Posts Tagged ‘cdc’
How serious is swine flu infection?
Like seasonal flu, swine flu in humans can vary in severity from mild to severe. Between 2005 until January 2009, 12 human cases of swine flu were detected in the U.S. with no deaths occurring. However, swine flu infection can be serious. In September 1988, a previously healthy 32-year-old pregnant woman in Wisconsin was hospitalized for pneumonia after being infected with swine flu and died 8 days later. A swine flu outbreak in Fort Dix, New Jersey occurred in 1976 that caused more than 200 cases with serious illness in several people and one death.
How can someone with the flu infect someone else?
Infected people may be able to infect others beginning 1 day before symptoms develop and up to 7 or more days after becoming sick. That means that you may be able to pass on the flu to someone else before you know you are sick, as well as while you are sick.
What should I do to keep from getting the flu?
First and most important: wash your hands. Try to stay in good general health. Get plenty of sleep, be physically active, manage your stress, drink plenty of fluids, and eat nutritious food. Try not touch surfaces that may be contaminated with the flu virus. Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
Are there medicines to treat swine flu?
Yes. CDC recommends the use of oseltamivir or zanamivir for the treatment and/or prevention of infection with these swine influenza viruses. Antiviral drugs are prescription medicines (pills, liquid or an inhaler) that fight against the flu by keeping flu viruses from reproducing in your body. If you get sick, antiviral drugs can make your illness milder and make you feel better faster. They may also prevent serious flu complications. For treatment, antiviral drugs work best if started soon after getting sick (within 2 days of symptoms).
How long can an infected person spread swine flu to others?
People with swine influenza virus infection should be considered potentially contagious as long as they are symptomatic and possible for up to 7 days following illness onset. Children, especially younger children, might potentially be contagious for longer periods.
What surfaces are most likely to be sources of contamination?
Germs can be spread when a person touches something that is contaminated with germs and then touches his or her eyes, nose, or mouth. Droplets from a cough or sneeze of an infected person move through the air. Germs can be spread when a person touches respiratory droplets from another person on a surface like a desk and then touches their own eyes, mouth or nose before washing their hands.
How long can viruses live outside the body?
We know that some viruses and bacteria can live 2 hours or longer on surfaces like cafeteria tables, doorknobs, and desks. Frequent handwashing will help you reduce the chance of getting contamination from these common surfaces.
What can I do to protect myself from getting sick?
There is no vaccine available right now to protect against swine flu. There are everyday actions that can help prevent the spread of germs that cause respiratory illnesses like influenza. Take these everyday steps to protect your health:
* Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
* Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.
* Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.
* Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
* If you get sick with influenza, CDC recommends that you stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.
What is the best way to keep from spreading the virus through coughing or sneezing?
If you are sick, limit your contact with other people as much as possible. Do not go to work or school if ill. Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing. It may prevent those around you from getting sick. Put your used tissue in the waste basket. Cover your cough or sneeze if you do not have a tissue. Then, clean your hands, and do so every time you cough or sneeze.
What is the best way to keep from spreading the virus through coughing or sneezing?
If you are sick, limit your contact with other people as much as possible. Do not go to work or school if ill. Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing. It may prevent those around you from getting sick. Put your used tissue in the waste basket. Cover your cough or sneeze if you do not have a tissue. Then, clean your hands, and do so every time you cough or sneeze.
What is the best technique for washing my hands to avoid getting the flu?
Washing your hands often will help protect you from germs. Wash with soap and water. or clean with alcohol-based hand cleaner. we recommend that when you wash your hands — with soap and warm water — that you wash for 15 to 20 seconds. When soap and water are not available, alcohol-based disposable hand wipes or gel sanitizers may be used. You can find them in most supermarkets and drugstores. If using gel, rub your hands until the gel is dry. The gel doesn’t need water to work; the alcohol in it kills the germs on your hands.
What should I do if I get sick?
If you live in areas where swine influenza cases have been identified and become ill with influenza-like symptoms, including fever, body aches, runny nose, sore throat, nausea, or vomiting or diarrhea, you may want to contact their health care provider, particularly if you are worried about your symptoms. Your health care provider will determine whether influenza testing or treatment is needed.
If you are sick, you should stay home and avoid contact with other people as much as possible to keep from spreading your illness to others.
If you become ill and experience any of the following warning signs, seek emergency medical care.
