Katt Mollar asked:


nza, commonly known as the flu, is a respiratory illness caused by viruses. There are many different types of flu, from swine flu to the most feared avian flu. This article, however, deals only with the so-called common or seasonal flu. The flu season usually starts in the fall and subsides in late spring. Because of its seasonality, the flu season differs between the Northern and the Southern hemisphere.

On the global scale, flu can affect tens of millions of people and cause 250,000 to 500,000 deaths each year. The United States CDC gives the following statistics. Yearly 5 to 20% of the population get the flu, 200,000 cases are hospitalized due to severe flu complications and 36,000 cases prove to be fatal. Annual healthcare costs approaches US$10 billion

THE FLU is caused by types A, B and C. Each type consists of different subtypes and substrains with A and B being responsible for most epidemics.

(1) Influenza A viruses are of subtypes based on two proteins on the surface of the virus: the hemagglutinin (H) and the neuraminidase (N). The current subtypes of influenza A viruses in humans are A (H1N1) and A (H3N2).

(2) Influenza B viruses do not have subtypes but can be further broken down into different strains.

(3) Influenza C seems to be relatively benign compared to the first two and is not as contagious.

Like many viruses, influenza viruses change with time producing new strains each season. This change occurs by antigenic drift or shift.

(1) Antigenic drift is slow and can lead to new strains after several seasons and is the typical change observed in influenza type B viruses but can also occur in type A.

(2) Antigenic shift happens abruptly and creates a major change that can lead to a new subtype but only occurs in type A.

The influenza viruses attack the epithelial cells lining the respiratory tract starting from the nose, throat, and down to the lungs. They do this by binding using hemagglutinin and neuraminidase proteins on the cells’ surface.

Influenza symptoms may be mild to severe to life-threatening. Symptoms can include high fever, headache, chills, sore muscles, fatigue, dry cough, red, watery eyes, sore throat and runny or stuffy nose. The so-called “tummy flu” symptoms may also occur in children, which include abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea.

The flu symptoms shouldn’t be confused with the ordinary cold, which is another respiratory illness. A cold usually doesn’t cause high fever, muscle pains or stomach symptoms.

The incubation period of the flu can vary from a few days to a week. During this “asymptomatic period”, the infected person is already a carrier of the disease and is therefore highly contagious. The flu can last from a few days to less than two weeks. However, in certain cases, complications can develop which are potentially life-threatening. Some of these complications are bronchitis, pneumonia, sinusitis, and ear infections. Anybody can get the flu but those who are highly susceptible to the flu are young children, the elderly and those with existing chronic health conditions and weakened immune systems.

Flu is very contagious. Direct transmission occurs from person to person via droplets that are released when a person coughs or sneezes. Indirect transmission happens when droplets from an infected person are transferred to inanimate objects, which are then touched by another person.

Flu-like symptoms can also occur with many other diseases. It is therefore sometimes difficult for doctors to diagnose the illness. There are many laboratory tests which can confirm whether a person has the flu or not but they cost money and time and are therefore impractical. However, in times of outbreaks and epidemics, it is important to perform tests. Usually, flu cases are diagnosed based on tests performed in a few individuals within a group. If one or two persons test positive for the flu in a closed environment, then the likelihood of subsequent illnesses within the group as being flu is rather high. Samples for flu testing are usually secretions from the nose and the throat, collected either by sterile swab, nasal wash, or aspiration. There are rapid influenza tests which can give results in 30 minutes. The tests are 70% sensitive in detecting the flu and are prone to false negatives. Another alternative is the more reliable but time consuming viral culture which takes about 3 to 10 days.

Several antiviral pharmacological agents have been approved for the treatment of the flu. Because of the seasonal changes in the types and strains of influenza viruses the recommended anti-flu drugs may change. This season, Tamiflu is the choice for treatment and chemoprophylaxis of persons aged 1 year and older and Relenza is approved for treatment of persons aged 7 years and older. Currently, the CDC discourages the use of previously used anti-flu drugs such as Amantadine and Rimantadine because the current circulating strains of flu viruses are resistant to these drugs.

The ultimate preventive measure against the flu is vaccination. However, again due to the constantly changing nature of the influenza viruses, flu vaccines do not afford 100% and lifetime immunity against the flu. Each season, flu vaccines are updated by adding strains collected and identified from the previous season. Flu vaccines contain different strains of the influenza types A and B but not type C.

