What is swine flu and how to treat it?

Swine flu is the same respiratory illness as ordinary flu, but differs from it in some symptoms and, of course, with consequences. Swine flu is very easy to get infected, so doctors treat it as highly contagious diseases. This kind of flu was discovered by American physician Richard Shope back in 1931, but we learned about him relatively recently. "Swine" flu is called because it was very common among domestic animals, in particular, pigs. Although they can get sick and birds, and, as it turns out, people. How to recognize the swine flu and how to treat it?

The most important thing about swine flu

We learned about swine flu relatively recently, as it was distributed mainly in farms in Kenya, Europe, the United States, as well as in Taiwan, Japan and China. With the development of trade, some diseases, which were not previously known to us in practice, migrated to us. Swine flu is a rather cunning disease that can mutate and modify its symptoms. Therefore, to fight against it is difficult to come up with a suitable vaccine - the virus constantly changes its characteristics.

Physicians came up with a classification for swine flu. He is referred to a particularly dangerous group - A, it is given only to those types of diseases that are capable of causing epidemics and which are very common.

If you do a vaccine against swine flu, you must first determine what kind of virus it caused. The fact is that the vaccine that was made last year, with a change in the nature and type of the virus, can be completely useless after a year.

Risk groups for the incidence of swine flu

1. Particularly susceptible to this disease are children - they are at high risk. Children under two years of age and children from five years old are most likely to be affected by this disease.
2. The second risk group is the elderly, especially after age 65
3. The third group of risk - pregnant women
4. The fourth group of risk is people with chronic diseases. These diseases include blood diseases, cancer, lung diseases, especially chronic ones, asthma, diabetes, kidney disease, liver, nervous system disorders, brain and weakened immunity.

It is important to know that swine flu can affect not only these groups of risk, but also absolutely healthy people. Therefore, having found out at itself symptoms of this disease, it will be necessary to address to the doctor immediately.

Symptoms of swine flu

The most characteristic symptoms of swine flu are heat, chills. Fever, high - up to 40 degrees - temperature. In this case, a person or an animal can die. But with modern medical care, mortality in swine flu is low - up to 4% of cases.

If a person has all or some of these symptoms, chances are that you have contracted swine flu. It is worth knowing that not all flu-infected people have high fever. So, these symptoms can be suspected in yourself or close to the swine flu.

• Increased temperature
• Strong cough - dry or wet
• Nasal congestion or runny nose
• Sore and aching all over the body
• My head hurts
• A person can turn red
• A person may have chills
• Very fast fatigue
• Vomiting and diarrhea

Here are listed the alarming symptoms in which any person should immediately get medical help.

At what symptoms of a flu should a person get immediate medical help?

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What concerns children

• Breathing is too frequent or too difficult
• Skin changes color to gray or bluish
• The child does not want to eat or drink
• The child has a strong vomiting, which does not stop for a long time
• The child is listless, does not want to wake up, is inactive
• The child is too nervous, reacts aggression to any actions of adults
• Symptoms stop for a while, and then attack with renewed vigor
• The child coughs and intense fever

Disturbing symptoms of swine flu in adults

• The person suffocates or his breathing is difficult
• The chest or abdomen can hurt, in these parts of the body there may be a squeezing
• A person may have dizziness, with a sudden
• Consciousness can be clouded
• Vomiting can be very strong and does not stop for quite a long time

Symptoms of influenza can stop, and then attack the patient again

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What is the difference between swine flu and bird flu?

With avian influenza, which is designated as the H5N1 virus, many patients died - more than half of the cases. With swine flu, many people recover without even serious treatment, although its viruses change more quickly.

Subtypes of swine flu

Swine flu is divided by physicians into subtypes. The most common of these is the H1N1 subtype. He was awarded the highest - the sixth degree of danger, according to the international classification. This means that the H1N1 influenza virus can cause large epidemics, which are called pandemics. But this does not mean that the swine flu virus in practice infects whole cities. There is just such an opportunity if people are not treated and do not make them a flu vaccine.

There are also other subtypes of swine flu - H1N2, as well as H3N1 and H3N2. For all these types of influenza is characterized by airborne droplet spread (when sneezing, coughing, unwashed hands and so on).

Experts of the World Health Organization believe that the ability of the influenza strain to change can lead to a combination of viruses. And this threatens humanity with a higher mortality rate if the infection spreads.

Forecasts are such that in the case of the spread of new aggressive forms of swine flu, human losses can significantly increase about six months after the epidemic begins to spread. Therefore, you need to carefully monitor your health and turn to the doctor in time when you have suspicious symptoms.

Treatment of swine flu

If a person becomes ill with swine flu or suspects his symptoms, you should first of all refuse to communicate with other people, because the swine flu virus is transmitted by airborne droplets. In mild form of the disease, it can go on by itself within a week.

If the symptoms indicate a severe form of flu, you should contact your local doctor or an ambulance. To determine which disease has caused your suffering, the doctor will conduct a thorough diagnosis.

What is the treatment for swine flu?

For his treatment, antiviral drugs are prescribed , since swine flu is caused precisely by viruses. These drugs can be similar to those that treat ordinary flu. This will help to cope with the complications that the flu can bring, if it is carried on its feet or not treated at all.

It is very important when treating influenza to comply with bed rest and take into account the possible risk of relapses of other diseases, which the person was ill for a short time before. Do you need to prescribe antiviral drugs and which of them you yourself can not decide. This decision should be made by a professional - your treating therapist.

Among the antiviral drugs that treat swine flu, there may be "zanamivir" and "oseltamivir." Means that are sold in pharmacies without a prescription, do not need to use against the flu without a doctor's recommendation.

How long does it take to recover from swine flu?

It depends on the individual characteristics of the person. As a rule, with the right approach to treatment, the disease passes through 7-10 days. But you have to make sure that you are already healthy and do not infect others. The indicator of recovery will be a normal working condition without weakness, headache, increased fatigue, coughing and fever. If you had a fever, you must endure the house at least one day after she passed.

It is not superfluous to know that after you have been ill with the flu, you need to follow the precautions. First of all, carefully wash your hands, at home handle door handles with disinfectants, in transport you can wear an antiviral mask. And turn away when you cough and sneeze other people, try not to contact sick adults and children.

Swine flu is a rather serious disease. Therefore, you need to protect your health with additional means of prevention so that you do not get sick, drink vitamins in time and do not contact sick people.