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We are ever more at a greater risk from various strains of the influenza virus than we have previously. First we had great concerns about bird flu, and more recently swine flu has become a major problem. Swine flu is a greater concern than bird flu. It was feared that bird flu may mutate into a strain that might infect humans, thankfully, apart from a few cases, this has not occurred.

Swine flu is of more concern, it has the ability to spread from person to person making it a very serious threat.  So what is swine flu. Swine flu, or influenza A (H1N1), is a disease that infects pigs, swine flu is the result of an influenza virus. Swine flu outbreaks in pigs is quite common but is rarely fatal. Swine flu does not usually infect people, but it can occasionally occur when humans have been in close contact with infected pigs.

Swine flu is very dangerous to humans because it is a new strain of virus. This means that no one has had contact with this strain before, which means no one has developed any immunity. With no built in immunity a virus can be life threatening, as our body is unable to fight the virus. Everyone is vulnerable, this includes healthy adults and teenagers as well as the young and elderly citizens.

Swine flu can easily result in a pandemic influenza situation. Pandemic flu situation occurs when an influenza virus develops that is dissimilar to previous influenza strains that few, if any, people have any immunity to. This lets the influenza virus to spread widely and rapidly in the population.

Ordinary flu and swine flu are different as explained below  Seasonal flu happens annually, usually in the winter. Approximately between 10 and 15 percent of people will be effected and the vast majority will recover with no treatment in about 1 to 2 weeks.

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

The symptoms of swine flu are similar to the symptoms of ordinary influenza. These symptoms can include a sudden onset of a fever, cough or a shortness of breath. Symptoms that may present themselves may include headache, sore throat, muscle aches, chills, sneezing, runny nose, appetite loss and tiredness.

So what precautions should you take. Anyone showing cold or flu symptoms should take some simple precautions. The flu virus is spread between people from the tiny droplets from the mouth and nose when someone sneezes or coughs. This is the way viruses are spread from person to person. Covering your face with your hands when you sneeze or cough is not effective enough. The germs remain on your hands, and everything you touch afterwards becomes contaminated. Other people may touch these surfaces and become infected with the virus. Therefore, always use a handkerchief or tissue. A tissue is better, this should be disposed of safely as soon as possible, try to always use a fresh tissue when you sneeze or cough again.

A vaccination against swine flu is not available. The vaccination for seasonal influenza is not effective in the fight against swine flu. When a vaccination is found, it will take many months to make, by which time the virus might have mutated again making the new vaccination ineffective.

The best precaution you can take against swine flu is Tamiflu. Tamiflu isn’t guaranteed to prevent swine flu, but when someone has been exposed to someone else who has the swine flu virus, it will help to stop the virus making a person ill. If Tamiflu is administered in the first 48 hours of contracting the swine flu virus, Tamiflu may help to stop the virus from spreading through the body, alleviating the signs and symptoms and risk associated with the virus. Governments are stocking Tamiflu, these supplies will be used to treat important workers and individuals before the population at large.

You can however buy Tamiflu online, so if the situation occurs you are able to protect yourself and family as much as is possible. It can’t be emphasized enough, Tamiflu does need to be administered as soon as possible to be effective, delays in treatment will diminish the effectiveness of Tamiflu.

Remember, swine flu is a worldwide danger. Should an outbreak become global it is possible that supplies of Tamiflu could be diminished and may possibly not be high enough to meet a large global demand.  Until such time that a vaccine is found and produced in the amounts required, Tamiflu is the only really effective treatment for swine flu, it would sensible to buy Tamiflu beforehand if you feel you or your family may be at risk.

Disclaimer: This posting is based on information available in {the popular#the} media and medical journals concerned with swine flu. Nothing in this posting is intended to be or should be taken to be any sort of medical advice. For medical advice you are encouraged to consult with your own doctor.

 

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