Swine Flu FAQ

Swine Flu (H1N1 Influenza) is about to strike. At the same time, countless people line up for a chance to take the Swine Flu vaccine. However, do they really need to? What is the problem with the Swine Flu and who should take the vaccine?

Swine Flu Virus is a new strain of virus against which our body has never fought and, thus, has no defenses. This means that the likelihood of serious complications is greater, especially in young people. This is what makes it different from the seasonal flu.

The swine flu vaccine was developed using the same technology used to develop a new vaccine for the flu every year. It is as safe as the standard flu vaccine; however, there are so many people wanting a shot and it has quickly shown to be less available.

Most people infected with the Swine Flu will have no complications at all and need no hospitalization. However, certain groups of people are at increased risk of developing serious complications, and those groups should be the first to take the Swine Flu Vaccine.

Children and pregnant women are the first in line. Children have an immature defense system and are the least likely to have ever fought the Swine Flu Virus; therefore, they are the least prepared. Pregnant women not only have a depressed immune system, but they carry the responsibility of two lives instead of one. And because the Swine Flu Virus spreads so easily, people who live or work with either of these groups are also recommended to take the vaccine, in order to protect them.

Health care professionals are also recommend to take the vaccine. This is not only to protect themselves (as they will be more exposed to infected people) but, most importantly, to protect their patients.

Finally, young people with chronic conditions, especially mental and respiratory diseases, should also take the vaccine. This is because they already have less defenses or a weakened respiratory track and because they are least likely to prevent or identify the disease in time.

If you belong to any of these groups, then you should take the vaccine. If not, you can wait until supplies are more readily available, because you are very unlikely to suffer any problem resulting from the flu. And if you already had the swine flu, there is no need for the vaccine at all.

Vaccines are often heralded has a panacea, a promise of healing before disease even strikes. However, this is not true for flu vaccines, especially for the Swine Flu (H1N1 Influenza) vaccine, which was met with a wealthy (not healthy) dose of criticism.

The reason why flu vaccines do not always work is because the virus is constantly mutating. A vaccine allows your body to block linkage between the virus and your cells, preventing it from infecting your body. However, the protein in the virus responsible for doing this link is constantly changing and you may be immune against a certain strain of virus and be infected by another.

For Swine Flu (H1N1 Influenza) a further problem was posed – this is a new vaccine, so how can you be sure it is safe? Well, flu vaccines are new every year. The technology used to make them has been proven to work and to be safe, so there is no need to validate each individual vaccine. Remember that a new flu vaccine is made every year containing the strains most likely to cause disease that year.

There is no more reason to fear Swine Flu (H1N1 Influenza) vaccine than there is to fear the annual flu vaccine – they are made in the same way using a valid technology.

A major concern is about the vaccine and pregnant women. Some pregnant women are afraid of the vaccine because it was linked to an increased likelihood of autism in newborns. However, I have two things to remind you: the flu is more serious on pregnant women, being more likely to kill both mother and child, and even if it doesn’t kill, the flu has been linked to mental diseases later in life for the fetus, a stronger link than that between the vaccine and autism.

When you are making the decision whether or not to take the swine flu vaccine should be your choice. You should weigh the risks and benefits and though I recommend you ask your doctor for advice, the decision should be yours.

The Swine Flu is in the news. Not because anyone really cares about people with body aches or fever. What makes this swine flu news-worthy is that it kills. The most important is that it leads to pneumonia which kills. But how?

The Swine Flu Virus, responsible for the Swine Flu (H1N1 Influenza), infects cells in your respiratory system. It enters these cells and uses the cells’ own mechanisms to produce copies of itself. When the cell is filled with the Swine Flu Viruses, the virus triggers a chain of reactions that lead to that cell’s death. The cell bursts open and the viruses are released to infect other cells.

