A H1N1 Influenza Virus - How Dangerous is It?

If you are following the News daily, more and more people from other parts of the Globe are being infected with A H1N1 virus or Swine Flu Virus. The Swine flu virus spreads out to other countries by way of people travelling from one country to another. How dangerous is it? Can it be controlled? Let us try to find out.

Novel influenza A (H1N1) or better known as Swine Flu Virus, is a new form of virus originated from the pigs which was first detected in April of 2009. This virus is found to be infecting people and is spreading from person to person. It is capable of spreading out in a pandemic scale and everybody is advised to take all necessary health and sanitary precautions. As of May 23, 2009, there are already 86 people reported dead out of 12,022 cases of A H1N1 influenza virus. In the United States alone, there are 9 casualties out of 6,552 cases.

This result is very alarming. How much more do we know about it today? It is thought that this virus spreads in the same way that regular seasonal influenza viruses spread. It means to say it spreads out through the sneezes and coughs of those people who are sick with the virus. We are not certain how severe the outbreak in terms of illness and death until now. Since this is considered as a new virus, scientists and doctors believe most people do not have the immunity yet to it. Sad to say, the vaccine for this illness has yet to be discovered. However, there are existing anti-viral drugs that can be prescribe by the doctors as an alternative and seems to be performing well.

The good news is that in the United States of America, a diagnostic test kit has been developed to detect this novel H1N1 virus and is now being distributed to all the states in U.S. and District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Fortunately, this test kit is also being shipped internationally.

What can we do to avoid getting infected? Well, keep updated. Stay away from crowded places if possible and avoid in close contact with people coughing and sneezing problem.

Stay healthy, take regular exercise and eat healthy foods. Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough and sneeze, and then throw the tissue in the trash after using it. Wash your hands often with soap and water. Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth since germs spread that way fast. Stay home if you are sick.

In my observation, the new influenza virus is dangerous, easy to get infected and a great potential to result into an outbreak, however, it is controllable and there are a high percentage of recovery rates being reported. Right now there is no cause to panic and be alarmed. We should not be nervous about it and we treat our day like normal. We just need to take more extra careful and be aware of what is happening in our area.

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