Swine flu a seasonal pandemic, symptoms, diagnostics and prevention

Abstract

H1N1 often is cause of annual epidemics in world particularly during winters and is a seasonal pandemic that has been a cause of many deaths. The display of various strains of H1N1 always creates confrontation to public health and the scientific communities. The key behind the repeated epidemics is the transformation of the viruses to escape the immunity that is induced by former infection or vaccination. The pandemic was declared, by the WHO, as officially over in August 2010. The H1N1 virus has become a regular flu virus which occurs seasonally, and causes outbreaks in many areas of the world. This mini review discusses risk of this disease with pandemic potential globally, transmission, diagnostics and preventive measures to be taken by people and health institutes. A present it calls for alertness of the health systems worldwide and a need for active correlation between public and health institutes.

Antiviral Activities of Compounds Isolated from Pinus densiflora (Pine Tree) against the Influenza A Virus

“…According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it is estimated that 5-10% of the human population is infected by seasonal human influenza virus each year, and approximately 290,000 to 650,000 people globally die from influenza-related respiratory diseases [1,2]. The influenza virus is divided into four types (A-D) based on the core protein, and the influenza A virus (IAV) is considered the main target for drug development, especially since it is the most devastating in pandemic or epidemic outbreaks [3].…”

Swine Flu (Influenza A, H1N1pdm2009) Infection on an Elderly Patient with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD): A Case Report

“…This virus results from a triple-reassortant virus from avian, human, and swine flu viruses that mingle and swap their genetic material in pigs and has become a human pathogen. 2,3,12 The manifestations of swine flu are similar to other influenza viruses, which include fever, cough, pain in the throat, and breathlessness. Other manifestations, such as the rise in respiratory rate and hypoxia, may be found where the white blood cell (WBC) count is commonly in a normal range.…”

“…11 PCR was used to confirm the diagnosis of swine flu, where the optimal specimen for adults could be obtained from a nasopharyngeal swab. 12 An influenza virus displays antigenic diversity by 1) antigenic shift due to Ha and Na mutation in which they produce a new antigenic variant; Hemaglutinin (Ha) and Neuraminidase (Na) are proteins that play an important role in avoiding immune response, the results of mutation are later able to avoid pre-existing host defense; 2) antigenic shift that gained after reassortment of genes segment between two or more viruses in the same host and resulting in a new variant. 12,13 When a new variant of the influenza virus is created, it will spread quickly to the public as the herd community has yet to be formed.…”