Swine Flu - Don't Panic

Many of my friends are calling today, worried about Swine Flu, what it is and what they should do to protect themselves and their families.

First, do not panic.
This is what we know:

There have been 20 cases confirmed in the US - NONE HAVE DIED, and only 2 were severe enough to be hospitalized

These states have confirmed cases of Swine Flu
• 8 in New York
• 7 in California
• 2 in Kansas
• 2 in Texas
• 1 in Ohio

Why the CDC is concerned

1. In New York, the 8 cases are all high school students from St. Francis Prep in Queens. Students from this school had traveled to Mexico City in the last 2 weeks. It's not yet known if the students with Swine Flu are the same ones who went to Mexico City or if they were infected by a classmate who traveled there. All of the students in New York are recovering.

2. The virus is the same as the one in Mexico, which is responsible for at least 16 deaths. You may have seen reports of 86 deaths, which was reported today by the Mexican Health Minister. The CDC has yet to confirm that all of those cases were conclusively caused by Swine Flu.

3. The Swine Flu has the potential to cause a pandemic, because it can be transmitted from person to person, which makes it serious, potentially life threatening, and needs to be monitored carefully.

What can people do:

Watch for flu symptoms and see you health care provider for

• Fever
• Cough
• Sore Throat
• Body Aches
• Headache
• Chills
• Fatigue
• Some people also have diarrhea and vomiting

Most important:
• If you are sick, see your health care provider, stay home, don't travel, don't go to work and don't send your kids to school.
• People may be contagious as long as 7 days after all symptoms have resolved (gone away).

Are there medications to treat?
• Tamiflu & Relenza - these are effective, recommended by the CDC and help prevent the virus from worsening and causing more severe symptoms. They can be taken as soon as symptoms start, or as soon as a person suspects exposure.

Prevention and Precautions:

•Good old fashioned hand washing with soap and water or an alcohol based cleaner
• Use a tissue for coughing and sneezing, and then throw them away
•Stay away from people who are sick

What about eating Pork?

Eating pork DOES NOT cause Swine flu. As long as you cook it thoroughly, it's still safe to eat pork.

I'll provide regular updates. Be well, and try not to panic. The Swine Flu can be a very serious infection, but there are few cases in the US and all of the people infected have recovered or are recovering. Stay safe by taking precautions.

Comments

[antaeus]

Anderson Cooper just ran a piece on transmission.

Wear gloves.

[roshni]

Thanks for being the voice of reason.

[Eve Tahmincioglu - Huffpost Blogger]

Unfortunately, workers can't just not go to work. More than 40 percent of workers have no paid sick time, and because of the economy employers who offered it are now cutting back. I blog about this at www.CareerDiva.net.
Many people get angry at people who go to work when they're sick, but alas it may end up being a major economic hardship for them.

[Patrik]

Secondary infection due to bacteria (pneumonia) true cause of death not flu virus:

http://www.newscientist.com/channel/health/dn14458-bacteria-were-the-real-killers-in-1918-flu-pandemic.html?feedId=online-news_rss20

[cstewart139]

The human immune system is your first and best line of defense against the
H1N1 swine flu. Your immune system is compromised daily by
chemical exposure due to air, water, ground pollution, and by
stress. Additionally the overuse of immunosuppressive drugs such
as steroid creams reduces your body’s ability to defend itself
against a viral infection.

The swine flu is a virus, and
antibiotics would not have any effect against it.

To help to protect yourself and others from the Swine Flu, your
immune system response may be raised to a significantly higher
level by the use of the following over-the-counter, immune
enhancing substances:

Beta 1,3-D Glucan 1000 mg per day 30 minutes before a meal
Beta 1,3-D Glucan is a highly purified and patented carbohydrate extracted from the cell walls of Baker’s yeast. Numerous scientific studies have shown that it dramatically increases phagocytic capacity—the ability of your innate immune cells to eat and destroy foreign intruders. Additionally it mobilizes hematopoietic progenitor (“stem”) cells

Thymic Protein A 4mcg (micrograms) per day

Protects against immune system deficiencies. Thymic Protein A is a polypeptide which is made by your thymus gland. It is a chain of 500 amino acids.

