About the Swine Flu Pandemic

Swine Flu Pandemic

H1N1 Swine Flu is Not Just A Hoax By Big Pharma
By Debora MacKenzie, New Scientist Magazine

With official deaths remaining relatively low, the backlash against the H1N1 pandemic response is in full swing. Claims range from a massive overreaction by health authorities to a conspiracy cooked up by Big Pharma. But while swine flu may have boosted profits for vaccine manufacturers, the reality of the pandemic is more complicated.

Another Reason to Get a Flu Shot: To Protect Your Heart
By Harvard Health

If you haven't gotten your flu shot yet, what are you waiting for? The hour or so it would take is nothing compared with the time you might spend fighting the flu or something worse

Don't Skip Swine Flu H1N1 Vaccine
By Howard LeWine, M.D.

It's still too soon to call the H1N1 influenza A strain a weaker virus than the usual influenza virus. Yes, the total number of deaths caused by this flu is slightly below what many public health officials had expected. However, the scary fact is that the deaths are occurring in younger people.

Helpful Tips for Boosting Your Immunity
By Lisa Tsakos

Everyone is talking about cold and flu season this year, thanks to the H1N1 media frenzy. While those of us who aren't giving in to the panic may suggest that it isn't that different from any other flu, the fact is, H1N1 is affecting age groups and populations that aren't typically affected by other flu strains. To avoid germs and boost immunity here are recommendations ...

Should We Worry About Pets Catching H1N1
By Steve Dale

The fact that a single cat came down with the H1N1 is fascinating to scientists, veterinary infectious disease researchers and human virologists, but is this truly significant at all?

How Schools and Parents Can Prepare for Swine Flu
By Zach Miners

With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reporting approximately 44,000 cases of swine flu and at least 114 pediatric deaths since April, schools across the country are considering how to deal with a mass outbreak

H1N1 and Its Descendents: Where This Pandemic Flu Came From - and Where it Might Go
By Harvard Health Letters

Already, 2009 is not a typical year. We're in the midst of a flu pandemic caused by a virus that first emerged in Mexico in mid-February. Billions are being spent on preparedness plans. And millions of Americans may line up this fall to get two kinds of flu vaccines, one for the regular seasonal flu that comes around every winter and another for the pandemic strain. So far, the 2009 pandemic has been more widespread than lethal.

Vive la Resistance to Flu
By Debora MacKenzie

Vaccinating people against swine flu may be a lot easier than anyone dared hope, as it turns out that people have an unexpected degree of immunity to the pandemic now sweeping the world.

Air Kisses, Hugs, and Other Ways to Avoid Getting Swine Flu
By Deborah Kotz

In an effort to contain swine flu, the French Health Ministry this week called for citizens to avoid "all direct contacts between people and particularly with sick people," which means no kissing or shaking hands.

4 Flu Vaccine Doses for Kids This Fall -- but Where and When
By Nancy Shute

This may go down in history as the most confusing flu season ever, given that a vaccine for the new H1N1 swine flu isn't yet available, but the plain old seasonal flu vaccine is. Talk about a recipe for pandemonium at the pediatrician's office!

Seasonal Cold or Swine Flu? Moms Face Tough Calls
By Deborah Kotz

I sent my 11-year-old son to school today with a stuffy nose and mild cough, as I've done countless times in the past. Now, though, I'm wondering whether I should have kept him home. How do I know it's really a garden-variety cold and not the swine flu?

Still Confused About Swine Flu Shots? Kids Under 10 Will Need 2
By Nancy Shute

The National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases made it easy to think that all children will need just one swine flu immunization, but that's not true. The younger a child is, the less well his or her immune system responded to the swine flu vaccine in clinical trials. So children under age 10 will need two doses of swine flu vaccine, one month apart, according to the NIAID itself.

Better Ways Medicine Can Beat Back Swine Flu
By Bernadine Healy M.D.

Yes, today's swine flu outbreak could change quickly. But it's time to give up the ghosts of 1918 that so haunt our medical thinking. Our challenges today are not what they were when we had nothing to offer but are more about knowing just what to offer, when, and to whom. This swine flu pandemic promises to teach numerous lessons that will inform future crises. Some are already evident

Swine Flu Advice for Pregnant Women and New Moms
By Deborah Kotz

Pregnant women and parents of newborns should do the following: Get a seasonal flu vaccination now, since it's currently available; get the H1N1 vaccine in mid-October when it first becomes available; and call the doctor immediately if they have signs of the flu, such as fever, chills, coughing, or a sore throat.

5 Ways College Students Can Protect Themselves from Swine Flu
By By Nancy Shute

Kids are going back to college this week, and swine flu is, too. The University of Kansas has already reported cases on campus, as have other schools. Parents can be forgiven for thinking, "Yikes!" But schools have been busy getting prepared over the summer, presuming that the new H1N1 flu virus will be a serious factor in the fall. The federal government has been busy, too, with new advice for parents and students on what they should do

Swine Flu: 14 Things You Need to Know to Keep Yourself Safe
By Nancy Shute

The Swine Flu outbreak could peter out, like a 1976 swine flu outbreak did. Or the virus could spread easily from one person to the next, sparking a pandemic in which millions of people are infected. Here's the rundown on what we know so far, as well as the options for avoiding swine flu and for treating it if you get it.

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