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This is just one of the ways that scientists name the flu. The current new strain of flu is believed by some scientists to affect pigs, birds as well as humans. So perhaps it should rightly be called the swine / avian / human flu. But other scientists believe it is related to a strain the affects pigs. And to make matters complicated, the virus has so far not been isolated in pigs, so there are questions about whether it is right to call it swine flu in the first place?
Another way of naming flu viruses is after the country where it first appeared, The 1918 Spanish flu first appeared in Spain, the 1968 Hong Kong flu first appeared in Hong Kong... the current 2009 flu outbreak first appeared in Mexico. So it has also been called the Mexican flu.
Politics - and religion and business interest - however, gets in the way of naming flu viruses. Mexico is obviously not happy to have a new form of flu named Mexican flu. So it protested, Jews and Muslims, who do not eat pork and do not like to have anything to do with pigs, also protested about the new flu being called swine flu. Countries that export pork complained as well.
And so, the latest flu is now called Type A H1N1. This is the medical way of classifying flu viruses. Under this classification system, there are three main types of flus:
Apart from types A, B and C, there are also various sub-types calssified according to a H number and an N number. This is quite technical and there is no real need for non-medical people to know the details of this flu classification system. All types of flus produce very similar flu symptoms, such as fever, runny nose, sore throat, coughs, body aches, fatique, etc.
Should we worry about the swine flu?
What is known so far is that the present swine flu, or Type A H1N1, is highly contagious. It spreads easily. Within days, hundreds of cases were reported in Mexico. Very quickly, it spread to several countries across the world.
That's the bad news. The good news is that, so far, it has proven to be mild. Although several people have died, most others affected by the current A H1N1 virus experienced only mild flu symptoms.
However, flu viruses keep changing, or mutating. And what we still don't know is whether the current strain of swine flu or Type A H1N1 will later mutate into something more harmful. That was what happened with the 1918 Spanish flu. The initial strain was relatively mild, but later it became deadly.
The present swine flu and the 1918 Spanish flu are in some ways related. Both are Type A H1N1.
It is pointless, however, to worry and to over-react. Some over-reaction has already taken place, such as in Hong Kong when a case of swine flu was detected in a hotel and all the 300 people at the hotel were quarantined - they were not allowed to leave the place - for seven days!
Rather than worry and panic, you would be better off simply taking better care of your health, understanding the various flu issues such as what causes the flu and whether flu vaccines are effective and safe. In another article, I shall discuss the parallels between the present swine flu and the 1918 Spanish flu. That should give us a better idea of the extent of the risks that we face and the lessons we can learn from it.
Most importantly, learn how to prevent the flu naturally!