Basic Facts about Swine Flu
First detected in Mexico , Novel influenza A (H1N1) is a new flu virus of swine origin. The H1N1 strain is the same strain which causes seasonal outbreaks of flu in humans; however, the swine flu H1N1 strain is different as it contains genetic materials typically found in strains of virus, which affect birds, swine and humans. When flu viruses come into close contact with the same host, they have the ability to swap genetic components with each other. The virus is thought to spread through coughs and sneezes of people who have been infected.
In humans, swine flu symptoms are similar to those manifested for seasonal flu, i.e., sudden onset of fever, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, headache, tiredness, aching muscles, chills, sneezing, runny nose and loss of appetite.
Buy an Air Purifier Proven and Tested to destroy Viruses.
It is now expected that a swine flu pandemic is likely to strike the UK in September or October as the virus is gathering strength as it spreads. The World Health Organisation is preparing to declare a swine flu pandemic and the world is in phase 5 of WHO's pandemic alert scale with 6 being the highest. Phase 5 of the pandemic alert scale “is characterized by human-to-human spread of a virus into at least two countries in on WHO region. The declaration of Phase 5 is a strong signal that a pandemic is imminent and that the time to finalise the organisation, commincation, and implementation of the planned mitigation measures is short” (W.H.O). According to the W.H.O, 74 countries have reported 27, 737 cases of swine flu, and 141 deaths since its outbreak in April 2009.
The treatment of swine flu mainly involves antiviral drugs and antibiotics to treat any complications which may arise. A number of air purifiers can also be used for preventative measures; these have been tested and found to be effective in denaturing the proteins which make viruses active.
Virus characteristics and heat instability
Viruses aren't considered living organisms, but they are very dependent on living cells to replicate. The structure of the virus includes the envelope which is constituted by proteins and the genetic material which can be DNA or RNA. All these components are thermosensible. The genetic material and the proteins have complex structures that are involved in their function and the change of their arrangements may result in lost of function. This process is called denaturation. There are two basic ways to do that: changing pH and temperature.
The avian virus, H5N1, is a negative-sense, single-stranded RNA virus 5 , which has two types of proteins in its surface: hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) 6 . It is known from the literature that the virus can be inactivated by 56 o C in 3 hours and 60 o C in 30 minutes 1 . Thus, only four degrees of temperature elevation reduced the time of inactivation exposure about 85%.
About the Author
Kunbi BalogunAllergyMatters.com
Comments
This article hasn't been commented yet.
Notice: Information on this website is provided strictly for noncommercial public informational purposes only and should not be used to replace the care and information received from your healthcare provider. Please consult a healthcare professional with any health concerns you may have.
Write a comment
* = required field