BEST SKY

It’s pretty hard to know who and what to believe about the Swine Flu Virus (H1N1) with so much conflicting information around. With so many emails circulating, it’s hard to know whether gargling with salt water can really lessen the chances of catching the virus, and whether or when the vaccine will be available.

Here are 5 Swine Flu resources that are available to everyone almost every day. Knowing where to find them and using them will help keep you up to date with the most accurate information about your child and the H1N1 virus.

CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention)-This is an organization run by the United States government that is designed to do just what it says-control and prevent the spread of infectious disease. There is a 24 hour, toll free number that will allow you direct access to the latest information, and make you privy to what national health care professionals have determined is the best way to avoid the virus.

You can also use this as an accuracy check for emails that you may receive containing information about the virus. CDC checked out the gargling with salt water email by searching their website. There website showed no scientific basis for this statement.

Local Health Department-The health departments at the state and local levels are on high alert and are a great source of information about what’s happening in your town. They are able to tell you whether they have the vaccine, when they are expecting the next shipment, and when and if they are likely to begin vaccinations in area schools. Having the most accurate and up to the minute information is one of the best ways to stay healthy.

School Nurse-This is a wonderful person to know and check in with. Knowing how the school is handling increases in cases of the flu, and what the plan is should the number of cases spike is great information to have. Children are in a high risk group because they come in contact with so many people daily, and because their hygiene skills are not always consistent.

Being aware of what your child’s school is doing both short-term and long-term to prevent the spread of the virus is helpful physically and emotionally. This helps mold consistent hygiene for your student, and gives you information that is both accurate and current. And the more information you have, the better and more informed your decisions will be about your family’s health.

Pediatrician-Your child’s pediatrician is an invaluable source for everything from symptoms and treatments to prevention and vaccines. Because your physician knows your child’s medical history, they are the best professional to advise you about whether your child should receive the vaccine, whether they should receive the mist or the shot, and the best way to treat the flu should your child catch it.

The Swine Flu is fast acting and you should be too. Don’t be afraid to call the pediatrician immediately. If you’re wrong, you get to take your child home again. If you’re right, and your child does have H1N1 you have most probably saved your child’s life. Calling the pediatrician has to be an immediate response if there is fever, headache, or sudden loss of energy and appetite. This is one time when you hope to be wrong.

Other Parents-Even though other parents can’t give medical advice, you can exchange information with each other that is helpful to you, your children, and the community as a whole. Networking with other parents can yield information that may help you increase your options in ways you had not even considered, and is a valuable tool for keeping your child healthy.

Valentine’s Day is a day for love and romance, candlelit dinners and bubble baths, kissing and cuddling. However, if you or your partner is down with the flu, you might not be able to do any of the above. Kissing and getting intimate is the easiest way to spread the virus. Find out more about influenza below to avoid spreading the virus.

What is H1N1 virus?

H1N1 is a flu virus and is more commonly known as swine flu. It was first detected in the United States in April, 2009. It is named for a virus that pigs normally catch. This virus has now widely spread throughout the world contaminating almost 10% of the world’s population. The virus was originally called swine flu because of the genes, which are similar to that of flu viruses in pigs. The H1N1 flu virus is passed from person to person just like other flu strains. You cannot catch swine flu from eating pork.

How does H1N1 virus spreads?

Like most viruses, it enters the body through the mucous membranes – the eyes, the nose or the mouth. Swine flu is spread just as the regular seasonal flu spreads. It goes from person to person through close contact and direct touch, indirect touch, or respiratory droplets carrying the virus from person to person or from person to environmental surfaces through coughs and sneezes. If you touch where a person with swine flu touches, you will most likely pick up the virus and get the swine flu. That is how it spreads indirectly.

Precautions to be taken

You can help prevent the spread of germs that cause influenza by covering your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.

