Swine flu has caused worldwide panic and may have caused absolute ban on pork were it not for a quick massive information campaign. Even in the United and Europe, swine flu is little understood, and may have gone unnoticed without informed media campaign. Swine flu flared up showing symptoms pretty much like your average flu. What gets health authorities heads reeling is the utter unreliability of death figures. According to the US Disease Control in Atlanta, there have been 20 confirmed deaths in the USA, while the WHO (World Health Organization) in Switzerland says there are 40 in fact.
And you can’t keep the rumor from running wild: Today, even the relatively healthy people get infected, when in the past they said it’s just those with low immunity or those who have health problems to start with. The more disturbing development is that there seems to be a parallel between swine flue and bird flu virus infection symptoms.
What’s swine flu
The truth is, there are many types of swine flu viruses. The one that’s most virulent and famous is the SIV (Swine Influenza virus) which is naturally found in pigs. By 2009 SIV strains has embraced influenza C and the subtypes of influenza A, particularly H1N1. It is believed to have started in Mexico. And that’s where you have seen the worst cases.
Being a natural resident of pigs’ nostrils and respiratory tract, swine flu is therefore common all throughout the world. In the past it was widely believed that pig-human transmission is impossible and could never lead to influenza. If at all, the worst infection could only be a slight fever. Even if you ate pork, no infection could possibly happen. But why has it become rabid and fatal?
Why swine flue virus can kill
When you get infected by swine virus it’s not the virus itself that gets to you and causes the symptoms, according to experts. It’s your own immune system’s response that triggers the symptoms. So, babies and the elderly whose immune system may be weak, are likely to come down. The first phase is they develop symptoms of pneumonia and other infections. The elderly, especially, may exhibit worse symptoms as they have a history of past viral infections and they may not have developed immunity against these viruses.
What could kill young people and the elderly is when their immune system develops an extremely high reaction to swine virus. It leads to “cytokine storm.”
What is cytokine storm
Your own anti bodies attack your organs. Until today cytokine is little understood. What is understood, however, is that cytokines behave like your body’s hormones and they work to set up communication between your body’s cells. Cytokines also attack your nervous system that it makes breathing very difficult. You must have seen clips of swine flu sufferers having breathing machines by their side.
The great Spanish influenza of 1918 is said to be a forerunner of today’s wine flu. You should not wonder most fatalities at that time were young people. What makes swine flue scary isn’t so much its killer virus but the pandemic proportions they’re capable of.
But swine flu virus strains in Mexico, North America, and Asia are apparently not the same. The killer ones are reportedly contained. To keep them at bay, wash your hands every chance you get.
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