Top 10 Swine Flu FAQs
1. What is swine flu?
It’s a new strain of Influenza A, coming from a pig. The pig has contracted one human strain, two pig strains, and one bird strain of the flu. These all combined to make a new strain. Pigs are a Grand Central Station for flu and other viruses.
2. What are the symptoms?
They’re similar to regular flu viruses, but the gastrointestinal symptoms are more severe. They include:
- Severe fatigue
- Headache
- Sore throat
- Nasal congestion
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Nausea
*Keep in mind regular flu season is over, so if you are experiencing flu-like symptoms, call your doctor. Do NOT go to the ER.
3. How do you get it?
Mostly by infected people coughing/sneezing around you, also passing it by touch is likely.
4. How is it passed?
You can pass it on to other people by coughing/sneezing on or near them, and possibly even touching surfaces that they later touch (and then touch their face, eyes, nose, etc.).
5. How is it treated?
There’s no ‘cure’ for it, but you need:
- Isolation/Rest
- Fluids
- Keep fever down
- Consider anti-viral drugs such as Tamiflu and Relenza, but keep in mind this strain is resistant to many older anti-viral drugs.
6. How do you protect yourself?
- Frequent hand-washing
- Avoid sick people
- Don’t cough or sneeze on others
- Stay home if you’re sick!
7. Can you catch it from eating pork products?
While people in Mexico likely contracted this from handling infected pigs, eating pork products should be safe. Keep in mind to cook pork to a temperature of 160° Fahrenheit to kill any viruses.
8. Is traveling safe?
Travel to Mexico is still statistically quite safe; the problem is still mainly one of perception, as the actual risk remains low. I would also consider the psychological effects this could have on children; consider what precautions they might take at airports, with customs officers wearing masks, etc.
9. How long does it last?
The virus can incubate a day or two before symptoms occur. It takes about a week to recover from the full-blown virus.
10. Is this real or hype? Do I need to be worried?
The danger is getting a lot of hype, but it is real. You probably don’t need to be worried, though.
Dr. Marc Siegel is an internist and associate professor of medicine at the NYU School of Medicine. He is a FOX News medical contributor and writes a health column for LA Times, where he examines TV and movies for medical accuracy. Dr. Siegel is the author of “False Alarm: The Truth About the Epidemic of Fear
Tags: gastrointestinal, hand washing, influenza, mexico, pig, pork products, protection, Swine Flu, symptoms, travel, virus
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Using a NON ALCOHOL based hand sanitizer such as Safe Hands Pro is the most excellent degerming charastics of all hand sanitizers. It is a great way to help protect from the deadly Swine Flu. DON’T USE alcohol based hand sanitizers such as Purell!
Look below at part of a universal precaution test between Alcohol-Free hand sanitizer and alcohol-containing hand sanitizer.
* the Alcohol-Free hand sanitizer formula had a greater sustained degerming activity than the alcohol-containing hand sanitizer formula,
* the alcohol-containing hand sanitizer became less effective with repeated use and irritated the hands of subjects, and
* the Alcohol-Free hand sanitizer formula became more effective without irritation after repeated use.
Not to mention a host of other negative effects associated with alcohol-containing hand sanitizers, like toxicity, sticky, flammable, irritating and more!
I really love Safe Hands Pro and never leave home without it! With so many dangerous viruses and deadly illnesses in our world such as SARS, free-living bacteria such as TB, E-coli, and Salmonella, as well as antibiotic-resistant VRE, RSA and viruses, including HIV and Hepatitis A & B you need to use the best, safest and most effective hand sanitizer possible. I buy mine from a company called Crystal Tip, 800-944-3939. This is the very best tip I have. Rex
I found this awesome animation of the swine flu spreading across the United States (http://www.swine-flu-map-animation.com/).
There have been a number of map tools created with Google maps, but this is the first one I’ve seen that offers an animation. Very interesting to watch… It appears to update every morning with new CDC data.
I saw that same animated map website as well. It’s pretty cool.
It shows that the spread of this flu is slow… but it is increasing. It’ll be interesting to see how it spreads.
Read the back of any hand sanitizer/soap before using it. Antibacterial chemicals such as Triclosan, found in most antibacterial soaps, only kills bacteria. They will not kill viruses, such as Orthomyxoviruses like Influenza A. Rex, a hand sanitizer like Purell will not help much against swine flu or any other viruses.
Mike you are right about Triclosan being in ALCOHOL BASED hand sanitizers like Purell. Triclosan is a bad deal! Triclosan is classified as a pesticide by the EPA. Studies with Triclosan have also shown that it disrupts hormone levels in the body. Triclosan can also combine with chlorine present in tap water to form chloroform gas which is a cancer causing agent. So once again I say, no one should use Purell or ANY ALCOHOL BASED hand sanitizer.There is NO Triclosan in SafeHands.
Worse yet, alcohol-based products can actually increase the risk of exposure to the same pathogens that they were designed to kill. I did a lot of checking when I decided to use hand sanitizer. Unlike the UNHEALTHY Purell product, SafeHands alcohol-free hand sanitizer kills 99.99% of disease causing germs and fungi in 15 seconds, including SARS, free-living bacteria such as TB, E-coli, and Salmonella, as well as antibiotic-resistant VRE, RSA and viruses including HIV and Hepatitis A & B.
So with that I am sticking with the best hand sanitizer out there SafeHands!