In children emergency warning signs that need urgent medical attention include:
* Fast breathing or trouble breathing
* Bluish skin color
* Not drinking enough fluids
* Not waking up or not interacting
* Being so irritable that the child does not want to be held
* Flu-like symptoms improve but then return with fever and worse cough
* Fever with a rash
In adults, emergency warning signs that need urgent medical attention include:
* Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
* Pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen
* Sudden dizziness
* Confusion
* Severe or persistent vomiting
Can I get swine influenza from eating or preparing pork?
No. Swine influenza viruses are not spread by food. You cannot get swine influenza from eating pork or pork products. Eating properly handled and cooked pork products is safe.
Swine Influenza (Flu)
Human cases of swine influenza A (H1N1) virus infection have been identified in the United States. Human cases of swine influenza A (H1N1) virus infection also have been identified internationally. The current U.S. case count is provided below.
Investigations are ongoing to determine the source of the infection and whether additional people have been infected with swine influenza viruses.
CDC is working very closely with officials in states where human cases of swine influenza A (H1N1) have been identified, as well as with health officials in Mexico, Canada and the World Health Organization. This includes deploying staff domestically and internationally to provide guidance and technical support. CDC has activated its Emergency Operations Center to coordinate this investigation.
Laboratory testing has found the swine influenza A (H1N1) virus susceptible to the prescription antiviral drugs oseltamivir and zanamivir and has issued interim guidance for the use of these drugs to treat and prevent infection with swine influenza viruses. CDC also has prepared interim guidance on how to care for people who are sick and interim guidance on the use of face masks in a community setting where spread of this swine flu virus has been detected. This is a rapidly evolving situation and CDC will provide new information as it becomes available.
http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/index.htm
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The World Health Organization now says there are 40 confirmed cases of swine flu in the United States and that it is “very concerned” about the spread of the disease, the Associated Press reports.
The figures have been confirmed by the U.S. government Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, the AP says. WHO also reports that it has now begun work on a swine flu vaccine.
None of the U.S. cases has been fatal, WHO says.
The U.N. agency could decide soon whether to raise its pandemic alert level as a result of the increasing number of confirmed cases in Mexico and elsewhere, said WHO spokesman Paul Garwood.
He says the health body recommends that anyone suffering from some kind of flu-like ailment should see a doctor. “There are measures in place that can treat this illness,” Garwood says.
Swine Flu Investigation
The CDC is actively investigating isolated human cases of swine influenza A (H1N1) in several states (CA, TX, OH, KS, NY) and is working closely with Canada and Mexico and with the WHO. The CDC is continuously updating investigation information
As with any infectious disease, CDC recommends that people should take everyday preventive actions.
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Obama: Swine flu not reason for ‘alarm’
Associated Press
By LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP Medical Writer - Mon Apr 27, 8:06 AM PDT
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama said Monday the threat of spreading swine flu infections is matter of concern but “not a cause for alarm.” The United States and other countries across the globe increased their vigilance as the World Health Organization said there are now 40 confirmed cases in the U.S.
That’s twice the number previously reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
The WHO, a United Nations agency, said none of the cases in the U.S. has been fatal.
Amid increasing worries about a possible global pandemic, Obama told a gathering of scientists that his administration’s Department of Health and Human Services “has declared a public health emergency as a precautionary tool to ensure that we have the resources we need at our disposal to respond quickly and effectively.”
The acting head of the CDC said earlier Monday that people should be prepared for the problem to become more severe, and that it could involve “possibly deaths.” Dr. Richard Besser said officials were questioning people coming into the U.S. about how their health.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama said Monday the threat of spreading swine flu infections is cause for concern but “not a cause for alarm,” as the United States stepped up border monitoring and countries across the globe increased their vigilance as well.
“The Department of Health and Human Services has declared a Public Health Emergency as a precautionary tool to ensure that we have the resources we need at our disposal to respond quickly and effectively,” Obama told a gathering of scientists, amid increasing worries worldwide about a possible pandemic.
The acting head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier Monday had said that people should be prepared for the problem to become more severe, and that it could involve “possibly deaths.” Dr. Richard Besser said U.S. officials were questioning border visitors about how their health.
The quickening pace of developments in the United States in response to some 1,600 swine flu infections in neighboring Mexico was accompanied by a host of varying responses around the world. The European Union advised against nonessential travel to the United States and Mexico, China, Taiwan and Russia considered quarantines and several Asian countries scrutinized visitors arriving at their airports.