Vitamin C 2000-4000mg per day (2-4 grams) dramatically increases the power of your white blood cells to fight a virus. Also include a Bioflavonoid complex that includes Rutin, Hesperidin and Quercetin.

[kapalabhati]

I share the sentiments of many of the posters here. Thank you for your level headed report. This is indeed serious, but the "sky is falling" media are not reporting this as news. They are reporting it as infotainment.

[Barbara Dehn - Huffpost Blogger]

Latest news as of 1:30 Eastern, 40 total cases in US, 28 of which are from New York.

Why the spike?

Test results came back from more symptomatic high school students in from the same school in NYC, St. Francis prep,where the first 8 cases were found.

Now, we need to watch their families and any other people they came into contact with closely. I would assume (and this is an assumption), that their family, friends, and close contacts have been put on anti-viral medications, such as Relenza and Tamiflu and being advised to:
Wash their hands, use tissues and then throw them away, monitor for symptoms and not go out.

This virus can be contagious up to 7 days after all symptoms resolve, and may be contagious prior to overt symptoms.

We're not quite ready for the Haz Mat suits, but definitely need to be careful.

[joeythetrollslayer]

We are doing ok with this. People are getting sick but recovering. Remember this isn't 1918, or even 1976. We do have more knowledge and tricks at our disposal now.
I doubt you will see millions of people losing their lives to this.
No, it isn't good, but we'll get through this.
The first sign you get sick, call your doctor. Sometimes you can get a prescription over the phone.

[Kevin Harris 1]

Last year 36,000 people died in this country from the regular old seasonal flu. Nobody got excited about those people. Even if you look back at the pandemic of 1918, millions died, but a staggering almost 40% of the WORLD population became infected. The numbers differ depending on the source, but mortality due to the Spanish flu of 1918 is similar to the yearly flu we always see. The issue is how many will get sick? I had Influenza as a 12 year old and remember high fevers, weakness, and coughing my lungs up for a month. But truly I was only sick for a few days. Those a high risk are very young infants, and people over 70, or those with multiple medical problems. Calm down! Remember SARS, Avian Flu? People shared bath water in 1918. I myself, as a physician, use Purell and/or wash my hands 50 ties a day. Stay clean people. And if you have fever, chills, body aches, and are coughing, STAY HOME!

[AcidAlkalineBalance]

Thank you for an informative post Barbara.

I continue to be alarmed at the amount of toxins and viruses that we are being exposed to. It is only a matter of time before there is a pandemic outbreak (I pray this isn't it!) The foods we consume and the air we breathe is continually weakening our immune systems. Something must be done about this. Look at how our bee colonies are dying off (again largely due to man made toxins).

We must pray for a natural world again.

Lynne
http://www.acidalkalinebalancediet.info

[joeythetrollslayer]

It is the people who have the strongest immune systems ironically are the ones who die from these types of Pandemic flu due to this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cytokine_storm

[Barbara Dehn - Huffpost Blogger]

Roysc, This link is great:
http://bit.ly/vaC5

Thanks. I'm monitoring the reports and will be checking in with my local health department as soon as I get to work re: viral cultures turn around time and the pharmacy for availability of Relenza and Tamiflu.

[suejester]

Thank you for this simple breakdown. It would be nice if the news, went back to their roots, which was reporting information clearly and objectivety. Not just with this topic, but with all topics including the weather...

[jan4insight]

The clearest, most sane article I've read on this topic. Also very informative. Thank you.

[Roysc]

You may also want to read:
http://bit.ly/vaC5

[antaeus]

Would people please start wearing gloves again?

At least women can get away with it more often than men.