Pier 5 Condo

We are ever more at at more risk from various mutations of the influenza virus than we have been previously. First we had great concerns over bird flu, and more recently swine flu has manifested as a major health problem. Swine flu is of more problem than bird flu. It was feared that bird flu may change into a form that could become infectious in humans, apart from a few cases, this has not happened to date.

Swine flu is of much more concern, swine flu can pass from human to human making it an extremely serious health problem.  Swine flu or influenza A (H1N1) is a flu virus which infects pigs. Outbreaks of swine flu in pigs doesn’t usually infect people although it can happen occasionally.

Swine flu is a new type of virus and therefore is extremely dangerous to people. No one has been in contact with this strain previously, which means no one has developed any immunity to this virus. Without built in immunity a virus is life threatening because our bodies are unable to fight the virus. Absolutely everyone is susceptible, this includes healthy adults and teenagers as well as young children and elderly citizens.

Swine flu could easily result in a pandemic influenza situation. A pandemic flu situation occurs when an influenza viral strain develops that is dissimilar to previous influenza types that very few, if any, people have any sort of immunity to. This lets the flu virus to spread widely and rapidly throughout the population.

Pandemic flu is different from seasonal flu as follows.  ordinary flu occurs yearly during the winter, 10 to 15 percent of the population will be infected and the majority of people will recover in 1 to 2 weeks without treatment. Ordinary flu is generally only risky to elderly citizens and people with conditions that make them more open to complications from the infection.

A pandemic outbreak of flu affects far more of the population and up to half the population affected. Pandemic flu affects people of every age.

Swine flu symptoms are very similar to the symptoms of seasonal flu. These symptoms include sudden onset of a fever, a cough or a shortness of breath. Other symptoms that may present themselves may include headaches, sore throat, aching muscles, chills, sneezing, runny nose, loss of appetite and tiredness.

So what precautions can we take. First, anyone showing flu or cold symptoms needs to take a few simple, but very important precautions. The flu virus is spread between humans from the small droplets from the mouth and nose when someone coughs or sneezes. This is the way viruses are spread from person to person. Using your hands to cover your nose or mouth when you sneeze or cough is not enough. The virus remain on your hands, and everything you touch afterwards becomes contaminated. Anyone who the touches the same place as you will pick up the virus and then risks becoming infected. Therefore, always use a handkerchief or disposable tissue. A tissue is far better, the tissue should be disposed of safely as soon as possible, try to always use a new tissue when you cough or sneeze again.

A vaccination against swine flu is not available. The vaccination against seasonal influenza is ineffective against swine flu. When a vaccination is found, it can take many months to manufacture, and by that time the virus could have changed again making the new vaccination possibly ineffective.

The best precaution you can take against swine flu is Tamiflu. Tamiflu isn’t guaranteed to prevent flu, but when someone has been in contact with someone else who has the swine flu virus, Tamiflu can help in stopping the flu virus making you sick. If Tamiflu is administered within 48 hours of acquiring the swine flu virus, it may help in stopping the flu virus spreading through the body, thereby reducing the signs and symptoms and risk associated with the flu virus. Governments worldwide are stocking Tamiflu, these supplies will naturally be used in treating important workers before the general population.

however you buy Tamiflu online, if the situation arises you are able to protect yourself and loved ones as much as possible. Although it cannot be emphasized enough, Tamiflu does need to be taken as soon as possible to be effective, delays in treatment will diminish how effective Tamiflu is.

Remember that swine flu is a global danger. Should an outbreak become global it is a possibility that the supplies of Tamiflu may be diminished and may not be high enough to meet a huge global demand.  Until such time that a vaccine is found and manufactured in the quantities required, Tamiflu is the only really effective treatment for the swine flu virus, it is therefore be prudent to buy Tamiflu in advance if you think you are at risk.

Disclaimer: This post is based on information available in {the popular#the} media and medical journals concerned with swine flu. Nothing in this post is meant to be or should be construed to be medical advice. For medical advice you are advised to consult your healthcare worker.