8/14/2019 What's the Deal With the Swine Flu-Mass Histeria

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What’s the deal with the Swine flu?

Ok so everyone’s heard about the swine flu (influenza) that’s been going around. Some people have theories about it, others make up stories about it and then some panic over 

the entire issue. A lot has been said regarding the matter but the fact remains, people are

afraid. Afraid to travel, to eat pork, to cough or be coughed upon (not that there’s nothingwrong with this one though) to say hi to one another and in general afraid of Mexicans!

(as incredible as it may seem). So then, what’s the deal with the swine flu? I’ll tell you

right now, lack of knowledge (because scientists are still studying this new strain),sensationalist media (giving out unconfirmed, often distorted facts), exaggerated mass

 buying of hand sanitizers! and face masks.

First of all I’m not criticizing the fact of taking due precautions and protecting yourself,

nothing wrong with that. But rather I’m appalled with the mass hysteria and chaosensuing from the whole issue. So let’s take a closer look at the swine flu virus, now called

AH1N1. If anyone’s been following the news, they’ll have noticed that the name f the

virus has been changed (but it is still a swine flu). Why did the scientists change the

name? In order to save the noble swine race from mass extinction at the hands of uninformed homosapiens. Anyone heard about the mass murder of swine herds in Egypt?

This was the measure implemented by the government in a harsh attempt to keep Egyptfree of the swine flu. But here is a more scientific answer, taken from the CDC; “further 

study has shown that this new virus is very different from what normally circulates in

 North American pigs. It has two genes from flu viruses that normally circulate in pigs in

Europe and Asia and avian genes and human genes”. So there you have it, it’s a mutant!

Truth be told, and has been confirmed by the CDC (Center for Disease Control, USA),

swine aren’t really to blame for what’s going on. So who’s at fault then? Humans are to blame of course. Most cases of infections have been from person to person and in some

cases from infected person to healthy swine, as it happened in Canada. Let’s take a look at the death toll for a moment. In the USA there have been a total of 896 laboratoryconfirmed cases, in the whole nation. How many deaths have there actually been? Two

deaths, yes only two (as of May 7, 2009). Healthy persons rarely succumb to the virus;

those who are really threatened by it are immune-compromised people, such as peoplewith HIV or any other sickness or condition that has lowered their immune system. And

also people 65 years or older, children five years or younger and pregnant women.

So what’s different about this AH1N1 flu virus and our normal seasonal flu virus? Wellthat’s a whole story to itself, involving proteins H and N, each with their various

numbers. That is the scientific response. Symptom wise, it causes the same effects as the

regular virus, headaches, fever, muscle pain etc. the difference lies in the fact that thisstrain of the flu virus also affects the gastrointestinal tract therefore causing diarrhea (loss

of fluid through feces). This can be really problematic in some countries which do not

have the appropriate medical facilities to help patients recover; as a result they have ahigher death toll. One has to admire the way the Mexican government and its people have

dealt wit the issue. The Mexican government called for a halt of the whole country

activities for a period of about 3 days. This way, people could stay at home until the

infectious phase of the virus had died out. The infectious stage of the virus lasts about 8

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to 10 days. In their own words the “CDC believes that this virus has the same properties

in terms of spread as seasonal flu viruses. With seasonal flu, studies have shown that

 people may be contagious from one day before they develop symptoms to up to 7 daysafter they get sick ”. It takes about 4 days for symptoms to show, after someone gets

infected.

So why are Mexicans being mistreated in some parts of the world (Heads up China)?First of all it has been proven that most of the lethal mutant viruses come from Asia,

where people tend to raise chickens and pigs together. Second, these viruses have their 

origins in wild aquatic emigrational birds. The thing is pigs (swine) are like a cooking pot. They get infected with all viruses, including the human ones. All these different

viruses then mutate inside the swine, and anything the swine get the humans can get also.

Humans and swine have a lot in common, regarding the function of organs and all. The

first insulin for humans was manufactured in pigs.

So in conclusion, you can get infected with this virus just about the same way you get the

regular seasonal flu. How infectious is this strain compared to the regular one? Scientists

are not sure yet. Viruses can only survive about 24h outside a host (human or animal) andonly do so in moist areas. Viruses are “backwards” DNA not bacteria, so antibiotic Do

 Not Work on them.A word on hand sanitizers people; they only work if you wash your hands with soap first.

If not, any particles of dirt, even if you can’t see them, will inactivate the sanitizer. So

wash up first.

The CDC has the following recommendations -

Take these everyday steps to protect your health:

•

Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw thetissue in the trash after you use it.

• Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze.

Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.

• Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.

• Try to avoid close contact with sick people.

• Stay home if you are sick for 7 days after your symptoms begin or until you have

 been symptom-free for 24 hours, whichever is longer. This is to keep from

infecting others and spreading the virus further.

You can get more information and updates at http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/

Remember stay calm and take care of each other.

By MR