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Swine Flue Symptoms, Treatment & Protection

I thought being a health care professional it would be a good idea if I expressed the information I have been able to accumulate on the subject of H1N1.

H1N1 (swine flu) belongs in the same family as regular seasonal flu, but it is more serious, as its onset and symptoms can manifest quickly and without warning.

The signs which everyone should be looking for are:

sudden onset fever of more than 100’F (38.5’C)
severe headache, body aches, chills
lack of energy, tiredness, dizziness
dry, hacking cough
difficulty breathing, blue lips and extremities, fainting (seek medical assistance immediately)

The majority of healthy individuals are able to combat H1N1 using empiric measures. This means getting plenty of rest, staying hydrated by drinking plenty of fluids and keeping the fever under control with acetaminophen (TYLENOL).

Prevention is key in controlling the spread of this virus. The most important point, as you all know, is good hand washing technique with either soap and water or the alcohol gels like PURELL. Coughing and sneezing onto your sleeve/elbow/tissue and not on your hands or directly in the air keeps you from infecting other. Keeping in good health by eating a balanced diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables (preferably raw or slightly steamed) and getting 6-8 hours of good restful sleep will keep your body from getting run down and therefore will be less susceptible to any infection.

The people most at risk are people with underlying medical conditions, especially asthma and heart conditions, people with compromised immunity like HIV or who have had transplants, children under the age of 5 and pregnant women. This group of people should be closely watched for the first signs of any infection.

Immunization is a way to boost the body’s defenses to combat these communicable diseases. In a nutshell immunity works like this. Remnants from the killed/inactivated virus are introduced to the body, usually as an injection. The body not being able to recognize these foreign particles instructs the white blood cells to attack and remove this foreign material. This is when the virus specific antibodies are produced, which will be used by our immune system in subsequent exposures to the same virus. Think of it this way. Each virus can only be "killed" by a virus specific "bullet". If the body does not have these "bullets" (measles, mumps, flu, hepatitis, chicken pox etc) you are likely to get the full-blown disease when you are exposed to the virus. If the body has these "bullets" then you are likely not to get infected or you will get a very mild form of the disease depending on the number of "bullets" (antibody titer) you have.

With all the media hype, should you get the vaccine? As with any vaccine or medication for that matter, side effects are always a concern. For the most part, pain, tenderness and swelling at the injection site and a mild fever are what most people will experience. More complicated side effects like paralysis and Guillain-Barre syndrome are very rare. The H1N1 vaccine was developed over the last year and because of its similarity to seasonal flu, side effects are expected to occur at a similar rate. Scientists can only infer this, as they have not had the opportunity to study data from a large population sample. At this point, the benefits outweigh t he risks, especially for the at risk groups mentioned earlier.

I hope this information will make your decision whether to get the vaccine or not easier.

One last thing. I believe people with egg allergies should not get the vaccine as it is manufactured using egg/egg proteins. I will try to get this point clarified and let everyone know.

Stay healthy, ask questions and get information from reputable sources, as there is a lot of information circulating and remember that numbers can be manipulated or presented in ways that support the writer’s point of view, without actually having any merit at all.

ADV-Care Pharmacist
ADV-Care Pharmacy Inc.
195 Riviera Drive #2, Markham, ON L3R 5J6
905-948-1991 ext 3310

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