Based on the 2005 guidelines of the Federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), annual flu shots are recommended for children aged 6 months to 5 years old and adolescents up to 18 years old. Vaccination is also highly recommended for people in key professions which may expose them to the infection and spread it to others. These include health care professionals and those working and living in closed units such as dormitories. Flu shots are usually given prior to flu season and afford protection for about a year. However, it takes about two weeks before the protection kicks in.

Over the years, several types of flu vaccines have been developed.

(1) The intranasal vaccine is the live, attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) made from living but weakened flu viruses. LAIV is prescribed for people aged 2 to 49 years old. LAIV should not be given to pregnant women, children under 2 years old, adults above 40 years old, and chronic medical conditions including compromised immune system disorders.

(2) The inactivated vaccine, the common flu shot is made from different strains of killed flu viruses. This vaccine is recommended for children from 6 months to 18 years old as well as those older than 50 years old. In addition, people who are not qualified to receive LAIV (as listed above) are recommended to have this vaccine.

Like all pharmacological agents, flu shots can have some side effects. Most of these side effects are mild. Rare severe side effects, mainly in the form of allergic reactions have been reported.

Some inactivated flu vaccines have contained thimerosal in the past, a form of mercury used as preservatives for vaccines. In recent years, there have been concerns about the link between thimerosal and autism in children. This controversy continues although no ample scientific evidence is available to prove this link.

Perhaps the main shortcoming of the flu shot is its efficacy, which is highly dependent on how well the vaccine is matched to the circulating influenza viruses of that season. For this reason, the efficacy of the vaccine in protecting healthy adults from the flu is only 70 to 90% and even less in children and the elderly.

The Global Influenza Surveillance Network (GISN) was set up in 1952 and currently includes more than 110 laboratories in 83 countries. It has recently set up FluNet, a web-based tool for surveillance, reporting, and alert mechanisms. The European Influenza Surveillance Scheme (EISS) issues a weekly report on influenza activity in 30 countries. It collects data from a network of more than 25,000 sentinel doctors covering a total population of 498 million people in Europe. In the US, the CDC is responsible for national influenza surveillance and is dependent on reports from more than 1500 sentinel doctors.

Google Flu Trends, being the new kid on the block, claims that it can estimate flu activity up “to two weeks faster than traditional flu surveillance systems” and bases its predictions on the number of people searching for flu-related topics. Actually its data compared well with the CDC’s. Google is now working together with the CDC in flu surveillance and their work has been published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature. Google Flu Trends also presents the data in graphs, maps, and animations which are easy to comprehend by the general public.

Don’t forget the CDC’s initiative “Take 3″ Steps To Fight The Flu; take time to get a flu vaccine, take everyday preventive actions and take flu antiviral drugs if your doctor recommends them.

And if you are still unlucky and get the flu, stay home from work or school including limiting contact with others, wash your hands often with soap and water and avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth.

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Clive Jenkins asked:


Avian bird flu, a viral disease, also termed as bird flu, avian influenza, type A flu or genus. This flu is a kind of influenza hosted by birds but can affect other animals and particularly humans also. The virus in general is the influenza virus ‘A’ but is a bit different every time the flu breaks out, because of the evolutionary changes it keeps undergoing. New viruses keep getting formed because of genetic mutation and are named using a H number and an N number, which denote different pathogenic profiles. Some of those ones which for sure affect human populace and did so in the past are, H1N1 (Spanish flu, 1918-19) H2N2 (Asian flu, 1957-58), H3N2 (Hong Kong flu, 1968-69), etc. Some of those identified are extinct now because of the constant mutations taking place in the structure of the virus which self destructs its capabilities to infect humans anymore. Also new viruses have come up and currently the major pandemic (epidemic over a wide geographical area) threat is from H5N1 virus.

It was first discovered in Italy in 1878 and was even called fowl plague because of the enormity of its effect in chicken livestock. It was however only in 1955 when avian flu was confirmed to be caused by influenza A viruses. Wild fowl is the natural carrier of the virus, though it is not affected by the virus and is only a transmitter to birds, pigs, horses, etc. The bodies (intestines to be more specific) of gulls, waterfowls and shorebirds are said to be “natural reservoirs” of the disease. Their bodies have long adapted to the problem and have developed internal antibodies to combat the virus. The adaptation, however, does not extend to other species. Hence domestic birds are the most affected and other animals and humans are only marginally affected, in numbers. The bird flu virus causes two forms of influenzas, namely, a low pathogenic form which shows only nominal symptoms and a high pathogenic form which affects internal organs and might prove 100% fatal in 48 hours.

