H1N1 Flu and Seasonal Flu: Symptoms, Prevention and Treatment
Learn more about H1N1 (swine flu) and seasonal flu, including how they’re spread, who’s most vulnerable to these flu viruses, and what we know about natural and other remedies.
September 11, 2009
By Dr. Linda B. White
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Coughing into a tissue or into your elbow can help prevent the spread of flu viruses.
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As winter approaches each year we brace for flu season. This year brings an extra complication: the H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu. In June, the World Health Organization declared H1N1 a pandemic. Since then, the media has brimmed with H1N1 stories, governments have stockpiled Tamiflu, flu vaccines have been developed, temperature sensors have been installed in Asian airports, and gallons of hand sanitizer have been dispensed.
While the concerns are justified, we have always been vulnerable to various forms of the flu (influenza) virus. Flu viruses continually undergo genetic modification, presenting our immune systems with new challenges each season. To help you make sense of what’s in the news and plan your own best course of action, here’s a quick look at what you need to know about H1N1 and seasonal flu, and how to stay healthy.
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H1N1 and Factory Farms
Big changes can happen when influenza viruses jump species. Birds, humans and pigs each have their own viruses that circulate among their populations. Pigs, however, can become infected with avian, swine and human viruses. Viruses can trade genes, potentially creating a novel virus capable of infecting humans, such as H1N1. Some authorities have tied industrial-scale hog farms — where animals are crowded together — with the origin and spread of the H1N1 virus.
How Flu Viruses Spread
Influenza viruses are very contagious. Sneezes and coughs propel the viral droplets into the air, and an infected person begins shedding viruses a day before symptoms strike, thus thwarting quarantines from being a completely effective tactic. These viruses can survive on inanimate objects for two to eight hours. You touch that object (a borrowed pen, a shopping cart), then rub your eye, nose or lips — and presto, inoculation.
Recognizing Flu Symptoms
One to three days after exposure, flu symptoms develop: fatigue, fever, body aches, headache, sore throat, cough, and even vomiting or diarrhea. Children may also develop middle ear infections. People with respiratory ailments, such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, are especially vulnerable to complications such as pneumonia.
Who Gets the Flu?
Whereas the seasonal flu or influenza viruses take a greater toll on the very young and the very old, the H1N1 virus (swine flu) has so far proved most dangerous to children and young adults. So far, most of the deaths have been of people with other significant health problems, and the vast majority of the million or so H1N1 flu cases have been mild, on par with seasonal influenza.
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