Swine Flu, How Serious Is It?
The novel influenza A (H1N1) virus strain continues to expand in the United States in the ongoing outbreak. The CDC expects that more cases, hospitalizations and deaths from this outbreak will continue over the upcoming days and weeks.
Officials from the U.N.’s World Health Organization (WHO), based in Switzerland, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the U.S., as well as some doctors, have expressed serious concern about the flu outbreak, worried that it might become a worldwide flu pandemic.
Although the exact origin of the outbreak is unknown, it was first detected when officials in Mexico and the United States suspected a link between an outbreak of late-season flu cases in Mexico and cases of influenza in communities in Texas and California. Within days, hundreds more suspected cases were discovered in Mexico, with more cases also showing up in the U.S. and infect populations of several other countries.
As of this morning, the CDC reports, according to the Associated Press, said the following key developments on swine flu outbreaks have occurred:
- Health officials gathering in Bangkok say Asia must remain vigilant over the threat of swine flu, which has largely spared the region. South Korea and Hong Kong are the only places in Asia with confirmed cases.
- Diplomats and officials say the World Health Organization intends to shorten its annual meeting in Geneva later this month because health ministries around the world are busy working on the outbreak.
- Mexico City lets all businesses reopen, including sports arenas, dance halls, movie theaters and restaurants, but they must screen for ill people and make surgical masks mandatory for employees and customers.
- Swine flu survivors in Mexico complain they’ve been shunned and discriminated against.
- China releases a group of people quarantined for a week after being on the same flight as a Mexican man diagnosed with swine flu.
- Filipino boxing champion Manny Pacquiao says he’ll return to Manila as scheduled, ignoring advice from Philippine health officials to self-quarantine in the United States to help prevent the spread of swine flu.
The first national death from swine flu has intensified a drive by health officials to make sure the public remains vigilant against the disease. Judy Trunnell, a 33-year-old Texas woman who died Tuesday is the first known fatality from the swine flu outbreak in the United States. Vaccine manufacturers say that they are in a good position to produce mass quantities of a potential vaccine, as a treatment, should the outbreak take a turn for the worse, to prevent others from being hospitalized or killed.
With concerns about contact & transmission risk, a vaccine has been at the forefront of plans to curb the swine flu virus, and The Washington Post reported late Tuesday that the Obama administration may even be considering a vaccination plan this fall for Americans that would involve a battery of three shots, two of which would be against the new viral threat.
Such a plan has not yet been confirmed to be in the works. Still, health officials told lawmakers Wednesday it took only two weeks to identify the symptoms & genetic characteristics of swine flu, which bodes well for fighting the virus on a larger scale should that become necessary.
The CDC naturally continues to take aggressive action to respond to the expanding outbreak. CDC’s response goals are to reduce spread and illness severity, and provide information to help health care providers, public health officials and the public address the challenges posed by this emergency.
Is the Swine Flu seriously dangerous? Only time will tell; the CDC is issuing updated interim guidance daily in response to the rapidly evolving situation.
References:
CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Wikipedia 2009 Swine Flu Outbreak
AP The Associated Press
ABC ABC News
