The 2009 flu pandemic

June 17, 2009

Honestly, I’m a little bit scared about this swine flu, not just for my family but the whole populace. The dangerous part, it is very communicable because it is airborne. We can’t avoid mingling with people for our daily routine, schools, malls, bus, gatherings…

And now it is a global outbreak of a strain of influenza A virus subtype H1N1, identified in April 2009 in Mexico and commonly referred to as swine flu, which infects and is transmitted between humans. WHO officially declared the outbreak to be a “pandemic” on June 11, 2009.  But stressed that the new designation was a result of the global “spread of the virus,” not its severity. The WHO stated the pandemic appears to have moderate severity in comparatively well-off countries.
This virus has infected currently 36,000 with 76 countries and its growing every day.

The symptoms of this flu are  fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. A significant number of people who have been infected with this virus also have reported diarrhea and vomiting.  Also, like seasonal flu, severe illnesses and death has occurred as a result of illness associated with this virus.

How to avoid H1N1 swine flu

Just as with regular flu, there are some things you can do to avoid infection and minimize the spread of the disease:

• Cover your nose and mouth with a disposable tissue when you cough and sneeze and throw it away after using it.
• If you don’t have a tissue to hand, cover your mouth with the inner part of your elbow when you cough or sneeze. This will avoid spreading the infection to your hand and will minimize spreading the disease.
• After coughing and sneezing, wash your hands with warm water and soap. Rub both sides of your soapy hands for at least for 15 seconds and rinse with lots of water. If soap and water are not available, use alcohol-based disposable hand wipes or gel sanitizers.
• Don’t touch your eyes, nose or mouth because the germs spread very quickly.
• Wash your hands frequently –- the virus can live for up to two hours on surfaces like doorknobs and telephones.
• Eat a healthy diet including plenty of fresh fruit, vegetables and wholegrain foods –- a balance of these will give you minerals and antioxidant vitamins, such as vitamin C, which help to fight infections.
• Follow public health advice regarding school closures, avoiding crowds, and other social distancing measures.