Updated: 5/3 with cost of course of Tamiflu and the 5/3 number of confirmed cases by the CDC
Swine Flu was first identified in 1930, and was so named because it was similar to an influenza found in swine.
In 1976 more than 200 at Fort Dix came down with Swine Flu.
The current influenza is a witch's brew of one strain of human influenza virus, one strain of avian influenza virus, and two separate strains of swine influenza virus. The CDC refers to this version of influenza as swine influenza A (H1N1) or simply H1N1. Thus, as this a assortment of viruses, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) state that there is no relationship between the current virus and viruses currently found in pigs.
This flu cannot be caught by eating pork or by being near pigs. Regardless, the Egyptian Government ordered all of the country's 300,000 pigs be slaughtered.
Each year, more than 36,000 in the US die from the seasonal flu, a number little known by most. A large percentage of those who die are the elderly, the young, and those with compromised immune systems. In order to track the spread of H1N1, the CDC is maintaining a list of laboratory confirmed cases of H1N1 infections in the United States. As of 4 PM May 1, the number stood at 226 with the 7 cases in Maine not yet confirmed by the CDC.
Although much attention has been directed to Mexico, apparently the first documented case of H1N1 was in the United States in Imperial Country, CA on March 28th, and a second on March 30th in San Diego County, CA. (However, the CDC did not confirm the samples from these patients until mid April, after the Mexico outbreaks.) The first Mexican outbreak was reportedly of a 5 year-old on April 2 in La Gloria, Veracruz, Mexico.
The major concern about H1N1 is that the variant is so new that people have no immunity to it. Flu shots given to date have not included the unique witch's brew of viruses, and so no one has antibodies for this influenza. For this reason, the CDC declared a public health emergency on April 26, and the WHO is worried about a pandemic - an outbreak of the disease which would affect an exceptionally high proportion of the population.
According to the CDC, "The symptoms of this new influenza A H1N1 virus in people are similar to the symptoms of regular human flu and include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. A significant number of people who have been infected with this virus also have reported diarrhea and vomiting."
While there no time to develop a vaccine for this variant, H1N1 can be treated or prevented by Tamiflu (olsetamivir) or Relenza (zanamivir), both of which operate by blocking the action of neuraminidase, an enzyme which facilitates the movement of the virus from cell to cell.
More than 50 million courses of these antiviral medicines have been stockpiled by the US government and it is purchasing another 13 million courses (a course is 10 doses). To be effective, the medicine must be taken within two days of the onset of H1N1. In Maine, a course of Tamilu for those without health insurance would cost approximately $110.
Since we as taxpayers have paid for 63 million courses of the antiviral medicine, those courses are apparently being held in storage by the government for a pandemic, and sick people currently paying for the medicine are receiving it from the manufacturer and not from the government.
Two major questions regarding H1N1 are: 1) why have so many people died in Mexico and so few have died elsewhere and 2) can the masks being worn in Mexico actually prevent the spread of the disease.?
The first death from H1N1 occurred on April 13, when a woman with diabetes from Oaxaca state in Mexico died from respiratory complications. H1N1 quickly spread to metro Mexico City with its population of 20 million.
When the news started to hit the American media, numbers swirled about regarding the number of Mexican dead from the H1N1. What was missed by the media was that the common number used, 183, may not have been all deaths from H1N1. For example, it is also possible that the higher number of reported Mexican H1N1 deaths has been the result of deaths reported in hospitals which came from causes other than H1N1.
As of April 30, the Mexican government has been able to attribute only 12 deaths to the H1N1. Certainly, the Mexican number will go up as the impact of the H1N1 on Mexico City has been enormous, but the actual number of deaths truly attributable to the H1N1 in Mexico is currently unknown.
On May 1, the Associated Press reported that the Mexican government said that many of the confirmed H1N1 "dead were between the ages of 20 and 40 and that they had an overactive immune system" and that "Mexico City government officials announced that preliminary investigations showed most of the people suspected to have died of swine flu in the capital lived in poor neighborhoods."
An overactive immune system, which is also known as an Autoimmune disease is one in which an individual's own immune system is out of control and attacks organs or parts of the body. Lupus, for example, is an Autoimmune disease.
Finally, regarding the ubiquitous masks seen in Mexico City pictures and now in some parts of New York city, public health officials point out that the masks typically seen offer little protection to the healthy as these masks exhibit gaps at the edges near the mouth, especially as the individual speaks.
The masks being worn are typically surgical masks which are intended to prevent the transmission of germs from medical professionals to patients during procedures. The only effective mask, according to the CDC is the N95 respirators masks which can be found in some hardware stores or online. The Wall Street Journal, however, reports that a major manufacturer of N95 respirator mask has the item on backorder.
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