About Swine Flu

God knows what happened to the pork futures in the commodities market since April, but the poor old pig has received poor PR since the advent of the swine flu pandemic in April.

In July, I began to build my health information website and, in the course of research, I was amazed at the amount of searches and information about swine flu that was happening.

Of course, since the WHO declared the infection as a worldwide pandemic in June, it is understandable, especially for people living in the northern hemisphere which was entering summer and not its annual seasonal influenza period.

Which begs the question, what will be the picture when in a few months time the winter season will be imminent – and with it the usual flu season.

I must admit, I wasn’t aware that there were significant deaths every year with the flu – one of those facts that aren’t absorbed I suppose.

However, since influenza A (novel H1N1) to give it it’s proper name, and to get away from porcine libel, raised its lethal presence, I have become aware that the flu is potentially lethal for sections of the population annually. And, it is a health situation worsened by the H1N1 epidemic.

The swine flu pandemic, although causing significant deaths, and higher than the usual flu season, has proved not as severe as originally feared. In fact, most of those infected have recovered fairly easily, despite the lack of vaccines and a cure. Current medications seem to be quite effective both in symptom reduction and prophylactically.

One good thing about the internet is that it has so much information that it is easy to stay informed and learn what to do to stay healthy. One site in particular, that is helpful, is the CDC web site as it is updated regularly. Their advisory committee on immunization is preparing a voluntary novel H1N1 vaccination effort in preparation for a possibly severe upcoming flu season.

Feel free to go to my site for a brief summary of risk factors and what you can do. Remember prevention is always better than cure (especially if there isn’t one!).

For once, I wish I was over 64 years old. One thing that appears to be different from seasonal influenza is that adults older than 64 years do not yet appear to be at increased risk of novel H1N1-related complications thus far in the outbreak. This may be because they have existing antibodies against the virus, which others do not have.

In conclusion, you can eat pork safely. Infections found in some pig farms (Canada and Australia) have been from human to animal transmission, and have been quarantined effectively. Cooked properly kills any bugs!