Although the name ’swine flu’ brings up a lot of extra fear and worry, it is impor­tant to note that
swine flu is just an influenza A H1N1 virus.

As the cases of
Swine flu infec­tions are on a rise in India the gov­ern­ment has issued its direc­tives on the deadly A (H1N1) human
influenza. The World Health Organ­i­sa­tion has already declared as the worst pan­demic in last 41 years.

Ori­gin

Swine Flu is a res­pi­ra­tory dis­ease, caused by a strain of the
influenza virus known as H1N1.
Although, H1N1 is the same strain that causes sea­sonal out­breaks of flu in humans, the lat­est type is dif­fer­ent as it is a mutated ver­sion con­tain­ing genetic mate­r­ial that is gen­er­ally found in strains of the virus that affect humans, birds and
swine (pigs).
What has hap­pened this time is that the flu viruses from humans and pigs have swapped genetic com­po­nents with each other, and evolved into a com­pletely new vari­ety – Hence the absence of any con­crete treat­ment plan for it.
Although the strain may have orig­i­nated in pigs, it is now a wholly human dis­ease and is being trans­mit­ted person-to-person.

Swine Flu Symptoms

Accord­ing to the CDC, like sea­sonal flu, symp­toms of
swine flu
infec­tions can include:

• fever, which is usu­ally high, but unlike sea­sonal flu, is some­times absent
• cough
• runny nose or stuffy nose
• sore throat
• body aches
• headache
• chills
• fatigue or tired­ness, which can be extreme
• diar­rhea and vom­it­ing, some­times, but more com­monly seen than with sea­sonal flu

Swine Flu High Risk Groups

With reg­u­lar sea­sonal flu, infants and the elderly are usu­ally thought to be most at risk for seri­ous
infec­tions, in addi­tion to peo­ple with chronic med­ical prob­lems.
Swine flu high risk groups, peo­ple who are thought to be at risk for seri­ous, life-threatening
infec­tions, are a lit­tle dif­fer­ent and can include:

• preg­nant women
• peo­ple with chronic med­ical prob­lems, such as chronic lung dis­ease, like asthma, car­dio­vas­cu­lar dis­ease, dia­betes, and immunosuppression
• chil­dren and adults with obe­sity

Seri­ous Swine Flu Symptoms

More seri­ous symp­toms that would indi­cate that a child with
swine flu would need urgent med­ical atten­tion include:

• Fast breath­ing or trou­ble breathing
• Bluish or gray skin color
• Not drink­ing enough fluids
• Severe or per­sis­tent vomiting
• Not wak­ing up or not interacting
• Being so irri­ta­ble that the child does not want to be held
• Flu-like symp­toms improve but then return with fever and worse cough

Swine Flu Symp­toms vs. a Cold or Sinus Infection

It is impor­tant to keep in mind most chil­dren with a runny nose or cough will not have
swine flu and will not have to see their pedi­a­tri­cian for
swine flu testing.

How to Get Swine Flu Treatment

Step 1: Call Your Doc­tor if You Think You Have Swine Flu

• f you are expe­ri­enc­ing flu symp­toms, and believe you may have been exposed to
  swine flu, con­tact your doc­tor imme­di­ately. They can take a swab of mucous and send it to the appro­pri­ate state lab­o­ra­tory to deter­mine if you actu­ally have
  swine flu.CDC: Guid­ance for Clin­i­cians & Pub­lic Health Pro­fes­sion­als Guid­ance for Clin­i­cians & Pub­lic Health Pro­fes­sion­als While the treat­ment you receive will depend on the sever­ity of your symp­toms, an accu­rate diag­no­sis will help your doc­tor prop­erly plan your course of treatment.

Step 2: Car­ing for Swine Flu at Home

• As of April 28, 2009, most patients with
  swine flu in the United States have been suc­cess­fully cared for at home. If some­one in your house­hold has
  swine flu, there are sev­eral things you should do.