Progressively, your respiratory cells die and your lungs are filled with dead cells. This has two dangerous consequences. These cells were supposed to protect your body but they are no longer there, so bacteria can easily cross that barrier into the blood and tissue beneath. But more importantly, the dead cells are excellent food for microbes.

Bacteria thrive in the remnants of your cells and as more cells die of influenza, more food there is for bacteria. And the bacteria grow, attracting your aggressive white cells. These cells will swarm to your lungs, releasing deadly substances that clog the fine tubes that compose your respiratory system.

As more lung tissue is clogged, less air reaches the blood and people start feeling breathless. That is the terrible fate of untreated pneumonia – people die by drowning as less and less oxygen reaches the blood and cells all around the body die of energy shortage.

You can see why the seemingly insignificant flu worries so much health care professionals. Picture a scenario where you body has no clue how to fight the specific virus infecting it. How much destruction could that virus cause that would feed bacteria?

That scenario is precisely what is currently happening with the swine flu, H1N1, a strain of virus our bodies have not encountered in the last tenths of years. And if we are not careful, the pneumonia-causing pneucomcocci will strike.

Swine Flu (H1N1 Influenza) is a new disease and it is threatened to become common as well. It is important that you recognize when you need emergency medical care and when you do not, or you will be clogging the system. And if people are clogging the system, when you really need emergency care you will not get it in time.

Swine Flu Symptoms are the same as with the normal flu: fever, sore throat, runny nose, body aches. The main difference may be in the intensity of the symptoms and in the appearance of symptoms different from those you usually have when you have the flu (for example, diarrhea if you usually do not have it when with the flu).

The main complication of Swine Flu is pneumonia. Pneumonia happens by bacterial proliferation inside your lungs. These bacteria, along with the dead remains of your own cells, clog the alveoli and stop oxygen from reaching the blood. This causes breathlessness which, along with pallor, fast heart pace and short breath should prompt you to search for emergency medical care as soon as possible. Pneumonia is a serious disease that kills hundreds of thousands of people per year, so you should respect it.

Another important symptom is nausea, especially if accompanied by vomiting. This can also lead to dehydration and any sign of dehydration is another indication to seek emergency care: dizziness, absence of urination, lack of tears when crying.

Seizures should prompt you to seek emergency care in any situation, but especially so in the flu. They can signal that the brain is being affected somehow, which is a serious matter because brain lesions do not recover.

Finally, in children you want to look for specific signs: unresponsiveness, confusion, lack of tears when crying, intolerance to any type of food, and not wanting to play are all serious signs.

There is no need to rush to the emergency room as soon as you detect a runny nose. However, if you or someone you know experiences any of these Swine Flu symptoms, you should seek emergency medical care.

Swine Flu (H1N1 Influenza), is getting ready to strike full force. As more and more people grow careless, the virus spreads its evil tentacles and prepares to launch a frightening pandemic that threatens to cause severe social, health and economic consequences.

This particular strain of the Swine Flu Virus is concerning health care professionals because of its behavior. Not only is this a new strain against which most bodies are not prepared to fight, but the Swine Flu Virus has continued to grow during the summer, when the Swine Flu Virus is supposed to lie dormant. Doctors are concerned with a viral boom when the climate is appropriate for its propagation and children’s summer break ends and the return to school halls, the perfect spreading vehicle for the Swine Flu Virus.

And while countless people wait in line for their chance to take the flu shot, the medical profession is unarmed to fight against this new virus. If you are infected, all doctors can do is help your body, they cannot kill the virus directly. Instead, the best action is to prevent the virus from spreading, which can only be done if each and every single person collaborates. That means you. If you want to avoid the Swine Flu, the best way is help stopping it.

Do not forget that you have an obligation towards society even if you choose to ignore your own safety. If you do not follow prevention recommendations it is not only your health that you are putting at risk but everyone else. In today’s world, filled with airplanes, intercontinental traveling and world-wide trade, a careless individual represents a threat to the entire world.

