Swine Flu and the Spanish Flu of 1918

Here is some information I want to share that I gleaned from various on-line news stories about the rapidly evolving flu epidemic.

It has been a little over two weeks since the first case of swine flu was diagnosed in Mexico. As of April 27 the numbers of victims have risen to about 1600 cases and 149 confirmed deaths in Mexico. According to reports, Mexico does not have a very effective public health system and has been slow to inform and warn their population about the disease. Steps were not taken immediately to isolate patients who were sick with the swine flu.

Throughout the world alarms are ringing as new cases are being positively identified in rapidly rising numbers. The number of confirmed cases today in the United States was at 48 with 11 of those in Californi. The rest are scattered from Texas to New York where four cases occurred in one school.

Swine flu was discovered in 1930 as a respiratory disease that affected only pigs. Since then it has evolved into a variety that humans can catch, and now it is transmitted from one person to another. It is not caught directly from pigs, or from eating pork. It is known as type A H1N1, and Tamiflu is the only drug that is used as an effective treatment against swine flu .

The incubation period of swine flue is just three days. The symptoms are the same as other flu-like respiratory diseases, and include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headaches, chills, and fatigue. Some victims of swine flu also experience diarrhea and vomiting. But it takes a laboratory test to make a positive identification - a test that takes three days for the result. Scientists in Hong Kong, a place previously stricken with other virulent forms of flu including SARS, Asian flu, and bird flu, is mobilizing as many as 10,000 people - anyone and everyone who ever worked in the medical field in other flu epidemics, to battle the new swine flu. More important to the rest of the world, in addition to trying to develop a specific vaccine for swine flu, they are working to develop a test that will take only a few hours to make a positive identification of what kind of flu is affecting a patient.

As said above, so far there is no vaccine developed for this strain of flu, and any flu shots that were given to people this year will not prevent them from catching the new type of flu. The only effective drug for treatment against known cases of swine flu is Tamiflu. According to authorities in Hong Kong, the most flu-savvy area in the world, it takes a stockpile of at least 20,000 courses of Tamiflu to treat the possible cases in a population of about 7 million people.

What is most alarming about the current outbreak of swine flu is that it is the same Type A variety as that of Spanish Flu, the disease that was pandemic from September 1918 until June 1920. That flu strain killed more than twice as many people than died in World War I. In the United States Spanish flu first emerged at Camp Syracuse, NY, where recruits were living in close quarters in tents. The first recruits were treated casually at aid stations until some sicker men were sent to hospitals in the city of Syracuse, and the epidemic rose astronomically and proceeded to spread. It is estimated that 28% of the US population caught the Spanish flu and 500,000 to 650,000 people died of it. The epidemic spread around the globe extending into the Arctic and across the Pacific islands. 14% of the population of Fiji died of the disease. All told Spanish flu killed about 5% of the total population of the world between 1918 and 1920.

Considering the past devastation to the human race by various types of virulent flu, we have good reason to fear this current outbreak of swine flue, and we should take the best precautions possible. For the population as a whole the best possible defense against the disease is for anyone and everyone who even suspects he or she might be coming down with flu to just stay home and avoid any more human contact than necessary.

Since flu is especially dangerous to older people, I am increasing the varieties of fruits, vegetables, juices, and other protective foods that I eat. Also the old tried and true practices of drinking lots of liquids, moderate exercise, and getting plenty of rest are always good. They should avoid crowds as much as they can, wash their hands often, and possibly wear a good quality surgical mask to venture out among people.

But most of all for myself I plan to stay home and not mingle with other people more than I have to. I'll do my mingling on Gather and hope the new flu bug doesn't know how to break through the firewall.

 I can see mountains in Mexico from my front window, and those flu viruses don't recognize borders. I live less than 5 miles from the Mexican border among the many paths taken by illegal immigrants on their way to San Diego where they can blend in with the large Latino population. They pass by in the night and who knows what infectious hitchhikers they may be carrying with them.

With the special press corps meeting at the White House on Sunday informing the American people of the danger of a possible epidemic of swine flu, and the continuing close attention by the government to every aspect of the danger we face, as well as giving us directions about what actions we should take, perhaps this time the spread of the disease can be halted, but we can't count on it.