Ok, so I haven't posted in a while - my apologies. Been a bit busy setting up a company with a couple of friends - have a look at http://www.clicketyclicksheffield.co.uk. Enough plugging...now to discuss a hot topic that's currently going on...Looks like we will be getting another flu pandemic. Swine flu apparently started in Mexico and has spread out to the USA, Europe and as far away as New Zealand. Mexico reports that a hundred people have died from it so far.
So is this new? No: there have been several flu outbreaks with big impact over the last century. In 1918, a flu pandemic broke out in Spain and killed more than 50 million people, affecting up to 40% of the World's population. In 1957, Asian flu killed two million people, but it was minimised by fast action from authorities who made a vaccine available quickly. One million people were killed in 1968, when an outbreak was detected in Hong Kong.
Swine flu rarely passes from pigs to humans. In this respect, it is unusual that humans have contracted the disease, but it's not unusual that it has spread so quickly. Influenza is a respiratory disease, and so is spread by breathing, coughing - basically anything originating from the lungs. It's likely that this particular strain has undergone some mutation to allow it to cross the barrier from pigs to humans.
Viruses work by infecting a cell, taking over it, and using the host cell's replication techniques to make more of itself. The cell then begins to throw out copies of the original virus that infected it, which go along and infect more cells - thus beginning the cycle again. Antiviral drugs work by inhibiting enzymes involved, and preventing viral replication. Oseltamivir and Zanamivir have been recommended for treatment in Swine Flu. Luckily, with all the worry about Avian Flu, many governments have stockpiled antiviral drugs, and so this is perhaps some good news: the World is ready, and this may be slowing down its progress.
With the modern era of air travel and overcrowding, it will be difficult to completely stop swine flu. Let's see how things pan out.
For more info, read the BBC's FAQ on Swine flu.
