Swine Flu Strikes!
This new strain of the flu has taken over the headlines. Its discovery is so recent that we don't know much about its geography, how dangerous it is, and whether it is dying down or flaring up. As a microbiology lab employee, I figured I'd share a little about this crazy new virus.
Despite how recently this strain was discovered, here is a little bit of what we do know about Swine Flu (AKA Pig Flu).
It does seem to be new
Genetic testing indicates that this virus is "triply recombinant" (meaning it has DNA from three animals, that normally isn't in the flu). Besides its normal Flu DNA, it has Human DNA, Pig DNA, and Bird DNA (which has led us in the lab to start calling it 'Pete's Dragon Flu').
It is treatable
If, knock on wood, you do end up getting the flu, all is not lost (so far the deaths in Mexico you've been getting all worked up about are all in patients who didn't know there even was such a thing as Pig Flu). Now that the alarm has been raised, your doctor will be considering the possibility of Pig Flu if you do get flu-like symptoms. In the tiny chance that you really get it, this strain has been proven to be susceptible to several antivirals (neuraminidase inhibitors like asoseltamivir and zanamivir).
Its prevalence is very low (for now)
When start feeling like you've got "the flu," what you actually have is probably one of the viruses that cause the same sorts of "achy-muscle, gong-in-your-head, just-want-to-lay-down, I-can't-breathe" symptoms. When you feel this way you might have
-Parainfluenza (1, 2 or 3),
-Adenovirus,
-Metapneumovirus (MPV),
-Influenza (A or B -- the flu), or
-Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV).
Since they all feel just as terrible when you are infected, the only way to know what you have is to get lab work done. If the lab determines your virus is actually Influenza A, they will take it to the Health Department and they can tell you what strain it is. If it is actually Flu A:H1N1, sorry, but it might be Swine Flu (which is treatable, remember. Don't give up hope).
In case I haven't calmed your nerves enough, here are some graphs (updated last week) of the prevalence of all the Flu A (top) and Flu B (bottom), in the greater Salt Lake area.
Basically, Flu A (which includes Pig Flu) has petered right out for the year, and Flu B is going down, but still around. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't see this whole Pig Flu thing destroying the world... yet.
2 Comments:
I really like your posts like this: ones that use your expertise to educated the rest of us and share your insights (though your poetry is pretty high up there, too). The fact that I like them so much makes me think I should probably blog more about economic issues, cool things in mathematics, and computer related stuff. Not sure that mine would be quite as appreciated, though.
I read the New York Times front page article today about how President Obama is trying to ease fears about the swine flu. I have to say, I found your post much more credible and fear easing.
I don't know Wm, I think I would be a frequent reader. You should give it a try.
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