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How swine flu is transmitted |
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Swine Flu or the H1N1
Influenza as the white-coats like to call it, is actually quite a
simple disease to attain a good measure of protection against, even if
the disease has a fearsome reputation. A little familiarity with the
ways in which swine flu passes around should help everyone take the
right steps. Swine flu is a term that is quite common around pig farms
for a Type A influenza that has always affected populations of pigs.
Hog lots, places where large numbers of pigs are raised for slaughter,
happen to offer regular contact between pigs and their human
caretakers. The H1N1 virus is suspected to have made the leap from an
ability to merely infect pigs to the ability to infect humans in just
such a place in Mexico earlier this year when a major swine flu
epidemic swept the country.
The influenza that the H1N1 virus is capable of, is known to be
contagious, though the severity of the contagiousness is not
well-established. A WHO release states that this virus is known to have
jumped the species barrier more than once in the past. To a virus that
has demonstrated such an ability to cross the species hurdle in the
past, person-to-person transfer is suspected to be no challenge. Swine
flu is believed to spread among
human populations in the same way that
the more familiar kinds of flu do: by droplets of bodily fluid put in
the air by a coughing or sneezing action by infected people. Contact
transmission is another possible way that swine flu is communicated by.
Healthy people, when they touch surfaces that have traces of the virus
through being coughed on by an infected person, can swab up minute
quantities of infected bodily fluid, and unwittingly carry it to their
mouth or mucous membranes to be infected.
It is well-known today that the best and simplest defense to deploy in
one's life, against swine flu, is to frequently wash one's hands.
Simple casual hand-washing is not enough though; the hands should be
washed with soap and warm water, in a vigorous rubbing action that
lasts about 20 seconds and that pays attention to every inch of skin on
the hands, and the nails as well. People sometimes pick soap with
bactericidal effects for added protection, oblivious to the fact that
swine flu is caused not by bacteria but by a virus. A hand sanitizer is
often a good idea in clearing up any viruses on the hands, especially
if it is made in an alcohol base. In areas that have reports of the
swine flu, anyone who suspects that they might have come into contact
with a virus-tainted surface, or been touched by anyone with this
infection, needs to quickly wash their hands in this manner.
The responsibility to keep the transmission of swine flu under control
belongs not only with healthy people, it belongs with people who have
infection already, primarily. People who are infected should try to
alter the way they act around other people, to minimize any chances of
swine flu transmission. The swine flu- infected should make sure they
always cough into a handkerchief, and should promptly wash their hands
afterwards to keep from contaminating any surface they touch. People
who are sick with swine flu, should keep away from public places, work
or school. People often feel bad about dropping out of work for several
days to recover from swine flu, for fear of disrupting work at their
office. Everyone should realize though that between the choice of
showing up for work and bringing down the whole office, and the choice
of merely inconveniencing people with one's personal absence, the
latter choice always wins out. Healthy people though, could make use of
a respirator or face mask if they are going out in public in an area
where they know there are swine flu infections. The Center for Disease
Control recommends that face masks are good idea in areas that have
large numbers of known cases of swine flu infection. The CDC
recommendation however, feels that having healthy people wearing a face
mask is not as effective a solution as it is to have the infected wear
a mask to prevent the emission disease. The swine flu, as dreaded as it
is, transmits itself through simple, well understood ways that appeal
to common sense. It should be easy for anyone to take conscientious
care to wash their hands when they need to, and use face masks when
they deem it appropriate; the control of the spread of a disease is
always as successful as private citizens decide to make it.
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