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Tag: H1N1

  • Swine Flu Epidemic Hits Australia

    In 2009, the World Health Organization classified the H1N1 strain of influenza, more commonly referred to as swine flu, as a Phase 6 pandemic, the highest rating possible for such a virus. Thankfully, the pandemic only lasted slightly longer than one year, with the WHO declaring the pandemic over in August 2010.

    If Australia has any impact on WHO classifications, however, that pandemic label may be returning to the swine flu soon…

    So far this year, 21,000 cases of swine flu have been reported in Australia – more than double of the amount reported at this time last year, according to the Influenza Specialist Group (ISG).

    The ISG reports that around 20 to 50 percent of children will acquire the flu each season, with only 10 to 30 percent of adults suffering from the same fate. However, mothers tend to be specifically susceptible to the flu in Australia, most likely due to the constant contact with children and the large amounts of stress mothers face everyday, weakening the immune system.

    In fact, women are more susceptible than men, overall, to contract the sickness. The numbers show that females are 25 percent more likely to acquire the virus than men. One of the reasons this phenomenon may be so apparent in Australia is due to the fact that 70 percent of women in “The Land Down Under” are not vaccinated against the flu.

    Because of the dearth of people actually vaccinated against the flu, scientists and health professionals, including ISG chairman Dr Alan Hampson, are urging Australians to get vaccinated while there is still a chance for the immunity to take hold:

    If they haven’t been infected yet it’s never too late but there might be a very narrow window. I think people do need a while to acquire immunity. If they’re in a high-risk group or people who can’t afford to be infected then it’s worth while getting along to your GP and I’d suggest no later than this week.

    Dr. Hampson also stressed to not simply rely upon over-the-counter medicine to alleviate one’s aches and pains: “They’re not really having an impact in the infection in your body, they’re just suppressing the symptoms. So you really shouldn’t take those and then soldier on. It only stresses your body.”

    And, as always, wash your hands and avoid the source – large crowds of people.

    Image via YouTube

  • Flu Running Rampant; Blamed For Multiple Deaths

    The flu virus is causing widespread panic again this year, with the largest outbreak since the H1N1 “swine flu” pandemic that swept through the U.S. in 2009.

    Several deaths have already been reported nationwide this season, with 4 dead in Michigan and 5 fatalities already reported in California since October 1.

    The H1N1 strain has been one of the most deadly types of the influenza virus ever seen, and is now causing dozens of Americans to be placed on life support in the Michigan area.

    Adults and children are both being sent to the University of Michigan hospital in many cases for their need of the specialized life support being offered. Life support at University of Michigan Health System’s hospitals includes not only a ventilator, but also an oxygenation technology in which breathing can be done for patients who can no longer do so on their own.

    According to officials in Michigan, it appears that the most ill patients either did not receive a flu shot, or got one too late, already having been exposed to the illness. The flu vaccine apparently takes at least two weeks to be fully effective in fighting off the flu.

    Traditionally, the flu has been known to be most hazardous to small children and older adults, but the H1N1 virus is more common in teenagers and young adults.

    Doctors nationwide urge people to still get vaccinated, as the peak of flu season usually occurs in January and February.

    Main image courtesy Alcibiades via Wikimedia Commons.

  • Flu Widespread – And Expanding Like Wildfire

    The H1N1 flu started with just two states that were seeing widespread symptoms. Texas is one, and apparently the source of where this flu seems to have begun its wrath.

    Last week – the flu epidemic had spread to 10 states of severe illness and hospitalization.

    As of today January 3rd, there are 25 states that have reported epidemic proportions of illness and the flu season has barely begun. Those states that have claimed widespread (widespread means over 50% of geographic regions) symptoms include:

    Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington state and Wyoming, according to the CDC’s (Centers for Disease Control) weekly flu advisory report, covering the week ending December 28.

    Canada is seeing widespread flu as well.

    Thousands of people die every year from flu, which peaks in the United States between October and March, we’re not even halfway through this and we’re already seeing deaths and extreme illness, especially with the elderly and the young.

    “We are seeing a big uptick in disease in the past couple of weeks. The virus is all around the United States right now,” said Dr. Joe Bresee, chief of Epidemiology and Prevention in the CDC’s Influenza Division.

