H1N1 Flu Virus (Swine Flu)

In April 2009, a new strain of H1N1 swine flu emerged that contained a combination of swine, avian, and human influenza viruses. In the past, swine flu had mainly affected people who had direct contact with pigs. The new virus is unusual because it has spread among people who haven't been near pigs.

H1N1 swine flu, which was first observed in Mexico, has crossed borders and oceans, spreading to different countries and continents.

Causes of Swine Flu

Swine flu is contagious, and health officials believe it spreads in the same way as the seasonal flu. When people who are infected with swine flu cough or sneeze, they release tiny droplets containing the virus into the air. Anyone who comes in contact with these droplets or touches a surface (such as a doorknob or sink) that an infected person has recently touched can catch H1N1 swine flu.

A person who has swine flu can be contagious from one day before they show symptoms to seven days after they get sick. Children can be contagious for as long as 10 days.

Despite the name of the virus, you can't catch swine flu from eating bacon, ham, or any other pork product. However, to avoid other illnesses, it is always important to cook pork until it reaches an internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit.

Symptoms of Swine Flu

Symptoms of swine influenza are the same as those of seasonal influenza, and can include:

• cough
• fever
• sore throat
• stuffy or runny nose
• body aches
• headache
• chills
• fatigue
• nausea and vomiting

Swine flu also can lead to more serious complications, including pneumonia and respiratory failure, and it can worsen the severity of chronic conditions like diabetes or asthma. Serious symptoms such as shortness of breath, severe vomiting, abdominal pain, dizziness, or confusion warrant an immediate call to your doctor or 911.

What is concerning about swine flu is that, unlike seasonal flu, which is typically most dangerous to the very young, elderly, and those with a weakened immune system, swine flu can also be life-threatening to young, healthy people.

Tests for Swine Flu

Because the symptoms of swine flu closely mimic those of seasonal flu, only a lab test can determine for sure whether you have the 2009 H1N1 swine flu. To test for swine flu, your doctor will collect a sample from your nose or throat. Not everyone with suspected H1N1 swine flu needs to be tested to confirm diagnosis, according to the CDC. The CDC says priority for testing is for people who are hospitalized or have high risk for severe disease, such as:

• Children under 5 years old
• People aged 65 or older
• Children and adolescents (under age 18) who are receiving long-term aspirin therapy and who might be at risk for experiencing Reye syndrome after influenza virus infection
• Pregnant women
• Adults and children who have chronic pulmonary, cardiovascular, hepatic, hematological, neurologic, neuromuscular, or metabolic disorders
• Adults and children who have immunosuppression
  

Precautions aganist Swine flu

Doctors urge people to take the standard precautions - primarily frequent hand washing, airing of rooms. If you feel sick, see a doctor. ...

What the nations did!!

As the H1N1 flu has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization, NPE2009 is taking precautionary measures, including setting up hand-sanitizer stations throughout Chicago's McCormick Place convention center, having all shuttle buses cleaned daily, and making sure all Chicago hotels have instituted additional cleaning measures.

In a statement issued today, SPI President & CEO William R. Carteaux said: "It is certainly not my intention to make light of concerns regarding the H1N1 pandemic, but the plain fact is that in the United States, aside from a few temporary school closings, the situation continues to be 'business as usual'. The percentage of the total population affected remains less than one-tenth of 1 percent. Furthermore, after thoughtful research based on mathematical modeling, the World Health Organization decided not to restrict global travel because limiting travel would have very little effect on stopping the virus from spreading. Historical records of previous influenza pandemics, as well as experience with SARS, validate this."The good news is that 30,000 attendees from more than 100 countries have already registered for NPE2009 after the initial media coverage of H1N1. Carteaux said he will bring his entire family and 80 percent of his staff to Chicago for NPE week. All is encouraging. But just as how many American citizens were culture shocked with China's heavy hand on H1N1 prevention (see PN editor Bob Grace's recent column from Chinaplas called "Taking temperature of the flu outbreak"), I can just imagine how Chinese exhibitors and visitors will be shocked that American airports and convention centers don't take people's temperature, that the authorities don't quarantine people who have had contact with H1N1 patients or those who have fever, that Americans are not very nervous about the pandemic. China and the U.S. have very different legal, political and medical systems, population conditions as well as mentalities.Let's hope everything goes smoothly at the upcoming NPE show, and everyone remains safe and healthy.

