Symptoms of Swine Flu

If you were one of the lucky people to both catch and survive the Swine Flu during the 2009-2010 pandemic, the according to a new study, your immune system may have become supercharged. It seems that the Swine Flu virus was totally unknown to many that caught it and the body did not know how to cure it.

Somewhere in the vicinity of 60 million people came down with the Swine Flu last year, and even though death by flu was much lighter than in prior years, there were still around 18,000 deaths from the disease. What is surprising is what comes to the survivors is a type of super immunity. They seem to have antibodies that are capable to kill any type of flu virus and not just the swine flu.

Research has shown that survivors of the H1N1 virus have an amazing immune response. The researchers say that five of the antibodies they have identified are capable of fighting off all known seasonal flu’s, the Spanish flu virus that killed around 50 million people in the 1918 pandemic and even the bird flu variant H5N1.

The researchers feel that it is how unique the Swine Flu was that triggered that kind of reaction from the immune system. Since the body did not know what the exact invasion was, it began to create antibodies for everything taking hints from every flu virus it had encountered to date. By the time a person had completely recovered they seemed to be immune to every type of flu around. Researchers are unsure if the H1N1 vaccine will give the same type of immunity that actually having the swine flu will give. More research is needed.

Now onto the really interesting part, An Oxford University Virus expert Dr. Sarah Gilbert is feeling that this immunity from swine flu survivors in the relatively near future could lead to a super vaccine. This vaccine could give you immunity to every type of flu, a universal influenza vaccine.

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A version of last years H1N1 flu strain is circulating in a South Carolina prison. As a precaution the prison has shut the doors to all visitors for the moment. The outbreak has so far hit about 140 of the inmates. The facility currently holds just under 750 inmates.

The outbreak began on January 17^th and moved rather swiftly through the prison population.

For 2011 most of the US seems to have bypassed the Swine flu for the year. The United Kingdom on the other hand, has seen a lot of H1N1 this year including 112 deaths to date. Hospitals are also rapidly filling up with flu vaccine in short supply. A few of the other countries in northern Europe have been hard hit with swine flu as well. So far few cases have been seen in the US but that could change. Air travel makes it easy for a virus to move from country to country.

You can read more about this subject at CIDRAP.

Wash your hands?

Did you know that there is some speculation that all of the large number of new people washing their hands maybe what saved the world from swine flu last year? There are many at the WHO and the CDC that believe this is what saved a lot of people and delayed the swine flu virus from really taking hold, giving the authorities enough time to develop a vaccine. You can read the original article in this business week article, and like they say, It just goes to show you that your mother was always right!

Did you know that there are government people that sit in the bathroom and spy on you? Last year they noted that 85 percent of the people using public restrooms were now washing their hands. That is apparently the largest volume of the public since they began tracking how many people are washing their hands in public restrooms.

Do Clean Hands Really Matter?

So why is it so important to wash your hands regularly? Cleaning out the dirt and grime on your hands does a couple of things, first you get rid of any viruses that you may have already picked up,  second you  remove all of the dirt and grime that gives germs and virus a place to hide.  Nearly every surface you touch will have been touched by others. If it is a public place where many people go daily it will have been touched a lot! And a virus can live outside of the host for a long time. Swine flu will live outside the body for around 5 hours. But can be washed of and cause you no damage if you get your hands clean before you give the H1N1 Virus an opportunity to enter your body.

How does the Virus Enter my Body

One of the simplest ways that H1N1 enters into your body is from your hands. It can work just like this, you go into the grocery store, and you pull open the door handle which has been opened hundreds of times today. Now the virus has lodged itself onto your hand, you have an itchy eyebrow and rub that hand across your eye to scratch it. Congratulations, you have just caught the flu! It really is that simple and that is why it’s so important to keep your hands washed.

