Facing the Truth: 5 Unknown Facts About Pig Flu

With all the bombardment with pig flu related updates, facts and information, are you sure you know everything which is worth knowing about this disease – or should we say pandemic already? The biased media, officials and company representatives may or may not give you an honest picture. But there is definitely something about pig flu that they avoid, and it takes a bit of research to find it. Luckily, we did this research for you and we will keep doing it. So, here are some recent points about the pig flu controversy we have found to be worth mentioning. Read, educate yourself, and do your own research if interested. Here we present the 7 unknown or less known facts about pig flu which you will definitely find interesting.

There are probably more pig flu cases than you think

A doctor called Marcus Gitterle, based in a town in Texas, made a statement recently that a whole mass of pig flu cases may be concealed from the attention of the public. He argues that the information doctors are getting from CDC, WHO and other institutions is somehow different from what is delivered to the people. The devil is in the details as usual, and the devilish detail here is that it takes 3 days for CDC to confirm the case of pig flu, yet the pig flu virus is active in the body and can spread itself to other people for about two days before detectable symptoms start appearing. According to Gitterle, the total numbers of pig flu carriers may be 10 to 25 higher than we are being told in the media. He also claims almost everyone exposed to the infection will get infected while the symptoms may not show right away.

There is no pig flu vaccine yet

Recently the authorities have only ordered to create a pig flu vaccine and under the normal run of things it will take weeks to produce it. How many more people will get infected during this period? We can only guess. Thing is, pig flu vaccine producing companies, however big and powerful they are, are capable of developing only one flu vaccine at a time, seasonal or pandemic. Due to different natures of flus it is technically impossible to change the direction halfway if this or that feature of pig flu is inaccurately reported to the pharmaceutical companies.

When pig flu vaccine comes, it may not be that efficient

Investigate about the 1976 case when a number of US soldiers were infected with pig flu. The vaccine arrived pretty soon. Millions of people were vaccinated, but the number of reported complications from the vaccine exceeded the number of pig flu cases. Roughly a thousand of people developed certain neurological conditions because of the vaccinations. Are we ready to take the risk, however devastating the current situation may seem?

Pig flu may not be fatal, unlike pneumonia

Just like all the other pig flu epidemics, the current pig flu is not necessarily this dangerous by itself. Of course the medical care of today cannot compare to early 20th century when the Spanish flu swept across the world. Still, in more recent times the reported deaths or serious conditions were associated with something developing as a result of flu, not directly caused by the flu. The body’s immune system, exhausted by fighting the flu, was left vulnerable to severe things like pneumonia, which is a very dangerous illness by all means. This is the hidden and less known, yet very life-threatening feature of pig flu.

You cannot get pig flu from cooked pork, but how about cooking it?

There is so much argument about the correct name for the pandemic we are seeing now. Pork producers are protesting saying that the incorrect reference to this flu as pork flu or swine flu damages their business which is already suffering decline during the credit crunch. They also claim cooked pork is not at all dangerous to eat. This is probably true unless you like your pork undercooked. Another thing is, before your pork is cooked, what happens? You touch it, you inhale the air around it, and a variety of things may happen. So, take your pork with a pinch of salt, so to say. It may be perfectly un-dangerous to eat well-cooked pork, but that does not mean you should not take precautions while cooking it.