    Just in 2009 – 2012, the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, spread from Central Mexico to 74 other countries, killing approximately 284,000 people, according to the CDC.

    And what people don’t realize is that the vaccine, however safe it makes people feel, is not that effective.

    From Live Science: “Influenza is a mutating virus, and this feature is related to [its] genome structure; it has nothing to do with vaccines,” explained Mohammed Alsharifi of the Australian National University” who recently posted on PLoS ONE, an online journal. “[The concept of] antibiotic resistant bacteria cannot be applied to viruses.”

    While there is no vaccine for the current outbreak of H1N1 (swine flu), getting a yearly flu shot remains to be a good idea for everyone, not just the elderly. Yearly shots strengthen the immune system, providing at least a slight edge against new strains, because your body might recognize parts of that new strain.

    The best protection against antigenic shift is to keep live birds away from live pigs, since birds are the most common carrier of flu viruses …and from birds and pigs raised in cramped and stressful conditions that promote the spread of viruses.

    A vaccine or “flu shot” might make take the edge off of the flu, but it is not going to prevent you from getting this flu. Best to stay home to avoid getting sick, drink lots of vitamin C and fluids to build your immune system – eat right – and keep your hands clean.

    Image via Centers for Disease Control

  • Swine Flu (H1N1) An Epidemic In The U.S?

    The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) claim that the swine flu, known as H1N1 is spreading widely throughout the U.S. and has now extended into 10 states.

    This is the same flu that in 2009 was seen as a worldwide pandemic, which caused 12,000 American deaths. Apparently that flu, during peak flu season, has surfaced with a vengeance in parts of Texas and other northeastern and southern states.

    Health officials are still encouraging citizens to get a seasonal flu shot which after a couple of weeks will cause the patient to produce antibodies that will help fight off any exposure.

    The World Health Organization (WHO) are testing specimens of this virus and have discovered that 64 percent of these specimens tested positive for H1N1.

    The CDC reported that cases of influenza were widespread in New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Kansas, Wyoming and Alaska; last week, just four states reported widespread outbreaks. Twenty-three more states have reported regional outbreaks.

    A wife in Texas who lost her husband to the virus said: “You don’t think it would happen to you, you know. We always worried about my son getting the flu shot. We’re never really worried about the two of us because you don’t really hear about any of this, you don’t think it will happen to you.”

    The H1N1 is a flu that starts in pigs, and eventually spreads to humans. Pigs kept in unsanitary situations, who are sickly are more prone to contracting the flu virus.

    According to the Humane Society of the U.S.- Dr. Michael Greger reports: The H1N1 swine flu virus may be “the product of intensive farming.” Factory farming and long-distance live animal transport apparently led to the emergence of the ancestors of the current swine flu threat.”

    Further, In early analysis of the H1N1 swine flu virus from human cases in California and Texas revealed that six of the eight viral gene segments arose from North American swine flu strains circulating since 1998, when a new strain was first identified on a factory farm in North Carolina.

    Those little viruses are smart – they figure out ways to mutate until they can latch onto something. Medical labs creating vaccinations have difficulty keeping up with their forever-changing attacks. As soon as an antibiotic is created that can create immunity the virus, it has changed again.

    In mid 1998, all through a North Carolina pig factory farm – thousands of pigs fell sick. Coughing was the sound you heard when walking through those dark filthy corridors. That was the start of the new strain of swine flu – a human-pig hybrid virus that had picked up three human flu genes. By the end of that year—a hybrid of a human virus, a pig virus, and a bird virus—triggered outbreaks in Texas, Minnesota, and Iowa.

    It’s back now – and with an even stronger force.

    Until human beings learn that farm animals cannot be condensed as they are – hundreds of thousands of them per warehouse – we’re breeding trouble. Not only do they remain sickly, confined and miserable, it is a breeding ground for deadly viruses.

    It is only a matter of time before the predicted major pandemic hits the U.S. and the world, similar to the one in 1919 that killed millions.

    The precautions of course are keeping your immune system healthy by eating healthy – and avoiding people who are sick. Wash your hands regularly and stay home if you are sick.

    Image via YouTube