1. Take pre­cau­tions to avoid spread­ing the dis­ease to any one else.
   1. Keep the patient iso­lated from the rest of the house­hold­CDC: Interim Guid­ance for Swine influenza A (H1N1)
   2. The patient should cover coughs and sneezes.CDC: Interim Guid­ance for Swine influenza A (H1N1)
   3. Every­one in the house should prac­tice fre­quent hand wash­ingCDC: Interim Guid­ance for Swine influenza A (H1N1)
   4. Patients should avoid con­tact with peo­ple out­side the home for 7 days after the first symp­toms appearCDC: Interim Guid­ance for Swine influenza A (H1N1)
2. Make sure the sick per­son gets plenty of rest and clear fluids.CDC: Interim Guid­ance for Swine influenza A (H1N1)
3. Although over the counter med­ica­tions may be use­ful in alle­vi­at­ing flu symp­toms, do not give med­ica­tions con­tain­ing aspirin to chil­dren or teenagers because of the dan­ger of Reye’s Syndrome.CDC: Interim Guid­ance for Swine influenza A (H1N1)
4. Ask the doc­tor if the patient, as well as other fam­ily mem­bers, should be tak­ing an antivi­ral drug.

Step 3: When an Antivi­ral Drug Should be Pre­scribed for Swine Flu

• Viruses can develop resis­tance to med­ica­tions used to treat them. The H1N1 virus is resis­tant to two com­monly pre­scribed antivi­rals, aman­ta­dine and riman­ta­dine. As of April 2009, Tam­i­flu and Relenza were still effec­tive in reduc­ing the sever­ity and dura­tion of
  swine flu symp­toms.The New York Times: Track­ing
  Swine Flu (April 26, 2009)

1. The CDC has issued guide­lines for which patients who have con­firmed, prob­a­ble or sus­pected novel
   influenza should be treated with antivirals:
   1. All hos­pi­tal­ized patientsCDC: Antivi­ral Drugs and H1N1 Flu (April 29, 2009)
   2. Chil­dren under 5, and adults over 65CDC: Antivi­ral Drugs and H1N1 Flu (April 29, 2009)
   3. All nurs­ing home res­i­dentsCDC: Antivi­ral Drugs and H1N1 Flu (April 29, 2009)
   4. Patients 18 and younger tak­ing long term aspirin ther­a­py­CDC: Antivi­ral Drugs and H1N1 Flu (April 29, 2009)⁴
   5. Patients who have chronic ill­nesses, such as chronic pul­monary (includ­ing asthma), car­dio­vas­cu­lar (except hyper­ten­sion), kid­ney, liver, hema­to­log­i­cal, neu­ro­logic, neu­ro­mus­cu­lar, or meta­bolic dis­or­der­sCDC: Antivi­ral Drugs and H1N1 Flu (April 29, 2009)⁴
   6. Immuno­sup­pressed patientsCDC: Antivi­ral Drugs and H1N1 Flu (April 29, 2009)
   7. Preg­nant wom­enCDC: Antivi­ral Drugs and H1N1 Flu (April 29, 2009)
2. Peo­ple in the high risk groups above, and their close con­tacts, may be pro­phy­lac­ti­cally treated with Tam­i­flu or Relenza to pre­vent
   swine flu. Pro­phy­lac­tic treat­ment should be con­tinue for 10 days after the last con­firmed expo­sureCDC: Antivi­ral Drugs and H1N1 Flu (April 29, 2009)

Step 4: Signs that Imme­di­ate Med­ical Care is Needed for Swine Flu

• While most U.S.
  swine flu patients to date have been suc­cess­fully cared for at home, there are symp­toms that require imme­di­ate med­ical atten­tion. These include:

1. Dif­fi­culty breath­ingCDC: Interim Guid­ance for Swine influenza A (H1N1)
2. Chest painCDC: Interim Guid­ance for Swine influenza A (H1N1)
3. Pur­ple or blue dis­col­oration of the lip­sCDC: Interim Guid­ance for Swine influenza A (H1N1)
4. Per­sis­tent vom­it­ingCDC: Interim Guid­ance for Swine influenza A (H1N1)
5. Signs of dehydration
   1. Dizzi­ness when stand­ingCDC: Interim Guid­ance for Swine influenza A (H1N1)
   2. Reduced urine vol­umeCDC: Interim Guid­ance for Swine influenza A (H1N1)
   3. In infants – lack of tears when cry­ing, dry dia­per­sCDC: Interim Guid­ance for Swine influenza A (H1N1)
6. SeizuresCDC: Interim Guid­ance for Swine influenza A (H1N1)
7. Con­fu­sion or other signs of altered men­tal sta­tus, such as being less respon­sive than nor­mal­CDC: Interim Guid­ance for Swine influenza A (H1N1)

Source : about, Zee­News

Ref­er­ences

1. http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/guidance/
2. http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/guidance_homecare.htm
3. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/04/26/us/20090427-flu-graphic.html
4. http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/antiviral.htm

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