Swine Flu Outbreaks News

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Victoria records world's worst swine flu rate.

Victoria now has the highest recorded per capita rate of swine flu in the world and is being blamed for exporting the viruses around Australia.

The Australian reports the state has already exported more than a dozen swine flu infections to other states, territories and countries, including an NRL player who contracted the illness after last week's State of Origin clash in Melbourne.

Over the weekend, Western Australia, NSW, Tasmania and South Australia all had fresh positive tests to the H1N1 strain among people returning from Victoria, with Singapore and Malaysia also attributing one new case apiece to visitors' exposure to the virus in Victoria.

Queensland Origin forward Ben Hannant, also a prop for the Bulldogs, contracted the illness after performing strongly for the Maroons in their 28-18 win in the opening Origin game in Melbourne on Wednesday.

There have not been any other reported cases of swine flu among the NSW and Queensland Origin teams to date.

Victoria yesterday left its swine flu tally unchanged at Friday's total of 874.But observers fear another surge in numbers after the weekend respite in the state's reporting ends, given its caseload more than tripled last Monday.

Other states and territories, which collectively account for fewer than 20 per cent of Australia's swine flu cases, have seen their numbers jump since Friday by 45 to 177, taking the number of cases nationally to 1051.

Western Australia took the biggest hit, with the number of confirmed diagnoses reaching 14 yesterday - up from two on Friday.

An 11-year-old boy and 23-year-old woman who had returned from Melbourne were among the new infections.

In NSW, the number of reported infections acquired in Victoria doubled since Friday from four to eight, out of a statewide tally of 82.

South Australia and Tasmania also announced one new positive test each to the disease that they attributed to exposure in Victoria.

Victoria has relaxed its testing, tracing and quarantining rules for swine flu in response to its sharply rising caseload.

It has the fourth highest number of infections worldwide after the US, Mexico and Canada, but the highest per capita load.

But, unlike those countries, it is yet to record a single death from the disease, and few hospitalisations.

International alarm over the Victorian outbreaks, however, has spread along with the virus.Malaysian newspaper New Sunday Times in Kuala Lumpur called Melbourne an epicentre for the new H1N1 strain, after an Australian student on Friday became the country's seventh confirmed swine flu case.

The unidentified student flew into Kuala Lumpur with her mother from Melbourne on an AirAsiaX flight with 258 passengers, forcing more than 140 contacts into house quarantine as authorities went into damage control.

On Saturday, Singapore called on its nationals to defer non-essential travel to Victoria.

On the same day, it announced two new swine flu diagnoses, one of which was a 23-year-old Singaporean man who went to Melbourne in late May and developed flu symptoms within the week.

Source Link :- http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25602993-26103,00.html

Alternative Health News – Swine Flu and Pregnancy

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Swine Flu May Pose Problems for Pregnant Women. U.S. health officials said Tuesday that they're seeing some complications among pregnant women as the swine flu continues to spread across the country.

"Pregnant women are at higher risk of complications of influenza, whether it's the seasonal influenza or pandemics of the past. We are also seeing some severe complications in women with this year's novel H1N1 virus," Dr. Anne Schuchat, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's interim deputy director for science and public health program, said during an afternoon teleconference. The CDC is investigating 20 cases of pregnant women with the swine flu, several of whom experienced complications, Schuchat said.

Complications can include pneumonia, dehydration and premature birth. "It is very important that doctors who are caring for pregnant women they suspect may have influenza, that they issue prompt treatment with antiviral medicines," she said.

Doctors can be reluctant to treat pregnant women with antiviral drugs such as Tamiflu and Relenza, and pregnant women may be reluctant to take them out of fear that they may pose a risk during pregnancy.

Experts who have looked into this situation strongly say that the benefits of using antiviral drugs to treat influenza in a pregnant woman outweigh the theoretical concerns about the drugs.

Alternative Health Care Tips – About Swine Influenza Symptoms

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What is Swine Influenza?

Swine Influenza (swine flu) is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by type A influenza virus that regularly causes outbreaks of influenza in pigs. Swine flu viruses cause high levels of illness and low death rates in pigs.

