Travel Alert: Swine Flu overview
WORLDWIDE | Friday, 1 May 2009 | Views [3063] | Comments [12]
WorldNomads.com's roving medical expert Dr. Erik McLaughlin MD writes a brief overview about Swine Flu.
Army officer handing out face masks in Mexico City. (25 April 09) Photo by -Chupacabras-.
What is Swine Flu?
The virus (H1N1) is a combination of several different influenza strains including pig, bird and human virus.
As of April 25th, 2009 there have been an estimated 68 deaths in Mexico and approximately 1,000 cases, thus far. This is roughly a 7% case fatality rate, mainly in the healthy adult group. This is very unusual as influenza typically kills very young, very old and chronically ill persons.
Where is the outbreak?
As H1N1 (Swine Flu) circles the globe, both concern and the number of confirmed cases continues to grow.
Public Health agencies including the World Health Organization are taking this matter seriously and have raised the Pandemic Alert from a 3 to a 4 (on scale of 1-6). This upgrade was largely due to the fact that containment is unlikely and focus will likely shift to mitigation.
As the disease outbreaks are changing constantly, it is best to refer to reputable news sources for up to date information about the spread. Additionally, check out the FluTracker map.
Tips for avoiding Swine Flu
Swine Flu can be spread from person to person, so travelers are advised to:
- Wash your hands with either soap and water or alcohol based hand sanitizer, often
- Sanitary disposal of dirty tissues
- Avoidance of those with cough, sneeze or flu-like symptoms.
- Also, those who are sick with flu-like symptoms should stay home from work or school.
Prevention and Treatment Medicine:
Two medicines, both anti-virals, are getting a lot of new attention due to their ability to effectively combat H1N1 and likely lessen the severity and duration of illness.
Tamiflu (oseltamivir) is available in both a tablet and liquid form and has been approved for use against H1N1 virus by the CDC.
Relenza (zanamivir) is marketed in a spray form and is approved for use by the CDC against H1N1.
The following circumstances are advised to use the above medications by the CDC:
- Household close contacts who are at high-risk for complications of influenza (e.g., persons with certain chronic medical conditions, persons 65 or older, children younger than 5 years old, and pregnant women) of a confirmed, probable or suspected case.
- School children who are at high-risk for complications of influenza (children with certain chronic medical conditions) who had close contact (face-to-face) with a confirmed, probable, or suspected case.
- Travelers to Mexico who are at high-risk for complications of influenza (e.g., persons with certain chronic medical conditions, persons 65 or older, children younger than 5 years old, and pregnant women).
- Health care workers or public health workers who were not using appropriate personal protective equipment during close contact with an ill confirmed, probable, or suspect case of swine influenza A (H1N1) virus infection during the case’s infectious period.
The following circumstances should consider use of anti-viral medication, which may be of help:
- Any health care worker who is at high-risk for complications of influenza (e.g., persons with certain chronic medical conditions, persons 65 or older, children younger than 5 years old, and pregnant women) who is working in an area of the healthcare facility that contains patients with confirmed swine influenza A (H1N1) cases, or who is caring for patients with any acute febrile respiratory illness.
- Non-high risk persons who are travelers to Mexico, first responders, or border workers who are working in areas with confirmed cases of swine influenza A (H1N1) virus infection.
Use of N-95 respirator masks may also help prevent influenza spread, although they require special fitting to ensure adequate face-mask seal.
A 2007 CDC statement states that there is no clear evidence that using a surgical mask decreases influenza spread and there are no current recommendations to cover up.
Special consideration should be given to using these antiviral drugs as they should be obtained and used with a physicians script and care. Counterfeit copies of these medications are common and rarely contain actual medicine to combat influenza. This can lead to not only drug resistant strains but also leave the person with a false sense of protection. Antiviral medications should only be obtained from licensed and reputable pharmacies.
Supply of these medications is an obvious concern and the manufacturers are releasing stockpiles to help cope with increased need, as are public health agencies. Areas with known outbreaks and those people with confirmed cases are of highest priority.
More Information:
CDC Swine Flu:
http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/general_info.htm
World Health Organization:
http://www.who.int/csr/don/2009_04_24/en/index.html
Follow updates from Centre for Disease Control on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/H1N1Info
Swine Flu & Travel Insurance
Graham Kingaby, WorldNomads.com Insurance Director talks generally about how Swine Flu might affect your travel insurance coverage (video).
WorldNomads customers,to read specific information about your cover please click here for Aust & NZ residents (PDF format, 36K. Updated 09 July 2009) or here for Rest of World residents (PDF format, 120K. Updated 09 July 2009)
If you also have an RSS feed reader, then subscribe to the Safety Hub Feed to receive notifications of any updates. You can also follow Travel Safety Hub on Twitter.
Tags: health, travel health, swine flu, pandemic
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