Swine Flu, should I be scared?

As at 3:43 pm on July 31st, Swine Flu had caused a total of 353 Deaths in the US, and 5,513 people had to be hospitalized. Bald, stark facts, but what does it mean for you?

So far, the overall death rate from swine flu is a low 0.5% - not greatly different from the seasonal flu that sweeps the world every year. Swine flu is now present in 120 countries, and has killed 700 people. England alone has 110,000 new cases last week! So looking at the death rate against the number of cases, it is far from exceptional and not much different from that for 'ordinary' flu - so I think we should relax a bit!

Perhaps the most important point is that almost all of those who have died from swine flu have had some other serious underlying medical condition, such as chronic asthma or a depressed immune system.

For the normally healthy person who catches swine flue, the most likely outcome is a few days of lethargy, low grade fever, muscle pains , headache and sore throat. All in all, a relatively mild illness.

However if you have the symptoms, and begin to feel much worse, or if your symptoms are still getting worse after seven days, you need to see your doctor.

Protecting yourself from swine flu is not so easy. Masks are of dubious value. Frequent hand washing, and regular cleaning of hand contact surfaces in the home - fridge and freezer doors, door handles, taps and so on with ordinary detergent is useful.

The best we can hope for is that others protect us by catching coughs and sneezes in a tissue, and staying away from work or school if they are infected!

Both the US and the UK have vaccination programs in preparation. However, it is unlikely that vaccines will be available until October. Even then, vaccine use will be prioritised so that pregnant women, other high risk groups and frontline emergency and medical staff are vaccinated first.

The general consensus is that there really is no need to be overly concerned, as long as things carry on as they are doing at present.

It is inevitable that there will be millions of cases worldwide, and obviously, a few fatalities. Things could get considerably worse if either or both of two things happen. If the virus mutates and changes the way it attacks its victims,or if it develops resistance to the anti-viral drugs that are currently effective against it, we would be looking at a potential nightmare scenario.

Thankfully, however. Nothing of the kind has happened yet!

Learn more about this author, Norman Munro.
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