I'm over the swine flu hype now. The media has completely blown the situation completely out of proportion, and for what? It seems very apparent to me that swine flu, just like any other flu, can only be fatal if you let it develop into something worse.
Let's compare the two.
| Normal Flu |
Swine Flu |
| Highly contagious. Spread by coughs and sneezes. |
Highly contagious. Spread by contact with sick pigs, touching contaminated objects, and through coughs and sneezes |
| Symptoms include high fever, cough, chills and sweating, sore throat, weakness, headache, general muscle and joint pains (legs and back). |
Symptoms include high fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, running nose, headache, chills, fatigue, diarrhoea and vomiting.
|
| Serious complication resulting from flu: pnemonia. |
Serious complication resulting from flu: pnemonia |
Treatment involves: Stay in bed and rest until the temperature has been normal for 48 hours. Drink enough fluids to maintain normal urine output. Take paracetamol to control fever, aches and pains (adults can use aspirin). Early use of antiviral medication may shorten the length and severity of illness. Consult a doctor to discuss treatment. Avoid exposure to dust, alcohol, fumes and tobacco smoke as much as possible. Immunisation, if desired.
|
Treatment involves: Various antiviral medications such as Tamiflu and Relenza. These may help to reduce the symptoms and speed recovery. Resting and drinking plenty of fluids. Avoiding public places to reduce the risk of transmission. Staying home from school or work until you are completely recovered. Taking steps to reduce the risk of transmission to others in your household. For example, disposing of your own dirty tissues, and washing your hands regularly, particularly after coughing or sneezing. In particular, avoid contact with children or the elderly, who tend to be more vulnerable to infectious diseases. |
| Can be fatal. |
Can be fatal. |
Information found from
here (normal flu) and
here (swine flu).
Note the differences? Nothing really major, is there?
Now let's look at swine flu deaths. Of the 15000 swine flu cases reported worldwide, only 99 deaths have occured. Over 400 cases of swine flu have been reported in Australia alone (source
here), but how many deaths have actually occured in Australia? Why is that? I'm going to attribute it to the fact that Australia has a fairly decent healthcare system. At current, Mexico is the only place with a high swine flu death toll. Have a look at the lovely WHO table
here.
So really, why is everyone worried? If anything,
this article is an even bigger cause for concern. Swine flu currently has a death toll of about 121, whereas the normal flu has a death toll of over 16000 since the start of this year. Worried now?
Welp, that's the end of my rant for today. By the way, for all those considering wearing face masks for protection, I have some news for you: face masks only effectively last for a period of 15-30 minutes. If you exceed that time frame, it actually puts you at greater risk because of the moisture that builds up in the mask.
Happy camping, all!