The flu H1N1 is walking through the planet and horrifies people. Mass media are full with messages about the developing epidemy. There are opinions that the threat is exaggerated by some pharmaceutical companies which want to sell their new medications. Other people are sure that we are facing with a really dangerous disease. Let’s try to understand the nature of the swine flu and evaluate the level of its danger for the humanity.
The director of Russian virology R&D institute Dmitrii Livov thinks that the threat of the swine flu H1N1 pandemia is dramatized in many aspects. “Every day in the world there are about 400 new patients detected in a lab way. This is a trifle. Though this figure must be multiplied by 50-100 and we will get the number of infected people – about 1 million, nevertheless the H1N1 virus is stunted and slowly spreading. The fatal cases quantity of this ailment cannot be compared with a usual season influenza, which kills 250-500 thousands people every year. At the same time the humanity will learn to warn neither the beginning of such diseases nor earthquakes and hurricanes. This flue is an example of “new” infections, such as acute respiratory syndrome, which is called ignorantly “atypical pneumonia” or “bird flu”. These are dozing volcanoes which must wake in some time.”
In Alexandr Ghinzburg’s opinion (he is the director of Epidemiology and Microbiology Institute named after Gamaleia) the number of people infected with the H1N1 flu can be considered as a usual background of the disease. The expert showed his rather optimistic attitude to a possibility of successful fight against the disease. The modern technologies in molecular biology, genetics, immunology spheres are able to create different genes banks on the base of which modern methods of vaccinial medications designing are possible. If earlier vaccine creation took several years, now we can expect just several weeks.
The deputy of European Parliament from Italy Giulietto Chiesa suspects that numerous messages about flu H1N1 pandemia threat is “a spectacular world performance”. In his opinion “it is strange that 10 days ago the news were describing a world disaster and now this disappeared out of eyeshot. Mass media need any sensations especially when the world is in a crisis. Sometimes it is advantageous when the most of world population live in jelly and pay attention not to real threats but to fictitious ones. G. Chiesa doesn’t exclude that there can be some pharmaceutical companies that blow up hysteria around the swine flu. Huge financial interests are involved, the matter cost is several milliards US$. The world companies producing vaccines have a powerful system of influence to public opinion. ”
The vice-chairman of Health Protection bureau Serghei Kolesnikov absolutely agrees with the idea that the swine flu danger is overstated. He brought to notice “a strange place of origin” of the virus. “For the first time in the history the flu came from North America” – the deputy explained. “Usually focus of disease appears in a region with prosperous conditions – a strong contact between animals and humans”. Kolesnikov also was surprised that the new flu “appeared exactly in the crisis period”.
The leader of the company’s “Pharmexpert” marketing research department David Melik-Guseinov stated that “the problem of the new flu strain exists and is currently central. Nevertheless there is another part of the issue – medications for prophylaxis and treatment of the disease are already sold fully in big cities.” He criticized roughly those journalists who named the medications brands in public.
“The flu is a dangerous disease and the new virus circulation allows it to change unpredictable” – said the head of Applied Virology Laboratory of Virology R&D Institute named after Ivanovskii Alexei Zaberejnyi. – “But it is not worth to color the situation in apocalyptic shades. We should combine monitoring the extension of new infections with an adequate estimate of the situation. ”
There are some public figures in the USA who also are sure that the swine flu is a drug cartel’s blame. You can find the information about it here and here.
So what should we do not to become sick and and what should we undertake when we feel the first signs of a disease? There are some very simple rules which will help us to be healthy.
Prophylaxis
1. First of all we have to strengthen our immune system by the use of different restorative drugs, vitamins, immunomodulators.
2. If you have a possibility to be inoculated, do it. Especially do it for your children as it is them who are in the risk group.
3. The source of the virus is a human and only human! Less you meet other people less chances you have to become sick. Go to supermarkets more seldom, don’t use public transport.
4. A mask is a useful thing but not a panacea. An ill man must wear it necessarily. The mask will not stop the virus but it will stop drops of spittle, very rich with the virus.
5. The ill’s hands are as dangerous source of the virus as his mouth and nose. The infected person touches his face then touches everything around, after this you touch the same objects – and Hello, flu!!! Don’t touch your face, wash your hands much and often, take with wet disinfectant towels, don’t be lazy. If you have no handkerchief, cough and sneeze not into your hand but into the elbow. Don’t shake other people’s hands. Use credit cards, cash is the source of viruses spreading.
6. The Air!!! Virus particles keep being active during hours at dry, warm, moveless air, but almost immediately are destroyed at cool, wet, moving air. So you can walk outside as long as you want. It is almost impossible to catch the virus at open air – it’s not necessary to wear a mask in the street, do it when you coming in a bus, an office or a store. Optimal parameters of the air in a room are: temperature – 20C, humidity – 50-70%. You should ventilate your house often and intensively. Every system of heating dries the air!!! Control humidity: wash the floors, turn on air moisturizers. It’s better to put on more clothes than to use additional heaters.
7. State of your mucosal linings!!! Mucus in our nose and other breathing parts provides functioning of the local immunity. If mucus parches the local immunity’s work is broken. Thus viruses easily overcome the protective barrier and a man can get ill more probably. The main enemy of the local immunity is dry air and also medicines which are able to cause mucosal linings dryness. How can we damp them? 1 teaspoon of usual salt + 1 liter of water. Pour the solution into any spray-bottle and pulverize it into your nose as often as you can, especially when you are going to visit places with big crowds of people. Or you can buy in a drugstore ready salt nasal solutions, for example Marimer.
Treatment
Factually the only medication which is able to destroy the flu virus is Tamiflu. But using this drug makes sense only when the disease flows very difficult because it is expensive and has a lot of side effects. The flu including the swine flu is an easy ailment for the most of people!!! Respecting the certain conditions we can beat the infection by ourselves.
1. Take on warm clothes but let the air in the room be cool and wet.
2. If your child is ill and he doesn’t want to eat, don’t make him do it categorically! If he is hungry you can give him some light food.
3. You should drink much and often. The temperature of liquids must be equal to our bodies’ temperature. The ideal things for drinking are solutions for peroral rehydration. You can ask for them in drug stores.
4. Use often salt solutions for your nose.
5. If you are going to fight with a high temperature use only Paracetamol or Ibuprofen, but not aspirin.
6. If upper air passages are affected you don’t need any expectorants. They will only intensify coughing.
7. Virus infections cannot be treated with antibiotics. Antibiotics don’t decrease but increase complications risk.