The disease is contagious and spreads through air and in manure. The transmission occurs from air, contaminated water, equipments especially those used in animal farms, clothing, etc. At high temperatures the virus gets destroyed, like in prolonged summers, cooking, steaming, fires, etc. but survives for long periods in cold weather. The bird flu virus starts showing its effects in 3 to 5 days, and can be fatal if highly pathogenic. Hundreds and millions of birds get killed every year, since the most commonly practiced way of eliminating the virus is to slaughter the infected animals.

It has a long history of affecting human population in epidemic form. Those subtypes which infect humans are called human influenza virus. The only known ones are H1N1, H1N2 and H3N2, with H5N1 having a potential threat. The symptoms shown in humans are same as those from other influenza, namely, fever, cough, muscle fatigue, conjunctivitis and sometimes breathing problems and fatal pneumonia. Detection of the avian bird flu virus in the human body can be done using general influenza virus tests, but this might be unreliable. The most reliable test till date is microneutralization but is a complicated test and can be performed only in highly professional laboratories. Normal antiviral drugs work against the human influenza virus but other specific drugs for specific new viruses are being developed.

As far as humans are concerned, the bird flu virus has substantial risk of an influenza epidemic in near future. A primary concern is the rapid spreading of the virus



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michael Webster asked:


Alert-Potentially Deadly Swine Flu spreading throughout the U.S.

 

By Michael Webster: Syndicated Investigative Reporter. April 25, 2009 at 11:30 PM PST.

 

Deadly Swine flu has panicked Mexico and is spreading to the USA. Hundreds of Americans have come down with the symptoms and as we as a nation hit somewhere between 100 to  2,000 confirmed deaths by the Pandemic the world as we know it well change dramatically. In Mexico with under one hundred deaths and two thousand infected reported the Mexican government has closed schools and all other public gatherings and soldiers are patrolling the streets after it was confirmed that human to human transmission is occurring and that the virus is a brand new strain which is seemingly affecting young, healthy people the worst, and that the bug is a never-before-seen intercontinental mixture of human, avian and pig viruses from America, Europe and Asia.

The influenza strain that has struck Mexico and the United States involves, in many cases, a never-before-seen strain of the H1N1 virus. The flu virus is notorious for its ability to mutate and evolve new features that allows it to escape the immune defense systems of its victims. The appearance of new flu strains is therefore a perennial problem for doctors and scientists.

Experts warn that it may be too late to contain the new outbreak, given how widespread the known cases are. If the confirmed deaths are the first signs of a pandemic, then cases are probably incubating around the world by now, said Dr Michael Osterholm, a flu expert at the University of Minnesota.

According to at least one government source the U.S. Government is on the verge of limiting airline flights into the country and forbidding all major public gatherings and that will include closing schools nationwide. The U.S. Government is expected to close the borders and if you’re an American traveling over seas you better head home now as soon even Americans will be barred from entering the country and returning home.

Wide spread quarantines and curfews are expected with National Guard patrolling the streets in America. Much of the Patriot Act shell be implemented and emergency presidenual executive orders to be signed into law to control the people.

Closely held information indicates that this virus may be a synthetic creation and are already manifesting among humans.

Mexican army officer claims the Mexican government believes this virus may have been introduced deliberately by so far unknown sources.

According to medical experts the virus is a very dangerous and deadly “never-before-seen form of the flu that combines pig, bird and human viruses” which consists of an intercontinental mix of viruses from North America, Europe and Asia and there is no known effective vaccine.

Paul Joseph Watson of Infowars is reporting that the “CDC officials detected a virus with a unique combination of gene segments that have not been seen in people or pigs before,” according to AP.

“This strain of swine influenza that’s been cultured in a laboratory is something that’s not been seen anywhere actually in the United States and the world, so this is actually a new strain of influenza that’s been identified,” said Dr. John Carlo, Dallas Co. Medical Director.

Watson further reports that alarming reports are now filtering in about people catching the illness who have had no contact with pigs whatsoever. These include a man and his daughter in San Diego County, a 41-year-old woman in Imperial County and two teenagers in San Antonio, Texas. In fact, in all U.S. cases, the victims had no contact with any pigs.

