Q: What is swine flu?
A: Swine flu is a general term for influenza viruses adapted to pigs, causing a respiratory disease in the animals. Swine flu can infect humans and in such cases most often is transmitted from a pig to someone handling pigs. Swine flu also can pass person-to-person.
Scientists long have been concerned that a new flu virus could launch a worldwide pandemic of a killer disease. A new virus could evolve when different flu viruses infect a pig, a person or a bird, mingling their genetic material. The resulting hybrid could spread quickly because people would have no natural defenses.
Q: Are there any confirmed cases of swine flu in Snohomish County?
A: No. However, two people who live in Snohomish County — a 3-year-old boy in Snohomish and a 34-year-old woman in Lynnwood — are among of at least 10 patients in Washington with probable cases of swine flu. A 37-year-old pediatrician working for The Everett Clinic in Mill Creek also is believed to have the swine flu.
Q: Is this swine flu virus contagious?
A: The swine flu virus is contagious and is spreading from human to human, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, it is not yet known how easily the virus spreads between people.
Q: How does swine flu spread?
A: Spread of this swine flu is thought to be happening in the same way that seasonal flu spreads — mainly from person to person through coughing or sneezing of people with the flu. Sometimes people may become infected by touching something with flu viruses on it and then touching their mouth or nose.
Q: What are the symptoms?
A: Symptoms are similar to those of regular flu. They include: fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills, fatigue, and occasionally vomiting and diarrhea.
Each year in the U.S., about 36,000 people die from flu-related causes and 200,000 are hospitalized.
Q: Why is this being called a health emergency?
A: Because of the potential. None of the 109 confirmed cases in the United States have resulted in deaths, although a boy with swine flu visiting from Mexico died here. Even so, the virus, A (H1N1), is identical to the strain of swine flu that is killing people in Mexico. That many victims are young also is raising concerns, as seasonal flu usually tends to affect the elderly more. There are worries this flu has the potential to spread widely, affecting millions of people around the world.
Q: Will a flu shot immunize me from swine flu?
A: No. Current flu vaccines will not immunize people from the swine flu. The federal government and drug makers are beginning the process of developing a vaccine against this new virus.
Q: When is flu season?
A: Timing and duration of flu seasons vary. While flu outbreaks can happen in the northern hemisphere as early as October, most of the time flu activity peaks in January and can last through spring.
Q: Who dies from the flu-related causes and what kills them?
A: About 90 percent of people who die from flu-related complications in the United States every year are 65 or older. Most deaths are attributable to heart and lung problems. Pneumonia also is a leading cause of death among people with the flu.
— Herald staff
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