Do avoid public places. Do wash your hands and cover your mouth when sneezing. Do stay at home if you have flu symptoms. Do make sure your children follow these recommendations as well. Are these measures really that much of a trouble when compared with the risks of the disease?

You never know, maybe you will be a part of the first ever successful containment of a flu pandemic.

Swine Flu is an airborne disease. However, this does not mean that Swine Flu Virus is floating around in the air and there is nothing you can do to stop them. In fact, the Swine Flu Virus is very fragile and does not survive in the air for long – it needs to land quickly or it will die.

This presents a valuable opportunity to prevent the disease. Here are the solutions which you need to avoid for catching Swine Flu (H1N1 Influenza):

• Avoid touching things that many people touch, such as doors, buses and subways, or the virus will jump to your hands. Most people who have the flu have virus infested hands and anywhere they touch will be contaminated.

• Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth, or the virus in your hands will infect you jumping right inside your body.

• Wash your hands frequently. This will not kill the virus; however it will wash it away and leave your hands virus-free. Use simple soap and water (remember that the goal is not to kill the virus) and only use alcohol based scrubs when soap is not available. I hope you are starting to grasp the importance of your hands by now.

• When you cough, cover your mouth with your arm instead of your hand to avoid contemning yourself with your own viruses. If the virus stays in your arm it will not contaminate surfaces, nor will you re-infect yourself. How many times do you touch with your arm in anything as compared to your hands?

• Avoid handshakes and kisses. Kisses are like a rapid way for virus transmission. And handshakes just skip the need for a contaminated surface.

• If you have symptoms, stay at home. This may not help you, but it will help others.

• Use paper tissues and throw them away as soon as you use them. You don’t want virus growing there that will pass to your hands and re-infect you later when you finally decide to throw the tissue away.

• Avoid public spaces, especially crowded spaces where the virus can use the air to jump from person to person before dying.

The most important thing to keep in mind is your hands. Watch them and they will watch for your health.

Swine flu is an airborne virus. This means you can catch the Swine Flu just by breathing infected air.
However, there is no reason to be alarmed, because the virus does not survive for long in the air. Instead, it needs to rest on surfaces such as your hand, food, door handles, and other objects. The real danger is not in the virus floating around – it is in the virus that rests in convenient places where it can jump to your hand and then to your mouth.

Imagine the following scenario. A person infected with influenza coughs, but covers her mouth with her hands. The Swine Flu Virus is propelled from the throat through the hair and lands on her hands. There the Swine Flu Virus can survive. A few minutes later, she pushes a door to enter a bar and a few viruses jump to that door. Then another costumer enters the very same bar, using his hands to push the same door and some of the Swine Flu Virus stick to his hand. Later on that day, the guy scratches his nose with his hand and voila – the Swine Flu Virus jumps to this new host and infects him.

The hands are the main vehicle of transmission for the Swine Flu Virus. It is for this reason that the main recommendation to prevent H1N1 Influenza is to wash your hands frequently. Washing your hands does not kill the Swine Flu Virus, because it cannot be killed. Instead, it washes the virus away (and it eventually dies on its own), leaving your hands clean and free of contaminants.

Because the objective is not to kill the Swine Flu Virus, it is not necessary for you to use disinfectants. A good soap will do the job and it does not kill native bacteria necessary for a healthy skin. Only use alcohol-based scrubs when you do not have soap and water.

Another important measure to prevent transmission is using your arm to cover your mouth when you cough instead of your hands. Avoid touching things that many people touch and throughout the day avoid moving your hands to your mouth, eyes, or nose.

Avoiding the Swine Flu is not easy. But there is also no need to panic – though the Swine Flu Virus is airborne it is rarely transmitted by air alone. Watch your hands and you will be safer than most.

Swine Flu (H1N1 Influenza) is nothing more than flu. There is essentially no difference between the different seasonal flu viruses and the swine flu virus. They are all influenza and they all vary in the same components. So what is all the fuss about swine flu?