Dr. Wilma Wooten, San Diego County’s public health officer, told KPBS “We have had person-to-person spread with the father and the daughter,” says Wooten, “And also with the two teenagers in Texas, they were in the same school. So that also indicates person-to-person transfer.”

“Dr. Wooten says it’s unclear how people were exposed to swine flu. She says none of the patients have had any contact with pigs”.

The panic  spreading in Mexico, where over a 1000 cases of pneumonia in the capital alone are suspected to be related to the swine flu and the virus, has hit young and healthy people, which is very rare with a flu outbreak. Despite the danger of a pandemic, the U.S. border with Mexico remains open but ICE and U.S. military is on stand by alert should circumstances change and could close the border within the next few days.

The U.S. Government fears that there will be rioting in the streets of Mexico with Mexicans rushing to the hospitals making the situation dyer and people of Mexico panicking and coming north by the millions for medical attention, food and water.

Mexico had less then a hundred deaths attributed to the virus when they started shutting down their schools and museums and canceled hundreds of public events in its sprawling, overcrowded capital of 20 million people to try to prevent further infections,” Reports Reuters.

“My level of concern is significant,” said Dr. Martin Fenstersheib, the health officer for Santa Clara County. “We have a novel virus, a brand-new strain that’s spreading human to human, and we are also seeing a virulent strain in Mexico that seems to be related. We certainly have concerns for this escalating.”

Watson continues by stating the WHO insists that the outbreak has “pandemic potential”, known generically as oseltamivir, a pill that can both treat flu and prevent infection, according to officials.

Those that have a stake in the Tamiflu vaccine include top globalists and BIlderberg members like George Shultz, Lodewijk J.R. de Vink and former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

Rumsfeld played   a key role in hyping an outbreak of swine flu back in the 1976 when he urged the entire country to get vaccinated. Many batches of the vaccine were contaminated, resulting in hundreds of sick people and 52 fatalities.

The fact that the properties of the strain are completely new, that the virus is spreading from people to people, and that the young and healthy are being hit worst, has disturbing parallels to the deadly 1918 pandemic that killed millions.

It is unclear as to why, if the virus is a brand new strain, that public health officials are so confident programs of mass vaccination, which are already being prepared, would necessarily be effective.

It certainly wouldn’t be the first time that deadly flu viruses have been concocted in labs and then dispatched with the intention of creating a pandemic.

Last month Czech newspapers questioned if the shocking discovery of vaccines contaminated with the deadly avian flu virus which were distributed to 18 countries by the American company Baxter were part of a conspiracy to provoke a pandemic.

Watson warns in is article that since the probability of mixing a live virus biological weapon with vaccine material by accident is virtually impossible, this leaves no other explanation than that the contamination was a deliberate attempt to weaponize the H5N1 virus to its most potent extreme and distribute it via conventional flu vaccines to the population who would then infect others to a devastating degree as the disease goes airborne.

However, this is not the first time that vaccine companies have been caught distributing vaccines contaminated with deadly viruses.

In 2006 it was revealed that Bayer Corporation had discovered that their injection drug, which was used by hemophiliacs, was contaminated with the HIV virus. Internal documents prove that after they positively knew that the drug was contaminated, they took it off the U.S. market only to dump it on the European, Asian and Latin American markets, knowingly exposing thousands, most of them children, to the live HIV virus. Government officials in France went to prison for allowing the drug to be distributed. The documents show that the FDA colluded with Bayer to cover-up the scandal and allowed the deadly drug to be distributed globally. No Bayer executives ever faced arrest or prosecution in the United States.

Infowars reported yesterday that the last time there was a significant outbreak of a new form of swine flu in the U.S. it originated at the army base at Fort Dix, New Jersey.

The Guardian is reporting that there is no vaccine specifically protects against swine flu and it is unclear how much protection current generic vaccines might offer. A version genetically matched to the new swine flu virus has been created by the US Centers for Disease Control, said Dr Richard Besser, the agency’s acting director. However, it could take months to create enough supplies for mass vaccination programs - if governments decide vaccine production is necessary.

Health officials strongly urge Americans to stay at home avoid crowds and hospitals, wash your hands, mouth and nose several times a day and wear at least a cloth face mask.

Related articles at: www.lagunajournal.com and www.usborderfirereport.com



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Wendy Stenberg-Tendys asked:


The threat of a pandemic is sweeping the world, through a new strain of swine flu. Many deaths have been recorded in Mexico. Several other countries also have suspect cases reported, from as far apart as France, Hong Kong, Canada, Israel and New Zealand.

