Swine Flu History
Swine Flu rarely affected humans until 2009. In the past, only swine was affected by this virus and it was not transmitted to humans. In some rare cases, it affected people, who had direct contact with pigs. It was considered as a mild disease, as it had limited ability to spread from person to person.
Swine influenza exploded unusually in the year 1979 at Fort Dix, New Jersey. Statistics show that there had been one death due to this infection during that year. Approximately twelve people required hospitalization. Reports revealed that more than 200 people were infected with swine flu virus. However, most of them did not complain about any symptoms. Nevertheless, people began to fear that a new pandemic might have been triggered. This resulted in the emergence of massive public vaccination programs for Swine Flu conducted by public health officials.
According to Swine Flu history, 25% of people in the United States were vaccinated in order to get protection from swine flu. However, it was then discovered that the vaccine was associated with Gullain-Barre syndrome. As the virus had no potential to spread from person to person, the 1979 strain did not spread. Swine flu became diverse in the 1990s. Though the specific reason for the changes in this viral infection is vague, it may be related to over-crowding on large swine farms.
The outbreak of swine flu in 2009 is mainly due to a type A influenza virus. There are many sub-types of Influenza A and H1N1 virus which are responsible for the outbreak of swine flu in 2009. Swine Flu history shows that vaccination proves to be insufficient in providing protection from this virus. Although it protects against the virus strain, it also mutates rapidly. The antibodies from a vaccine do not work against a newly mutated strain. It is therefore essential to make new influenza vaccine every year in order to keep up with the new variations of H1N1 virus.
The study of swine flu history helps us to understand certain symptoms, which can be associated with this viral infection. People suffering from fever, chills, cough, running nose, muscular pain and headache should undergo a lab test to confirm whether it is swine flu or some other condition. Some people may also experience shortness of breath, diarrhea and dizziness.
Swine flu led to the shutting down of more than 400 schools in US in 2009. Instructions were given to shut down schools with confirmed cases of infection to close for 14 days. This is first time in the swine flu history that the infection spread quite rapidly. People are now ready to spend on preventive measures and they use masks, gloves and disinfectant spray.
Older drugs such as amantadine used to treat swine flu in the past are found to be not very effective in treating the 2009 Swine influenza. According to reports, swine flu strain responds to two antiviral medicines. Oseltamvir and zanamivir are the two best antivirals used to treat swine flu viral infections in human. Oselamvir is available in the form of a pill and zanimvir is a drug that has to be inhaled.