You can take simple precautions to stay away from any contamination by:

Washing your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. You can also use alcohol-based hand cleaners.
Avoiding touching your eyes, nose or mouth.
Trying to avoid close contact with sick people.
Staying home from work or school if you are sick.
Avoiding kissing and getting intimate with an infected person on Valentine’s Day

Influenza treatments

A number of methods have been recommended to help ease symptoms, including adequate fluid intake and rest. Over-the-counters pain medications such as acetaminophen and ibuprofen do not kill the virus; however they may be useful to reduce the symptoms. Aspirin must not be used (by anyone, but especially by people under 19) with any flu symptoms because of the risk of developing other symptoms.

At the moment there is only one prescription medication approved and widely used for the treatment of this condition.

Tamiflu (oseltamivir): It works by binding itself to the neuraminidase and stops the virus from spreading. When the neuraminidase is blocked, the newly formed viruses cannot be released from the infected cells. This prevents the flu virus from spreading and infecting other cells.

The current H1N1 virus scare (Swine Flu) is driving the need for companies to be flexible in allowing employees the ability to work from home if the pandemic continues to worsen. Available technologies such as remote access secured by VPN (Virtual Private Networking) provide the capability to offer this to remote workers.

Many major corporations already have remote access services in place to help their field service personnel access company resources. So the first thing to do is to contact your IT department to find out if this capability already exists in your company.

Company requirements. The methods available to companies to begin to allow access to their systems via high-speed Internet vary. Opening up a port and adding a VPN tunnel into the business is the first step. Then, you need to determine what interface will be used. A popular way is to allow desktop access via a software solution such as GoToMyPC. Microsoft Windows operating systems have Remote Desktop Connection built in to them and provide similar functionality.

This would allow employees to connect to their desktop PC from their PC at home, and be able to work just like they were sitting at their desk. They would not have to install any of the applications on their home equipment, plus email settings and drive mappings would all be intact.

Another scenario involving remote access includes users who have a laptop that they take home or on the road with them. Chances are there already exist Internet connections for these users at these locations, and since their applications are probably already installed on their laptop, they would not have a need for a remote desktop software connection, but instead rely on their remote access capabilities to work with data and files at the home office.

Employee requirements. What does a remote employee need to have access to? Three things generally fall into this category: email, files and applications. These could all be accessed via the remote connections mentioned above. The only potential challenge would be local printing. But, since current trends and attitudes shy away from unnecessary printing, the best thing to do would be to keep documents in the digital realm and manage them appropriately.

Since these applications would all be running on the user’s PC that is located at the office, there would be no bottle-neck in speed. The PC at the work site would operate like normal, and the appropriate live screen image would be sent back to the PC at home.

Laptop users have somewhat more of a challenge, even with a very fast high-speed Internet connection and good VPN software. This results from the need for the local applications on the laptop to access data and files at the office over the Internet connection, which slows things down. The amount of slowdown depends upon what is being accessed, but if it is large data files such as databases, spreadsheets, publishing documents, etc., the speed difference will be noticeable and might prevent the use of them altogether. In these situations, what works on a PC at home also works on a laptop on the road, and Windows Remote Desktop Connection or 3rd-party desktop sharing software would be a good option for the user.

It matters little what the driving force is in allowing employees to work
from home. If the capability to work remotely is available and it benefits the company, then it will be promoted and used. It may also help in reducing the spread of biological viruses, and promote environmental responsibility by reducing the frequency that users drive in to the office to perform their work functions.

Swine Flu is very big news indeed right now, and more and more cases are being confirmed daily all over the world. The amount of swine flu cases could be hugely reduced if people can be a little more careful in their day to day lives. Before you are able to figure out a way to combat the spread of this awful virus, you need to know how it can be transmitted between people in an everyday environment.

So to that end, here’s a look at what it is and how the virus is spread around people. Be mindful of your conduct and that of others when out and about, and you can play your part in slowing the spread of this awful virus.

Basically, Swine Flu is a respiratory disease that first became known in pigs. The strain of Swine Flu that is currently infecting humans is a mutated strain dubbed H1N1 by the American government. Ordinarily, this particular virus would not affect humans, but the different strain has proven top be lethal for many people, and very difficult to deal with for others.

