Health Care

By Simon Hess

Swine Flu was declared a pandemic on 11th June 2009. Margaret Chen, Director-General of The World Health Organization announced that the virus had been raised from a phase 5 to a phase 6 emergency.

Over 30,000 people have been infected worldwide and at the time of writing this article, 163 people have died.

So what should you know about the Swine Flu Pandemic:

1) The virus spreads exactly the same way as seasonal influenza. It can be contracted by coming in to contact with someone who is infected and through them coughing and sneezing.

2) Pigs as well as humans were heavily infected during the influenza epidemic of 1918. Hence the name "Swine Flu". However, the human immune system is less able to cope with this disease. An important point to note is that you cannot contract the influenza bug from eating pork or ham based products.

3) Seasonal influenza mainly attacks young children and the elderly. The majority of reported cases of swine flu has infected people aged from 5 to 65 and the largest percentage are aged 30-44.

4) This is fourth flu pandemic to be reported in the last 100 years. Spanish, Asian and Hong Kong Flu are the previous three. It is estimated that the previous 3 influenza world alerts caused up to 53 million deaths.

5) The Symptoms of the Swine Flu Pandemic include, coughs, sore throat, high fever, headaches, body aches, high fever and respiratory problems.

The Obama Administration are currently working in conjunction with the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention on a new vaccination. It is believed that this should be ready by the fall.

Are you worried that the Swine Flu Pandemic may be heading your way?

For further information and access to the Swine Flu Survival Guide please Click Here.

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