Swine influenza viruses may circulate among swine throughout the year, but most outbreaks occur during the late fall and winter months similar to outbreaks in humans.

The classical swine flu virus (an influenza type A H1N1 virus) was first isolated from a pig in 1930.

How many swine flu viruses are there?
Like all influenza viruses, swine flu viruses change constantly.

Pigs can be infected by avian influenza and human influenza viruses as well as swine influenza viruses. When influenza viruses from different species infect pigs, the viruses can reassort (i.e. swap genes) and new viruses that are a mix of swine, human and/or avian influenza viruses can emerge.

Over the years, different variations of swine flu viruses have emerged. At this time, there are four main influenza type A virus subtypes that have been isolated in pigs: H1N1, H1N2, H3N2, and H3N1. However, most of the recently isolated influenza viruses from pigs have been H1N1 viruses.

Swine Flu in Humans :-

Can humans catch swine flu?

Swine flu viruses do not normally infect humans. However, sporadic human infections with swine flu have occurred. Most commonly, these cases occur in persons with direct exposure to pigs (e.g. children near pigs at a fair or workers in the swine industry).

In addition, there have been documented cases of one person spreading swine flu to others. For example, an outbreak of apparent swine flu infection in pigs in Wisconsin in 1988 resulted in multiple human infections, and, although no community outbreak resulted, there was antibody evidence of virus transmission from the patient to health care workers who had close contact with the patient.

What are the symptoms of swine flu in humans?

The symptoms of swine flu in people are expected to be similar to the symptoms of regular human seasonal influenza and include fever, lethargy, lack of appetite and coughing. Some people with swine flu also have reported runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

Is there a vaccine for swine flu?

Vaccines are available to be given to pigs to prevent swine influenza. There is no vaccine to protect humans from swine flu. The seasonal influenza vaccine will likely help provide partial protection against swine H3N2, but not swine H1N1 viruses.

Can people catch swine flu from eating pork?

No. Swine influenza viruses are not transmitted by food. You can not get swine influenza from eating pork or pork products. Eating properly handled and cooked pork and pork products is safe. Cooking pork to an internal temperature of 160°F kills the swine flu virus as it does other bacteria and viruses.

How does swine flu spread?

Influenza viruses can be directly transmitted from pigs to people and from people to pigs. Human infection with flu viruses from pigs are most likely to occur when people are in close proximity to infected pigs, such as in pig barns and livestock exhibits housing pigs at fairs. Human-to-human transmission of swine flu can also occur.

This is thought to occur in the same way as seasonal flu occurs in people, which is mainly person-to-person transmission through coughing or sneezing of people infected with the influenza virus. People may become infected by touching something with flu viruses on it and then touching their mouth or nose.

How can human infections with swine influenza be diagnosed?

To diagnose swine influenza A infection, a respiratory specimen would generally need to be collected within the first 4 to 5 days of illness (when an infected person is most likely to be shedding virus). However, some persons, especially children, may shed virus for 10 days or longer. Identification as a swine flu influenza A virus requires sending the specimen to CDC for laboratory testing.

What medications are available to treat swine flu infections in humans?

There are four different antiviral drugs that are for the treatment of influenza: amantadine, rimantadine, oseltamivir and zanamivir. While most swine influenza viruses have been susceptible to all four drugs, the most recent swine influenza viruses isolated from humans are resistant to amantadine and rimantadine. At this time, CDC recommends the use of oseltamivir or zanamivir for the treatment and/or prevention of infection with swine influenza viruses.

Is the H1N1 swine flu virus the same as human H1N1 viruses?

No. The H1N1 swine flu viruses are antigenically very different from human H1N1 viruses and, therefore, vaccines for human seasonal flu would not provide protection from H1N1 swine flu viruses.

How does swine flu spread among pigs?

Swine flu viruses are thought to be spread mostly through close contact among pigs and possibly from contaminated objects moving between infected and uninfected pigs. Herds with continuous swine flu infections and herds that are vaccinated against swine flu may have sporadic disease, or may show only mild or no symptoms of infection.