The strain that is passed between humans is airborne, and is passed on by contact with infected people. It has an incubation period of roughly 7 days, thus it may not manifest itself until a week after you come into contact with an infected person.

The name ‘Swine Flu’ doesn’t mean you can become infected with the virus by eating pork. It is caleld Swine Flu as it primarily attacked pigs before mutating. That said, you can be certain to destroy bacteria and viruses (including Swine Flu) in food by cooking things at a temperature of 160 degrees Farenheit.

Unfortunately it may well be impossible to contain the pathogen , thus you must be on your guard from this invisible menace. Put your hand over your mouth when coughing or sneezing (or ideally, use a tissue or handkerchief) to stop the spread of germs.

Wash your hands at every opportunity. Also, it would be beneficial if you carried around some form of hand cleanser gel or similar product. There are a selection of these products available on the market that are inexpensive and very effective. A small price to pay to help you secure your health.

Be sure to keep yourself as safe as possible by concentrating on hygiene and not spreading germs, and together we can all make a difference and slow the spread of Swine Flu across the planet. Think of the friends you have and your family as well as everyone else. Help everybody to stay clean of Swine Flu.

The illness caused by the various influenza viruses are known as flu. Some of the types of flu include H1N1 (swine flu), H5N1 (bird flu) and seasonal flu. The swine flu virus is similar to that of the seasonal flu. The only difference is that most of the people do not have immunity since the H1N1 virus is new. The symptoms of the swine flu virus include fever, cough, body aches, sore throat, headache, chills and fatigue. Some of the other symptoms reported by the people are diarrhea and vomiting.

These viruses also lead to severe illness, respiratory failure, pneumonia and finally results in death. Some of the symptoms of the swine flu virus in children include fast breathing, severe vomiting, bluish or gray skin color, extreme tiredness, worse cough and fever. Proper medical treatment should be given to children when these symptoms are found in them. The symptoms of swine flu virus in adult include sudden dizziness, persistent vomiting, and pain in the chest region followed by bluish nails, continuous sneeze, cough and cold. Swine flu is highly risky to pregnant women, children and adults with obesity, people with chronic medical problems like lung disease, asthma, immunosuppresion, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Some of the symptoms found in the children are fall allergies, strep throat, common cold and sinus infection. Swine flu spreads from one person to another through continuous coughing and sneezing. Droplets from a sneeze or cough may prevail in the glasses, doors, wash basins, television and telephones. These germs prevail only for a short span of time.

It’s usually at this time of year that we look to provide ourselves and our children with extra protection that will assist in warding off colds and flu. With the present virus flu outbreak many questions are being asked regarding the use of herbal remedies.

Novel H1N1 referred to as “Swine Flu”, is a new influenza virus which causes illness in people and spreads from person-to-person, probably in much the same way that regular seasonal influenza viruses can spread.

We have been asked by many people wondering about using Irish Organic Herbs organic Echinacea in this situation. As H1N1 is a new virus, there are presently no clinical studies on the use of Echinacea on the virus responsible for Swine Flu.

However, it is widely accepted that having a strong immune system is the key to keeping infections such as colds and flu at bay.

Echinacea is historically used to treat fevers, colds and flu and well as infections in many parts of the body and is known to support and promote the natural powers of resistance in the body.

Irish Organic Herbs are the first company to have pioneered the organically certified field-scale cultivation of Echinacea in Ireland. The plants of Echinacea (Echinacea purpurea) are grown under strict organic conditions on certified organic Irish farms.

Ingredients

The tincture of equivalent of 75 g of fresh whole plant (including 1/4 root) of certified organic Echinacea purpurea in 100ml of 66% organic grain ethanol.

Irish Organic Herbs Echinacea for children

Our Echinacea is suitable for children aged over 2 years and our product label gives clear dosage instructions for children based on age level.

