Precautions Against Swine Flu

Good standard flu prevention techniques are recommended to protect yourself against swine flu:

• Get a regular seasonal flu vaccination. It might not help against this specific strain, but it won't hurt.

• Wash your hands frequently with soap and hot running water. If hot water is not available, use an alcohol-based hand gel.

• When you cough and sneeze, cover your mouth and nose. Wash your hands afterwards.

• Avoid being near others who might be sick.

• Stay home if you are sick, to avoid affecting others.

Precautions for Travellers

• Before you travel, find out what vaccines you will need and where to get them. Visit your family doctor or a travel health clinic at least six weeks before your departure date.

• If you get sick when you are travelling, seek medical assistance.

• If you are sick when you return to Canada, or have been near someone who is, you must tell a customs or quarantine office, who will decide if you need further medical assessment.

• If you get sick after you return to Canada, see a health care provider. Be sure to tell him/her the countries you visited, if you were sick while away and any medical care or treatment your received.

Swine flu Symptoms

Symptoms of Swine Flu

The symptoms of swine flu are usually like those of regular seasonal flu and include:

• headache
• chills
• cough
• fever
• loss of appetite
• aches
• fatigue
• runny nose
• sneezing
• watery eyes
• throat irritation
• nausea and vomiting
• diarrhea
• in people with chronic conditions, pneumonia may develop

swine flu in india

India reports 4 new cases of swine flu

India has confirmed four new cases of swine flu, including the first in the popular tourist resort of Goa, bringing the country's total to 15, the Health Ministry said Thursday. Three of the patients arrived recently from the United States and the other from Britain, the ministry said. A 41-year-old male who arrived in Goa from London last week reported to health authorities two days later with a fever and was found to have contracted the virus, it said in a statement. Authorities said they are tracking down passengers who were in close contact with those who tested positive for the disease. On Thursday, the World Health Organization officially declared a swine flu pandemic, the first global flu epidemic in 41 years. A day earlier it said 74 countries had reported more than 27,700 cases of swine flu, including 141 deaths.

Swine influenza

Swine influenza (also called swine flu, hog flu, and pig flu) is an infection of a host animal by any one of several specific types of microscopic organisms called "swine influenza virus". A swine influenza virus (SIV) is any strain of the influenza family of viruses that is usually hosted by (is endemic in) pigs.^[2] As of 2009, the known SIV strains are the influenza C virus and the subtypes of the influenza A virus known as H1N1, H1N2, H3N1, H3N2, and H2N3. Swine influenza is common in pigs in the midwestern United States (and occasionally in other states), Mexico, Canada, South America, Europe (including the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Italy), Kenya, Mainland China, Taiwan, Japan and other parts of eastern Asia.^[2]

Transmission of swine influenza virus from pigs to humans is not common and does not always cause human influenza, often only resulting in the production of antibodies in the blood. The meat of the animal poses no risk of transmitting the virus when properly cooked. If transmission does cause human influenza, it is called zoonotic swine flu. People who work with pigs, especially people with intense exposures, are at increased risk of catching swine flu. In the mid-20th century, identification of influenza subtypes became possible, this allows accurate diagnosis of transmission to humans. Since then, fifty confirmed transmissions have been recorded, Rarely, these strains of swine flu can pass from human to human. In humans, the symptoms of swine flu are similar to those of influenza and of influenza-like illness in general, namely chills, fever, sore throat, muscle pains, severe headache, coughing, weakness and general discomfort.

The 2009 swine flu outbreak in humans is due to a new strain of influenza A virus subtype H1N1 that contains genes closely related to swine influenza.^[3] The origin of this new strain is unknown. However, the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) reports that this strain has not been isolated in pigs.^[4] This strain can be transmitted from human to human,^[5] and causes the normal symptoms of influenza.^[6]

Pigs can become infected with human influenza, and this appears to have happened during the 1918 flu pandemic^{[citation needed]} and the 2009 swine flu outbreak.^{[citation needed]}

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swine_influenza