If you look everywhere these days , let it be newspaper or TV, the word that you will come to listen is “Swine Flu “ .What exactly this “Swine Flu “is? .It is just like the “Avian Flu’ or commonly known as the “Bird Flu” which was there in talk few years back and we had to kill so many chickens and other infected birds to get rid of that epidemic. As the name “Swine Flu” suggest, this kind of flu generally spreads from the pig .Now you must be wondering ‘Why shall we, “the Humans” be so worried when this a Pig flu?” .The big answer for our worry is this that humans too can catch and spread this flu and this can be quite serious. Now the problem we are facing is that it’s a Global outbreak and as an update on June 17, 2009 update by the U.N.’s World Health Organization (WHO) 76 countries have officially reported 39,620 cases of this swine flu infection, including 167 deaths unfortunately.
The fear factor here is that the way it is spreading rather than the severity of the flu. The infection started spreading in Mexico. The outbreak was first detected in Mexico City on March 18, 2009. After announcing the epidemic officially Mexico sought help from U.S.A sending them strain samples of the infection for testing which was diagnosed as H1N1 virus epidemic spreading in Mexico. The Big question comes. How does the virus spread? Swine Flu viruses are spread mainly from person to person through coughing or sneezing of people with influenza. The common symptoms of the infection are fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. As a study suggests there is no effective vaccination against this infection at present. The centre for Disease Control in U.S.A suggests the use Tamiflu (olsetamivir) or Relenza (zanamivir) to treat or prevent it but the virus is getting more and more resistant to this medication
- The following measures can be taken to stop or avoid the spread Swine Flu-
- We can cover our nose and mouth when we cough or sneeze and throw the tissue in the trash after use.
- We should regularly wash our hands with soap specially before eating something.
- We should avoid going to crowded places especially marketplaces where we suspect infected person can be there.
Now, the unfortunate and the sad fact is that India too has “Swine Flu” infected people. Now the question comes how did it spread to India? It came from a person travelling from U.S to India. So far 16 infected has been detected, half of which has been in Andhra Pradesh alone who have responded to the medication and has been cured completely. The good news is that India is that India is in the “Grade 4 status” which means that the disease is not out of control .The message from the Government isn’t to panic . Why? Just because India is in containment stage and it’s not an epidemic here, Swine flu spread not out of control, Disease can be tracked and cured. So don’t worry if you have flu like symptoms. Visit your doctor and get the treatment as because “Swine Flu can be cured if detected in time”
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the use of face masks and boosting your immune system by taking lots of vitamin-C is still an effective way of preventing the spread of the Swine Flu virus.
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that worldwide antibiotic resistance is widespread and growing due to continued overuse and misuse of antibiotics… there has to be other options for concerned citizens.. Why not be proactive and Boost your immunity!