Directions for use

Adults:              3 times daily with water or fruit juice:

Maintenance 20 drops, therapeutic 35-45 drops.

Acute circumstances: 80 drops every 3 hours for 1-3 days.

Children (over 7):         1/3 to 1/2 of adult dosage.

Children age 2-7:          2 drops multiplied by years of age, 3 times daily.

e.g. dosage for a 4 year old is 2 drops x 4 = 8 drops, 3 times a day

Acute: 4 drops multiplied by years of age, every 3 hours for 1-3 days.

e.g. dosage for a 4 year old is 4 drops x 4 =16 drops, every 3 hours for 1-3 days

There is still much debate as to whether it is best to use the herb continuously at low dosage or to have intermittent breaks. Traditional use was high dosage for short periods and modern studies are inconclusive on this point.

Anna Maria Keaveney, Medical Herbalist, MIIMH*, who advises Irish Organic Herbs has recommended taking the maintenance dosage for the duration of the winter. It is sensible to begin taking the maintenance dosage two weeks before the school year recommences where exposure to flu viruses will be increased.

At the initial cold/flu symptoms, the high acute dosage is used for 1-3 days, reverting back to our lower therapeutic dosage until symptoms have disappeared at which stage the maintenance dosage is again used.

You should always consult a Medical Herbalist/Doctor if symptoms persist or in case of pregnancy, lactation or autoimmune illnesses like HIV, lupus etc or if on medication or have a medical condition.

Irish Organic Herbs Echinacea is available on line at www.irishorganicherbs.ie

* Anna-Maria Keaveney qualified in 2000 with a Degree in Herbal Medicine from Middlesex University (UK). Anna-Maria already had a Science Degree from Trinity College Dublin. In 2004 Anna-Maria obtained a Masters in Primary Health Care from the College of Surgeons. She currently lectures on a Degree course in Herbal Science at Cork Institute of Technology.

Swine flu is also known as the H1N1 flu and a number of other names such as swine influenza, hog flu, pig flu etc. The swine flu virus is a strain of the influenza family of viruses that is predominantly endemic in pigs. The swine flu virus is common all over the world; however the transfer of the virus from pigs to humans is not so common and does not necessarily cause human influenza. This usually leads to the production of antibodies in the human blood stream. When such a transmission does create human influenza, it is known as zoonotic swine flu. Those people who are exposed to pigs more than others stand a higher chance of getting infected by swine flu. However the meat of a pig will not carry any virus with it once it has been well cooked. Symptoms of zootonic swine flu in human beings are like the symptoms of normal influenza faced by humans. Chills, fever, sore throat, headaches, coughing, muscle and joint pains are bound to be experienced if you do not only suffer from influenza but also swine flu. Thus the latter becomes tougher to diagnose.The main causes for the swine flu are identified and research work is carryion on for producing immunity for this disease.

During 1918, swine flu was first said to be a disease related to human influenza and this was understood when pigs and human beings grew sick together. However the first identification of an influenza stemming from diseases in pigs did not occur till at least ten years later. For the 60 years that followed, swine flue strains were mostly H1N1. Later newer strains of three different subtypes and five different genotypes were found to be the cause of swine flu among pigs in North America. Latest strains that have emerged show strains from humans, pigs and birds and these together form the fast spreading swine flu virus that if detected too late, causes the life of the victim to grow fatal.

The H1N1 version of swine flu is one of the strains that caused the 1918 flu pandemic. The descendants of this virus have been circulating among humans throughout the 20th century. This has worsened the condition of the normal seasonal epidemics of influenza that normally affect humans. However it is rare that the virus might get transferred from pigs to humans directly and only 12 such cases have been found in America. However if that is to imply that swine flu is less likely to affect humans, do not live in denial as it does not take much to restore its pandemic state. Though the outbreak of swine flu in pigs are common and its rarely found in humans, or at least studies said so, it is shocking how things seemed to have changed and tables have been turned in the latest swine flu pandemic. Many are falling victim to swine flu and each has to be very responsible and even more careful.