Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Health Issue of Today

Today 7 July 2009 below are some informations I got. Enjoy your reading!

Malaysia reports 75 more cases of A/H1N1 flu


KUALA LUMPUR, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia reported 75 more cases of influenza A/H1N1 on Monday, bringing up the total case of the disease to 434 in the country.

Malaysian Health Minister Liow Tiong Lai said that among the new cases, 41 were imported while 34 were locally transmitted.

He noted that among the new reported 34 locally transmitted cases, nine patients were the participants of the four-day Asia-Pacific Pharmaceutical Conference which concluded on June 30 in Penang, northwestern Malaysia.

Liow said that among the total 434 people confirmed with the disease in the country, 343 have been declared fully recovered, while 91 patients were still under treatment in hospitals.
Here, I got some informations from http://microbecide.com
Swine Flu or A/H1N1

Commonly called "swine flu" or A/H1N1, the virus has been found to be made up of genetic elements from four different flu viruses – North American Mexican influenza, North American avian influenza, human influenza, and swine influenza virus typically found in Asia and Europe.
This new strain appears to be a result of reassortment of human influenza and swine influenza viruses, in all four different strains of subtype H1N1. The six genes from American swine flu are themselves mixtures of swine flu, bird flu, and human flu viruses.
Human Flu
Human flu is a term used to refer to influenza cases caused by Orthomyxoviridae that are endemic to human populations. For an infection to be endemic, each subject (human or animal) when infected with the disease must pass it on to exactly one other subject (on average). For example, chickenpox is endemic in the UK, but malaria is not.
Most human flu is a non-pandemic flu that is slightly different from the main human flu that existed in last year's flu season period. This type of flu is also called "common flu" or "seasonal flu" or "annual flu". It causes yearly flu epidemics that are generally not deadly except to the very old or very young.

Influenza Viruses

Human flu-causing viruses can belong to any of three major influenza-causing Orthomyxoviruses:

Influenzavirus C infects humans and pigs and is rare compared to types A or B, but can be severe and can cause local epidemics. Yearly vaccines do not vaccinate against type C.

Influenzavirus B viruses are only known to infect humans and seals, giving them influenza. This limited host range is apparently responsible for the lack of Influenzavirus B caused influenza pandemics in contrast with those caused by Influenzavirus A.

Influenzavirus A is the cause of all flu pandemics infecting humans, other mammals and birds.
Influenza A virus strains are categorized according to two proteins found on the surface of the virus: hemagglutinin (H) and neuraminidase (N). All influenza A viruses contain hemagglutinin and neuraminidase, but the structure of these proteins differ from strain to strain due to rapid genetic mutation in the viral genome.

H and N Numbers

Influenza A virus strains are assigned an H number and an N number based on which forms of these two proteins the strain contains. There are 16 H and 9 N subtypes known in birds, but only H1, H2, H3 and N1, N2 are commonly found in humans.
The Influenza A virus subtype H1N1, also known as A(H1N1), is a subtype of influenza virus A and the most common cause of influenza (flu) in humans. H1N1 influenza A strains caused roughly half of all human flu infections in 2006. Other strains of H1N1 are endemic in pigs (swine influenza) and in birds (avian influenza).

H1N1, H1N2, and H3N2 are the only known Influenza A virus subtypes currently circulating among humans.

Subtypes

The Influenza A virus subtypes that have been confirmed in humans, ordered by the number of known human pandemic deaths, are:

H1N1 caused "Spanish Flu" and a reassortment caused 2009 swine flu outbreak

H2N2 caused "Asian Flu"

H3N2 caused "Hong Kong Flu"

H5N1 "The Bird Flu" was the world's major influenza pandemic threat until the Swine Flu Pandemic of 2009

H7N7 has unusual zoonotic potential

H1N2 is currently endemic in humans and pigs

H1N1 is currently endemic in both human and pig populations. A variant of H1N1 was responsible for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed some 50 million to 100 million people worldwide over a period of about a year in 1918 and 1919.

H2N2

The Asian Flu was a pandemic outbreak of H2N2 avian influenza that originated in China in 1957, spread worldwide that same year during which an influenza vaccine was developed, lasted until 1958 and caused between one and four million deaths.