In the United States, a private school in South Carolina was closed Monday because of fears that young people returning from Mexico might have been infected.
“We are closely monitoring the emerging cases of swine flu in the United States,” Obama said. “I’m getting regular updates on the situation from the responsible agencies, and the Department of Health and Human Services as well as the Centers for Disease Control will be offering regular updates to the American people so that they know what steps are being taken and what steps they may need to take.”
“But one thing is clear: Our capacity to deal with a public health challenge of this sort rests heavily on the work of our scientific and medical community,” the president said. “And this is one more example of why we cannot allow our nation to fall behind.”
Besser described the new U.S. border initiative as “passive screening.” He said authorities were “asking people about fever and illness, looking for people who are ill.”
The U.S. declared a national health emergency in the midst of uncertainty about what the mounting sick count — 1,600 or more in Mexico alone — meant ongoing infections or merely resulted from health officials missing something that had been simmering for weeks or months. The declaration did, nevertheless, allow Washington to ship roughly 12 million doses of flu-fighting medications from a federal stockpile to states in case they eventually need them.
Besser traveled the morning news-show circuit Monday, telling interviewers the U.S. government was being “extremely aggressive” and saying he wouldn’t personally recommend traveling to parts of Mexico where the new virus has taken hold. But he noted that the issue of a travel ban was under discussion and that nothing had been decided.
Besser said he was not reassured by the fact that so far in the U.S., no one has died from the disease.
“From what we understand in Mexico, I think people need to be ready for the idea that we could see more severe cases in this country and possibly deaths,” he said. “That’s something people have to be ready for and we’re looking for that. So far, thankfully, we haven’t seen that. But we’re very concerned and that’s why we’re taking very aggressive measures.”
Meanwhile, officials of Newberry Academy in South Carolina said Monday in a statement that seniors from the school were in Mexico earlier this month and some had flu like symptoms when they returned.
State Department of Health and Environmental Control spokesman Jim Beasley said test results on the students could come back as early as Monday afternoon. The agency has stepped up efforts to investigate all flu cases in South Carolina. There have been no confirmed swine flu cases in the state.
A New York City school where eight cases were confirmed will be closed Monday and Tuesday, and 14 schools in Texas, including a high school where two cases were confirmed, will be closed for at least the next week. Some schools in California and Ohio also were closing after students were found or suspected to have the flu.
In Mexico, the outbreak’s epicenter, soldiers handed out 6 million face masks to help stop the spread of the novel virus that is suspected in up to 103 deaths. Most other countries are reporting only mild cases so far, with most of the sick already recovering. Cases have been confirmed in Canada — six — and the U.S. — 20.
Spain reported its first confirmed swine flu case on Monday and said another 17 people were suspected of having the disease. The European Union health commissioner advised Europeans to avoid nonessential travel to Mexico and the United States. Also, three New Zealanders recently returned from Mexico are suspected of having it.
Complicating response strategies was what World Health Organization spokesman Peter Cordingley described as major difficulty that experts were having in assessing precisely the nature of the threat.
“These are the early days. It’s quite clear that there is a potential for this virus to become a pandemic and threaten globally,” Cordingley said. He said it was spreading rapidly in Mexico and the southern United States.
Cordingley said “honestly don’t know” the extent of the problem. He added: “We don’t know enough yet about how this virus operates. More work needs to be done.”
Multiple airlines, including American, United, Continental, US Airways, Mexicana and Air Canada, said they were waiving usual penalties for changing reservations for anyone traveling to, from, or through Mexico, but have not canceled flights.
The World Bank pledged to send Mexico $25 million in loans for immediate aid and $180 million in long-term assistance to address the outbreak, plus advice on how other nations have dealt with similar crises. Mexico officials say the flu strain may have sickened 1,614 people since April 13 but laboratory testing to confirm that and how many truly died from it — at least 22 so far out of the 103 suspected deaths — is taking time.
Worldwide, attention focused sharply on travelers.
“It was acquired in Mexico, brought home and spread,” Nova Scotia’s chief public health officer, Dr. Robert Strang, said of Canada’s first confirmed cases.
Besser said that while the U.S. hasn’t advised against travel to Mexico, it has urged people to take precautions, such as frequent hand-washing while there.
Associated Press
Associated Press writers Mark Stevenson and Olga R. Rodriguez in Mexico City; Frank Jordans in Geneva; Mike Stobbe in Atlanta; and Maria Cheng in London contributed to this report.