Influenza A

Just a short brief on what is big, happening to the world right now--> A(H1N1)

There are certain terms that one has to be clear of:
1. Influenza- popular type of flu among human
2. Pandemic- spread out to worldwide
3. Swine flu- usually hosted by pigs (source: wikipedia.org)

After all the influenza the world has been through- bird flu, Asian flu, and the history breaking Spanish flu which killed 50 to 100 million people and infected 500 million people which equivalent to 1/3 of Europe. It's been 3 months since the first outbreak of 2009 flu pandemic- A(H1N1). It is thought to be a mutation of Influenza A virus subtype H1N1 (H5N1 is also one of the subtypes). This is most likely emerged from pigs in Asia, then some North American carried back the virus to Mexico and that was where the flu pandemic started. The WHO pandemic level is now rise to level 6- the highest level, which means the virus is transmitted human to human, spreading one other in another WHO region. Up to date, there are a total of 115,331 reports with 630 deaths. (source: wikipedia.org)

The chances of death is actually very minimal unless you are underlying medical conditions or has illness like diabetes, asthma etc; you are pregnant; and children under 5. And Malaysia is one of the many affected countries but mostly are foreign transmission. Steps taken by government are:
1. closing down schools with suspected and confirmed cases
2. home quarantine those who were in close contact with the victim
3. encourage people to practice home quarantine if you have the flu's symptoms or you just came back from a country which has a high record of the flu.
4. home quarantine should be around 7 days and all leaves are paid with doctor's verification letter
5. body temperature are scanned in airports

Even though the government is making a huge effort in controlling this, the cases are still on-going until today to 710- 507 imported cases and 203 local infections and 90% have recovered (source: thestar.com.my).

If you have the following symptoms, it's time to be extra alert:
1. fever ***
2. flu ***
3. body ache *** (any part of the body e.g. throat, chest)
4. cough
5. vomit
6. diarrhea
7. headache

*** = main symptom

If you have the above symptoms, don't be panick as having the flu is not deadly. What you can do is wear a mask (in case of spreading) and see a doctor immediately. The chances of recovering are higher if you receive immediate treatment within 3 days.

To those who are not facing any of these symptoms, you can play a part in helping others too:
1. personal hygiene is very crucial- wash hands often, cover your mouth when coughing...
2. avoid close body contacts (including hand shake)
3. avoid crowd
4. avoid going to countries like USA (highest record in the world), Mexico (2nd), Australia (6th), Thailand (7th) and UK (8th) (source: wikipedia.org)
5. doing as what the government encourages
7. the best is wear a mask when you're out of home!

A(H1N1) may take a long time before it is over, but with appropriate action taken by each and everyone of us, we are actually giving a big helping hand to the world in controlling the flu.

p.s. I heard UCSI has suspected cases too, so to all UCSI-ians out there, watch out!

Sources:
1. thestar.com.my
2. wikipedia.org