H3N2

H3N2 is currently endemic in both human and pig populations. It evolved from H2N2 by antigenic shift and caused the Hong Kong Flu pandemic of 1968 and 1969 that killed up to 750,000. The dominant strain of annual flu in January 2006 was H3N2.

H5N1

H5N1 was the world's major influenza pandemic threat until the Swine Flu Epidemic of 2009--a new strain of H1N1.

H7N7

H7N7 In 2003 in the Netherlands 89 people were confirmed to have H7N7 influenza virus infection following an outbreak in poultry on several farms. One death was recorded.

H1N2

H1N2 is currently endemic in both human and pig populations. The new H1N2 strain appears to have resulted from the reassortment of the genes of the currently circulating influenza H1N1 and H3N2 subtypes. The hemagglutinin protein of the H1N2 virus is similar to that of the currently circulating H1N1 viruses and the neuraminidase protein is similar to that of the current H3N2 viruses.

H9N2

A low pathogenic avian influenza A (H9N2) infection was confirmed in 1999, in China and Hong Kong in two children, and in 2003 in Hong Kong in one child.

H7N2

One person in New York, USA in 2003 and one person in Virginia, USA in 2002 were found to have serologic evidence of infection with H7N2.

H7N3

In North America, the presence of avian influenza strain H7N3 was confirmed at several poultry farms in British Columbia in February 2004. In April 2004, 18 farms were quarantined to halt the spread of the virus. Two cases of humans with avian influenza were confirmed in that region.
H10N7 In 2004 in Egypt H10N7 was reported for the first time in humans. It caused illness in two infants in Egypt.
So we have to do some protection in order to mantain our health.
Here are some tips on what you can do to prevent the spread of H1N1:

1. Wash your hands frequently with Antiseptic Hand Wash, especially before a meal.

2. Buy from a reputable company as the amount and type of antiseptic is important to ensure
100% kill of the germs. If not all 100% is killed, the remaining germs can mutate and develop resistance to the antiseptic, resulting in a new strain of "Super bugs".

3.If water is not available, use good quality Antiseptic Hand Sanitizers that do not require a water rinse.

4.Make sure you carry pocket size Hand Sanitizers and Wipes.

5.If you are ill, avoid infecting others by wearing a Face Mask. Wear the mask properly by expanding it as much as it can go, and cover your nose and under you chin. Make sure you change your mask frequently when it becomes moist over time. Do not reuse the mask. Dispose the mask properly in a sealed bag. Once the mask dries, the germs can become airborne and contaminate the environment.

6.If you are Not ill, protect yourself with a N95 mask. If you find it diffficult to breathe with the mask on, chose a respirator with replacement filters and chage the filter frequently.

7.Monitor your body temperature every day (in the morning, afternoon and night) and plot your temperature over time. This will allow you to establish a baseline of what is your normal temperature at different times of the month. This is to allow you to detect a fever as this is one of the symptoms of Swine Flu. You can then seek medical attention sooner, rather than later. if necessary, you can take steps to protect other members of your family from close contact.

8.For females, you will notice your temperature will rise slightly when you are ovulating. Do not be alarmed! Only if the temperature keeps rising steadily, see your doctor. Young children also tend to have higher body temperatures, hence establishing your baseline and knowing your body will avoid misleading data.

9.If you can't avoid crowds, then boost your immunity with Vitamins.

10.Finally, make sure you maintain good hygiene practices. Avoid touching your mouth or face before cleaning your hands first. Avoid crowded places, especially hospitals. Cover your mouth when you sneeze or cough and avoid throwing contaminated tissues in open bins.

11.Keep your environment free of germs with cleaning sanitizer and air purifiers (only those with HEPA Filters are effective). Choose a air purifier that suits your room size and can be maintained easily and runs quietly. Disinfect childrens toys once a day.

12.See a doctor if you are in doubt or if you have flu-like symptoms, including fever, lethargy, lack of appetite, coughing, runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
Adapted from : http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Protect-Yourself-From-Influenza-A-H1N1-Swine-Flu&id=2292350
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