In the whole world the center of all news has been swine flu from April 2009. First cases were found in Mexico and a few cases of death have been reported. There is a concern among the health department officials as well as governments around the world whether swine flu outbreak is a pandemic. The question doing the rounds is whether this the great swine flu epidemic? There is a fear in the minds of people if it is similar to the flu pandemic of 1918 which killed millions and was as deadly as this one.
Clinical Studies have confirmed the cause to be the result of the H1N1 virus strain. It is a re-assortment of human influenza virus, avian influenza virus and swine influenza virus. The reassortment has proven to be tougher for the human immune system to counter.Swine flu symptoms that are seen among those infected include high fever, vomiting, cough, sore throat, diarrhea and muscle pain. Among the complications that may occur are pneumonia and respiratory failure.
The concerns about it’s spread worldwide have led the World Health Organization (WHO) to issue it as threat level of Phase V in its scale of six. As on 1st May 2009, there were reports of 176 people who had died due to the infection in Mexico. There were thousands who had reported sick. To avoid further outbreak and to help contain the spread schools, workplaces, companies and other areas were shut for some days. According to the report 145 cases of infection have been found in US alone. 15 other countries have confirmed cases of its occurrence. Nearly 4400 suspected cases are there altogether. The CDC feels that it may not be a pandemic or as severe as it was initially thought to be. This is because outside Mexico the cases reported have been mild and mostly treated successfully. Moreover the H1N1 strain is of poorly virulent type which means that it spreads slowly.
The major cause of concern for the WHO and others around the world is that they have been unable to develop an effective swine flu vaccine against this H1N1 virus strain. It may be ready only by June 2009. Moreover as the virus can easily spread directly from person to person through sneezing and coughing it is a bit difficult to easily bring it under control. With preventive measures being followed like frequent washing of hands, use of tissue while sneezing and coughing and avoiding contact with the infected persons the chances for its control seem brighter. There have been some recent reports from city officials from New York that the spread has not been beyond a few schools. Even in Mexico few relatives of swine flu victims have caught the virus. Federal health officials claims that the new virus are not so dangerous as the virus that caused the 1918 pandemic.
Though it is hard to point out if it’s an epidemic or not, it is better to prepare for the worse. Experts feel that there are lots of thing to know and understand and a thorough study is necessary. It is a collective effort on the part of the patients, the public as a whole, health departments and experts to work towards ensuring that thedeadly swine flu does not spread anymore and is contained securely. The new Swedish disinfectant, Smittstopp, disinfect forward in time and will be a great help.
