It's no secret that swine flu is dangerous and deadly. The media has done a wonderful job of heightening the swine flu scare. Even before swine flu became a pandemic, the mainstream media did everything it could to make swine flu sound worse than it really was. Swine flu is a serious illness and by no means is this article making light of that fact. However, people are interested in the truth about swine flu and the truth is what's going to be discussed here.
What are the Symptoms of Swine Flu?
Swine flu has similar symptoms to the common seasonal flu. The severity of the symptoms and the length of the flu are what varies. Here are some key symptoms to watch out for:
- Fever
- Lethargy
- Lack of appetite
- Coughing
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Runny nose
- Sore throat
Some people have reported feeling aches and shivers as well. Swine flu can be prevented in several ways. Frequent hand washing, taking a multivitamin supplement and extra vitamin C, sleeping 8-9 hours per night, and eating a healthy diet are all ways to prevent swine flu. Students should use wipes to sanitize their workstations each time they sit in a classroom and should not stay in school if they have a fever.
How Effective is the Swine Flu Vaccine?
The effectiveness of the swine flu vaccine is being called into question more and more each day. Many people say that the vaccine was released too quickly and therefore did not receive proper testing.
The swine flu vaccine works in the same way as any other vaccine. It produces anti-bodies that are supposed to help strengthen the immune system against the disease.
"Approved vaccines -- including the 2009 H1N1 swine flu vaccine -- are calculated to be much, much less risky than the diseases they prevent. For example, out of every million people who get a flu shot, one or two will get a serious neurological reaction called Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS)." Daniel J. DeNoon, WebMD (reference)
Based on the information above, one can conclude that it is much less risky to obtain the vaccine than to risk getting the H1N1 virus. It's a fact that over one or two in a million will die or have died from swine flu. Children and seniors are the groups that are most at risk for catching the swine flu.
Additional Swine Flu Facts
- According to the CDC, 26% of all swine flu hospitalizations were children ages 5-18; this is the highest number of swine flu hospitalizations for any age group to date.
- 44% of patients who died from the H1N1 virus were ages 25-64.
- People can transfer the H1N1 one day before getting sick and five to seven days after.
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