Moldova

Symptoms of swine flu and how to recover

April 29, 2009

Subscribe to: RSS, Email

Harry Smith, anchor of CBS' The Early Show, spoke with a Texas family who contracted Swine flu but are recovering without difficulty. Dr. Jennifer Ashton outlined the symptoms of swine flu (see video).

The symptoms of swine influenza are similar to normal influenza (fever, cough, tiredness, muscle aches, sore throat, chills, shortness of breath, runny nose, headache). Some cases of swine influenza have also complained of vomiting and diarrhoea. In some cases, swine influenza can result in a severe pneumonia. Symptoms of influenza generally appear between two to four days after exposure.

Swine influenza (swine flu) is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by type A influenza. Swine flu viruses do not normally infect humans, however, human infections with swine flu do occur, and cases of human-to-human spread of a swine flu virus have been recently confirmed.

Human cases of a new form of influenza virus were identified in the United States, Mexico and Canada in April 2009. The influenza is a swine influenza A virus. The World Health Organization has declared the swine influenza situation to be a public health emergency of international concern.

The Swine Influenza A virus is thought to be sensitive to the new antiviral drugs oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza), but resistant to both amantadine and rimantadine.

The pandemic alert level has been raised by the World Health Organization.