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You saw pig flu getting massive media coverage these days. Sites, TV channels and your neighbors are bombarding you with important updates on how pig flu spreads and what comes next. But are you sure you are fully aware of what pig flu is, where it came from, and whether it is truly dangerous or yet another false alarm? Here we try to combine as many sources, theories and opinions related to pig flu, its origins and dangers. Follow us, educate yourself, and have things to say next time anybody tries to scare the living bejesus out of you.
What the hell is flu anyway?
Flu is something most of us have experienced at this or that point. The word itself is a colloquial variant for influenza, a term originating from the Italian for ‘influence.’ You know you have flu when you cough, feel muscle pains, experience fever, weakness, or headache. This disease affects mammals as well as birds (remember the bird flu panic a couple of years ago?). It is important to differentiate flu from common cold, because though flu may look and feel somehow the same, the dangers of flu are way more serious. We will address ways to tell it’s really flu later on. In most cases, flu is quick to pass, but with a weaker immune system, it can cause fatal conditions like pneumonia.
Flu is a virus which has a range of subtypes, pig flu being one of the most recent ones. The most common way to get infected is through air, inhaling the invisible drops of liquid originating from someone else’s lungs. Pretty gross, huh? This is why people with flu should stay indoors, and breathing masks are among the most efficient ways of prevention. Generally, any contact with bodily fluids or any other contaminating substances originating from the infected body (and then touching your nose or mouth) will transport flu into your system. Though the prevention measures are getting tougher, the clever viruses mutate and alter themselves, creating new strains and spreading in massive proportions. This is known as epidemics, and every year a new vaccine has to be developed to match it with the current virus subtypes.
Why pig?
The recent, much talked about type of flu is referred to as pig flu, swine influenza virus (SIV), or type A subtype H1N1 virus as the scientists call it. We say pig flu, or bird flu, or basically any other flu when we refer to a virus which spreads and maintains itself in a population without the need of any external input. This is known as being endemic. The recent infection started in swine, hence the pig flu name. In fact, the current strain is a combination of human, bird and pig flu, which made the conspiracy theorists go rave about the new virus being artificially developed in labs. Anyway, the accepted theory is that the current outbreak of pig flu originated in Mexico where pig farming is widespread, and then the virus was reported to extend its devastating effect to humans.
It’s not the first spreading of flu, right?
True. For the last 100 years the world has seen at least 3 major outbreaks of flu. The Spanish flu made 1918 a dark year for the entire world spreading basically to every its part, harvesting tens of million dead. Theories still abound about where this particular flu originated, but it quickly spread itself around the world, with the help of World War I, poor medical care and prevention, and slow information exchange. The sly nature of flu is proved by the fact that this particular outbreak occurred in summer and fall, killing millions of young adults while a typical flu is active in winter, affecting people with weaker immune system like infants or old age people. An outbreak of pig flu was registered in 1976 among New Jersey soldiers. A nationwide vaccine was created, but it turned out to be even more dangerous than the flu itself. You may still remember the infamous bird flu of 2003-2005 which shocked the world as the virus went on to infecting humans and being transported not only through birds. On the other hand, most cases from around 200 total were developed from direct contact with birds. We still yet have to see whether these outbreaks of flu prepared the world for the pig flu we hear so much about today.
the use of face masks and boosting your immune system by taking lots of vitamin-C is still an effective way of preventing the spread of the any type of Flu virus. From Avian Flu, Swine Flu and the common Flu.
i always advice my kids to wear face masks when going into crowded areas. swine flu is really scary and i dont want my kids getting infected by it.