Proper Hand Washing Technique

So washing our hands is pretty simple right? Well actually few people perform the task correctly. You need to begin with warm water as that helps to break up the grease and grime that may reside on your hands. There is no need for using anti bacteria soap however as normal soap will work just fine. Begin by getting your hands wet and adding in the soap, work the lather around your entire hands and between your fingers. You will need to wash for 20 to thirty seconds for this process to be effective. Now rinse and dry your hands and you are finished!

There You Have it

If you follow this process every time you use a public restroom, and anytime you return home from being out you should cut down your family’s rate of infection pretty dramatically. You will give germs little opportunity to grow and no place to hide around you! Now you can leave the house and have some fun in safety!

If you are in the United Kingdom right now there is no way to miss all the Horrible cases of swine flu going around. The number of people that are hospitalized with the H1N1 virus is up 60 percent since last week. That is a number that is of serious concern to anyone.

Also Swine flu targets those that are younger as they have not been exposed to the virus in the past. Those that are older generally have been exposed and are resistant to the virus.

The death toll has also risen sharply with 36 deaths for those under the age of 65. Again this is rightly a cause of concern for many.

What Can You do to Protect Your Family?

First, wash your hands in plain soap and water often. Steer clear of those anti bacterial products as they will actually make you more susceptible to catching something. Plain soap is all you need to stay healthy and get your hands clean.

Next, be sure you are getting plenty of Vitamin D3. If you can get enough from free Natural Sunshine that is best. That can sometimes be difficult during the winter months depending on where you live. IF it is a challenge for you just get your self a good quality Vitamin D3 supplement.

Finally, avoid crowds. If at all possible avoid going to places like doctors and hospitals where there are a lot of people that have the flu, making it far more likely that you also could catch it from them.

I sincerely hope that you and your family are safe and healthy and stay that way!

Image via Wikipedia

It has been a big year for Swine (H1N1) flu in Great Britain this year. Why the large outbreaks and mass numbers of people being hospitalized. They also refuse to release the numbers of those still sick that actually received the flu jab. There is a good reason for that. If those numbers were regularly reported, as they should be, many people would see how ineffective the vaccination for the flu really is and stop taking the shot year after year.
There has been at least one confirmed death in the UK that is known to have been given the flu jab. Last year in the eastern US there was a hospital that released data by accident I am certain, showing that 70 percent of those with H1N1 had been given the flu shot. Again, if this vaccine is so ineffective why are they pushing it so hard on those of us just trying to stay healthy?
I feel that the biggest reason for the large number of people that are getting hospitalized with the flu this year is a lack of vitamin D. Vitamin D is known to attack all manner of virus bacterial infections. The best source for getting vitamin D is from sunshine; your body will make optimal amounts for you if you get the proper amount of sunshine. This does not mean going out and getting roasted, but safe amounts of sunshine will do so much for your immune system and keep you healthy.
The second reason that I think more people are hospitalized is the rates of obesity. All diseases will attack those that are overweight. The extra weight makes your immune system weak. Extra weight gives your body so many other things to work on. The repair system in your body, of which your immune system is a part, is working to restore all of the damage done to your body by moving around far more mass than your body was designed to carry. All of the extra work leaves little time for your immune system to protect you from the new viruses that your body has not already developed immunity to.
Lastly, I feel that diet plays a large part in why so many get sick each year. A link has already been shown between cancer and high fat sugary foods. Not just any fats, but the truly unhealthy kinds of fats you will find in your prepackaged grocery store foods. On the other hand you could start getting a lot of good saturated fats from fresh coconut milk; this has been shown to have anti-viral properties. A healthy well balanced diet will do much to attack the H1N1 virus and help to keep you healthy all year round.
So if you are looking to stay out of the hospital and stay healthy this winter, make sure that you get plenty of sunshine, work at keeping your weight balanced, and eat better foods. Also the standards of washing your hands, forget the anti bacterial soaps and stick to normal soap, and stay away from places where there are large crowds. Also be sure to wash you fruits and vegetables well as the virus could be lurking there from those that have been handling your food before you. And if you do get the flu, stay away from others, wash your hands, get plenty of sleep and lots of sunshine.