Caused by type A influenza Swine flu, is a respiratory disease. Studies have shown that the swine flu H1N1 is common throughout pig populations worldwide, with 25% of all animals displaying antibody evidence of having the disease.

Swine flu viruses do not usually affect human beings. However, the current swine flu has a deadly mixture of a gene segment from bird flu, a segment from human flu, plus two genes from pig flu. Pigs are known to be the world’s best ‘mixing bowls’. This totally unknown virus is causing extreme concern, as humans have no immunity to the disease.

Swine flu can’t be contacted through eating pork products, however human-to-human infections are happening, without the victims having any contact with infected animals.

Here are simple precautions you need to use to provide self-protection against the threatened pandemic:

Make sure you cover your nose and mouth if you sneeze or cough. Ensure you get rid of the tissue in the rubbish can after you use it. Keep a mask handy in case anyone sneezes or coughs around you.

Just one sneeze thrusts 100,000 droplets into the air at around 90 mph, landing on everything around you. British researchers have found that in a subway train during rush hour, as many as 10% of all commuters can come in contact with the spray and residue from just one sneeze. 150 commuters may become ill from one uncovered sneeze, or cough. The rush of air from a cough travels at speeds of nearly 600 mph.

Always wash your hands frequently, for up to 20 seconds, with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Always wash your hands thoroughly prior to eating and whenever possible do not eat with your hands.

It is estimated over 80% of all infections are spread by hands. If you are not able to wash your hands, resort to using hand-sanitizers with 60% alcohol content. These are available in handy pocket size containers.

Attempt to avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth and definitely avoid kissing on the cheeks.

Germs are passed more quickly that way than any other method of transmission.

Try to stay away from sick people. Isolation and keeping your distance are your most efficient protective measures. If you get sick, stay home from work or school and limit contact with other people, to keep them from becoming infected. Keep aware and recognize any abnormal symptoms. If you are in doubt, go and seek professional advice. Make sure you eat well, be careful of your sleep habits and take regular exercise. Increase your daily dose of vitamin C and practice good hygiene.

Swine flu can be treated. Though it is resistant to two of the four drugs approved for treating flu, two new arrivals, Tamiflu and Relenza have proven to be successful.

Mexico houses hundreds of industrial-scale hog facilities, known as ‘confined animal feeding operations’, where pigs are packed tightly in rows. Thousands of pigs are confined to indoor pens and grain-fed for market. Breeding sows are held in small metal crates where they spend the major part of their lives pregnant, or feeding a new litter of piglets. Up until now, Mexican hog workers, infected with swine flu, have rarely been the cause of infecting other humans, except for close family members.



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SenJohnCornyn asked:

The most up-to-date information on the swine flu and how you can protect yourself and your family is available on Sen. Cornyn’s website, www.cornyn.senate.gov.

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CheekTV asked:

Info Swine Influenza: www.aboutswineflu.org World Health Organisation (WHO) www.who.int How can I protect myself from swine influenza from infected people? In the past, human infection with swine influenza was generally mild but is known to have caused severe illness such as pneumonia For the current outbreaks in the United States and Mexico however, the clinical pictures have been different. None of the confirmed cases in the United States have had the severe form of the disease and the …

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HeiniSchiller asked:

Worldwide Pandemic Fear about Swine Flu - Key developments on swine flu outbreaks, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization, and government officials: _Deaths: 149, all in Mexico, 20 confirmed as swine flu and rest suspected. _Sickened: 1995 people in Mexico got pneumonia but swine flu not yet confirmed. 48 confirmed in US, including 28 at one New York City school. Elsewhere, six confirmed in Canada; two confirmed in Scotland and seven suspected; at …

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unitednations asked:

United Nations, New York, 27 April 2009 - UN Secretary-General, HE Mr. Ban ki-moon makes a press statement on H1N1 Influenza (swine flu). He stresses that “The UN system is responding, quickly and effectively, with the Director General of the World Health Organization [WHO], Dr. Margaret Chan, taking the lead.” News Story: www.un.org

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CDCStreamingHealth asked:

This podcast discusses the actions and goals of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, related to the current outbreak of H1N1 flu (swine flu).

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CBS asked:

There is great concern throughout the US over the potential lethality of the H1N1 influenza virus. As Nancy Cordes reports, officials are debating as to how to handle this outbreak.

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