Pre-Clinic: Swine Flu Pandemic

Swine Flu

Pre-Clinic DHYG 1331
Audrey Aguirre

Audrey Aguirre
Pre-Clinic
Mrs. Rico
11-1-2014
Swine Flu
When you think Swine Flu, you automatically think, “Okay, this is going to be something that has to do with pigs.” Well, you’re right, it does have to do with pigs, but it is a transmissible disease that affects not only the pigs, but us as well.
In 1918, there was a flu pandemic. A pandemic is an infectious transmissible disease that has spread throughout the human populations. While this huge flu outbreak was going on, scientist had also noticed how the pigs were sick as well. They put two and two together and that is when the research began. Since 1918, new strains have emerged, some even being found in birds. The most common
type of influenza is H1N1, which originated from this 1918 outbreak.
When there was a scare with the “Mad Cow Disease”, everyone was extremely frightened and did not want to eat hamburgers for the longest time.
We all thought the meat was tainted! This is not the case with swine flu. You cannot get sick from eating bacon or pork. This is not the way that swine flu works. People who work on farms or work with pork meat do have a higher risk of getting swine flu. It is not a disease that is easily caught and spread, due to the advancement in knowledge since 1918. However, the 2009 outbreak proved otherwise.
In 2009, the World Health Organization confirmed a H1N1 pandemic. The thing was that people who had no contact with pigs were being infected. Zoonosis is known as disease being transmitted from non-human animals to humans. This would mean, like stated before, people who actually work with pigs. People such as hog farmers, veterinarians, and butchers. This is an example of zoonosis, yet in 2009, people all over the United States, who were nowhere near pigs were getting swine flu. This disease was not one of zoonosis, but human to human
transfer.
This caused a huge alarm for the United States.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, they estimated 60.8 million cases from April of 2010 to April of 2011. In one year, there were 274,304 people who were hospitalized because of this disease. Of those thousands, 12,469 were deaths, all due to the H1N1. (CDC) Imagine the panic of knowing that there is a disease spreading so fast. The media does not make it any better, causing more panic and frustration. If we could go back, the best thing to do would be to inform all these people of the proper safety precautions to take. If you look back, this was a flu that did spread rapidly, but could have been handled a lot better due to proper education. Swine flu has symptoms that are similar to the common flu. You have fever, fatigue, cough, chills, sore throat, headaches, runny nose, and body aches. People with swine flu will also have diarrhea and vomiting. Since the symptoms are so common, it is hard to accurately diagnose someone with swine flu instead of mistaking it for the flu. Because they are so similar in symptoms, doctors will have to do a test to determine whether it is swine flu or a seasonal flu. To try and avoid the flu and swine flu takes simple
precautions.
Informing people of getting correctly vaccinated is the main priority. The flu vaccinations that you should be getting will help to fight the swine flu. Medications like Tamiflu and Relenza can help with the flu as well, although there have been cases to where the body becomes immune and will not fight off the flu.
Another major part of this whole spreading issue is cleanliness. When people cough or sneeze who are infected, they leave germs. These germs not only land on things such as doorknobs, or chairs, they float around in the air that we breathe. The items around us are infected, the air we breathe is infected, all because one person sneezed or coughed. This can be avoided if certain precautions are taken. First of all you should not be out if you feel as if you are coming down with the flu, yet if you must go out, be sure to cover your mouth when you do feel the need to cough or sneeze. Carry germ ex with you at all times, and wash your hand for thirty seconds to reduce the amount of microorganisms you are carrying. These simple steps can dramatically reduce the spread of any flu like disease.
Let’s say a person was barely starting to feel sick. This feeling of sickness was so slight, that the person thought he could continue his day normally without making matters worse. He decides to go to his dental appointment for his 6-month cleaning. He goes in and his hygienist works on him and cleans his teeth beautifully. If he at any time sneezes or coughs, those droplets are floating around in the air and landing over all the equipment. It is up to the hygienist to properly disinfect and follow her guidelines. When she is done she would need to tear down all the protective barriers, and wipe everything down, even items not used. By disinfecting properly and insuring that there is no contaminants in her work area, she can safely see her next patient. Standard precaution is so important in the medical/dental workplace because it keeps diseases from spreading and people from getting infected, including the hygienist. It is tragic to have lost so many people, but it is also an eye opener and helps us to better prepare ourselves if something like this happens again. To keep ourselves educated, we need to practice hygiene. As a dental hygiene student, this has allowed me to see how important standard precaution is, and especially disinfection. If we did not practice using disinfectant, and washing our hands, the spread of diseases would be worldwide! You think something as small as washing your hands for 30 seconds does not make a difference, but it does. Practicing our hygiene and disinfecting can help to keep areas clean and contaminant free.

Work Cited http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swine_influenza http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/flu-guide/h1n1-flu-virus-swine-flu?page=2 http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/estimates_2009_h1n1.htm Images from Google