The swine flu virus is a very deceptive creature. It has two important proteins that allow it to infect cells – one binds to cells allowing the virus to infect them (hemagglutinin) and the other allows the virus to escape from infected cells in order to infect other cells (neuraminidase). These two proteins are also the ones targeted by your defense mechanisms and by doctors.

However, the virus is not stupid and it is constantly changing these proteins. So this year you are infected by a certain strain of flu, let’s say H5N2 (which has hemagglutinin type 5 and neuraminidase type 2). Your body develops defenses against H5 and N2. You are happy, because you know you will not be infected by H5N2 again, because your body will not even allow the virus to enter cells.

But when a new strain reaches your body, this time H4N2. Your body is unprepared – the flu will not be much intensive because you already have defenses against N2, but you will still suffer some symptoms due to H4.
Because we have been exposed to many types of H and N, most of the times our flu is mild and goes away easily. The problem happens when a virus which has a type of H and N against which you have never fought reaches your body.

That is the case with H1N1, the swine flu. The vast majority of the population (old people excluded) has never been exposed to neither H1 nor N1, which have not been around for tenths of years. Because of this, their body cannot react against this infection before it reaches alarming proportions with destruction of a large part of your lungs.

So you see, there is nothing really special about swine flu. The problem is in our own bodies – in the fact that we have never met this virus before and are; therefore, we are unprepared. For our bodies, Swine Flu is the same as a new disease. Fortunately for us, flu is a very old disease and medicine is more than ready to face this threat.

N95 Respirator can help you prevent Swine Flu. Before we introduce N95 Respirator to you, we would like to explain the different between Surgery Masks and N95 Respirators.

Surgery Masks
Surgery Masks (facemasks) are loose-fitting, disposable masks that cover the nose and mouth. These include products labeled as surgical, dental, medical procedure, isolation, and laser masks.

Facemasks help stop droplets from being spread by the person who is wearing them and keep splashes or sprays from reaching the mouth and nose of the person wearing the facemask. However, surgery masks are not designed to protect you against breathing in very small particles, which might contain viruses.

N95 Swine Flu Respirators
A N95 Swine Flu Respirators are designed to protect you from breathing in very small particles, which might contain viruses. N95 Swine Flu Respirators can fit tightly to the face so that most air is inhaled through the filter material in order to prevent you from breathing in the virus in the air. Healthcare workers, such as doctors and nurses, use N95 Respirators when taking care of patients with diseases that can be spread through the air (ie. Swine Flu Disease).

Now you have understood the different between Surgery Mask and N95 Respirators. We would highly recommend you to purchase our N95 Respirators to protect yourselves from Swine Flu.

FDA approved Tamiflu (Oseltamivir Phosphate), an oral anti-viral drug for the treatment of uncomplicated influenza in patients one year and older whose flu symptoms have not lasted more than two days. This product is approved to treat Type A and B influenza; however, the majority of patients included in the studies were infected with type A, the most common in the U.S.  Efficacy of Tamiflu in the treatment of influenza in subjects with chronic cardiac disease and/or respiratory disease has not been established.

Tamiflu is also approved for the prevention of influenza in adults and children aged one year and older.  Efficacy of Tamiflu for the prevention of influenza has not been established in immunocompromised patients.

Tamiflu’s Side Effects / Adverse Reactions
The most common side effects of Tamiflu are nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Sometimes  people report getting headaches when they take Tamiflu. 

In 2005, Japanese media released reports that young people taking Tamiflu exhibited abnormal behavior. It was reported that Tamiflu was linked to 64 cases of psychological disorders and 2 teenage suicides.

After the Japanese reports, the FDA conducted a review of data regarding pediatric use of Tamiflu.  The FDA gave Tamiflu a clean bill of health.  FDA was “unable to conclude that there is a causal relationship between Tamiflu and the reported pediatric deaths”.