally nicknamed swine flu because the virus that causes the disease initially jumped to humans from live pigs in which it evolved. The virus is a "regrouped" - a mix of genes from swine, bird and human flu virus. Scientists are still arguing about what the virus should be called, but most people know it as the swine flu virus H1N1.
The swine flu that normally extend between pigs are not the same as human flu virus. Swine flu does not usually infect people, and the rare human cases that have occurred in the past have mainly affected people who had direct contact with pigs. But the current outbreak "swine flu" is different. It is caused by a new strain of swine flu that has changed in ways that allow transmitted from person to person - among people who have had no contact with pigs.
What is swine flu? To be continued ...That makes it a human influenza virus. To distinguish it from the influenza viruses that infect mainly pigs and seasonal A H1N1 viruses that have been circulating for many years influenza, CDC calls the virus "2009 H1N1 virus". Other names include "novel H1N1" or nH1N1, "quadruple assortant H1N1" and "2009 H1N1 pandemic."
Many people have at least partial immunity to seasonal H1N1 viruses that have been infected or vaccinated against the flu virus. These viruses genetically "drift", so the flu vaccine has to be adjusted from time to time.
But the swine flu H1N1 is not the usual "drift variant" of H1N1. He came to humans from a different line of evolution. That means that most people have no natural immunity to the H1N1 swine flu. The normal seasonal flu shot does not protect against this new virus.
Some people who may have had the seasonal flu H1N1 before 1957 may have some protective immunity against the new virus. That's because seasonal H1N1 strains that circulated before 1957 (and they were replaced by the pandemic influenza virus 1957) were genetically closer to the swine flu H1N1 2009. This protection is not complete. While relatively few elderly people have had H1N1 swine flu, many of those who did contract the disease became seriously ill.
Treatments and drugs
Most cases of flu, including H1N1, only require symptom relief. If you have a chronic respiratory disease, the doctor may prescribe additional medications to help relieve your symptoms.
The antiviral drug oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza) are sometimes prescribed to reduce the severity of symptoms, but the flu virus may develop resistance to them. Some researchers recommend further study of these two drugs due to uncertainty about its effects beyond the initial reduction of symptoms.
To make development of resistance less likely and maintain supplies of these drugs to those most in need, antivirals are reserved for people at high risk of complications.
Most cases of flu, including H1N1, only require symptom relief. If you have a chronic respiratory disease, the doctor may prescribe additional medications to help relieve your symptoms.
The antiviral drug oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza) are sometimes prescribed to reduce the severity of symptoms, but the flu virus may develop resistance to them. Some researchers recommend further study of these two drugs due to uncertainty about its effects beyond the initial reduction of symptoms.
To make development of resistance less likely and maintain supplies of these drugs to those most in need, antivirals are reserved for people at high risk of complications.
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