What we people can do?
Only thing be clean, avoid contact with the persons who has gor swine....Wash hands regularly...

the terrible flu

what is it????[from yahoo answrs]

H1N1 commonly known as the "Swine" flu is a combination of human, swine, and two different types of bird virus'. This I believe was constructed in a lab. The most likely suspect is a vaccine company called Baxter International which literally stands to make billions of dollars from this pandemic scare. He's an article that strongly implicates them to this latest epidemic. Which has killed hundreds of people.

"The OMFG moment of the century: Illinois-based Baxter working on vaccine to ’stop’ swine flu outbreak in Mexico 25 Apr 2009 Specialty drug maker Baxter International Inc. will work with the World Health Organization to develop a vaccine that could stem [foment] an outbreak of a deadly swine flu strain in Mexico. Baxter spokesman Christopher Bona said Saturday that the Deerfield, Ill.-based company has asked the WHO for a sample of the flu strain. He says Baxter has patented technology that allows the company to develop vaccines in half the time it usually takes — about 13 weeks instead of 26. [Is Baxter International taking a page from the Blackwater playbook? Just as Blackwater/Xe keep on killing to justify their multi-billion dollar contracts to provide 'security' in Iraq and Afghanistan, Baxter International is poised to make *billions* to vaccinate people against their pandemic.]

Are you ready? Wait for it…

Virus mix-up by lab could have resulted in pandemic [Uh, it apparently *did.*]

06 Mar 2009 It’s emerged that virulent H5N1 bird flu was sent out by accident from an Austrian lab [the Austrian branch of US vaccine company, Baxter] last year and given to ferrets in the Czech Republic before anyone realised. As well as the risk of it escaping into the wild, the H5N1 got mixed with a human strain, which might have spawned a hybrid that could unleash a pandemic.

‘This was infected with a bird flu virus.’ Viral Pandemic H5N1 flu threat: Illinois-based Baxter contaminates European labs by error 25 Feb 2009 According to the scientific network PROMED, Baxter International Inc. in Austria “unintentionally contaminated samples with the bird flu virus that were used in laboratories in 3 neighboring countries, raising concern about the potential spread of the deadly disease”. As PROMED reports, the contamination has been discovered when ferrets at a laboratory in the Czech Republic died after being inoculated with vaccine made from the samples early this month. “The material came from Deerfield, Illinois-based Baxter, which reported the incident to the Austrian Ministry of Health, Sigrid Rosenberger, a ministry spokeswoman, said today in a telephone interview”, the network-alert-system is quoting. “This was infected with a bird flu virus,” Rosenberger said. “There were some people from the company who handled it.”
‘That mixing process, called reassortment, is one of two ways pandemic viruses are created.’ Baxter admits sending live avian flu viruses to subcontractor –People familiar with biosecurity rules are dismayed by evidence that human H3N2 and avian H5N1 viruses somehow co-mingled [!] in the Orth-Donau facility. 27 Feb 2009 The company that released contaminated flu virus material from a plant in Austria confirmed Friday that the experimental product contained live H5N1 avian flu viruses. And an official of the World Health Organization’s European operation said the body is closely monitoring the investigation into the events that took place at Baxter International’s research facility in Orth-Donau, Austria. [Source: The Canadian Press]

Spectre of pandemic 26 Apr 2009 The new strain contains gene sequences from North American and Eurasian swine flus, North American bird flu and North American human flu, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Most of Mexico’s dead were young, healthy adults, and none was aged older than 60 or or younger than three, the World Health Organisation said. This has alarmed health officials… Pandemic flus - like the 1918 Spanish flu and the 1957 and 1968 pandemics - often strike young, healthy people the hardest. Mexican officials promised a huge immunisation campaign in the capital this week. [The deadly vaccine program *ensures* a pandemic!]

CLG: Flu Kills The Torture Memos –In a ‘Holy convenience, Batman!’ moment, a ‘unique’ flu virus (one likely concocted in US Army labs) overtakes media coverage of revelations that the highest levels of the US government instructed the CIA (and private contractors) to torture terror suspects. By Lori Price 26 April 2009 Guess where the first swine flu outbreak occurred? That’s right, Fort Dix, New Jersey, in 1976. Thirteen soldiers died, leading the US government to force a questionable vaccine on the population — backed by a legal liability escape clause mandated by and for the pharma-terrorists. Next, people started dying not from the flu — but from the *vaccine.*"