Swine flu is a viral disease caused by a new type of influenza virus that has never circulated before in humans. The new virus was first detected in the USA in April 2009. The virus was initially called swine flu because it is genetically very similar to viruses that normally cause flu in swine.

Symptoms of swine flu are similar to the symptoms of seasonal flu and include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. Diarrhea and vomiting have also been reported in a number of individuals.

Is swine flu H1N1 similar to seasonal flu?

Seasonal flu occurs every year but many individuals have some immunity against it which protects them from getting sick. Vaccines against seasonal flu are available in many countries. The swine flu virus on the other hand is an entirely new agent against which most of us have little or no immunity.

Is swine flu H1N1 contagious?

Yes, the virus is contagious and is spreading from person to person. It appears to be as contagious as seasonal influenza and is spreading fast among young people (from ages 10 to 45).

How does swine flu H1N1 virus spread?

Swine flu spreads from human to human in much the same way as seasonal flu. You can get infected if you inhale droplets expelled by an infected person during coughing or sneezing. Since the expelled droplets can also contaminate hands and other surfaces, you may also become infected by touching a contaminated surface and then touching your mouth or nose.

Can I get swine flu H1N1 from eating?

No, swine flu virus does not spread through food. It is safe to eat properly handled and cooked pork. The flu virus is killed by cooking temperatures of 160°F/70°C, which is commonly used for cooking meat.

How severe is the disease caused by swine flu H1N1?

The severity of disease ranges from very mild symptoms to severe diseases that can result in death. A large proportion of individuals who get infected with the virus experience mild disease and recover without hospitalization or antiviral treatment.

Who is at risk of severe swine flu disease?

Pregnant women, individuals with previously recognized medical conditions that increase the risk of flu-related complications such as asthma, diabetes, heart disease and those with weak immune systems are more likely to experience severe disease caused by flu infection.

How to protect youself and your family against swine flu H1N1?

First of all, vaccinate against A (H1N1). You can protect yourself from getting infected by avoiding close contact (minimum distance of about one meter if possible) with individuals who have flu-like symptoms. Plus, the next measures can protect you:

1. avoid crowded places or reduce the time spent in crowded places
2. improve ventilation by opening windows at home or at your job
3. avoid touching your mouth and nose
4. wash hands thoroughly with soap and water, or use an alcohol-based hand rub several times in a day
5. maintain general good heath, get adequate sleep, eat nutritious food, and stay physically active

An individual, who with the advent of cold has began to cough not even once, is a happy man! Other individuals should find out the cause of his cough which may be a symptom of many different diseases. Every second individual is diagnosed with bronchitis. Bronchitis can be acute or chronic, and depending on its type doctor prescribes a particular treatment. Although phrase “acute bronchitis” sounds quite horrible, in fact, doctors fight it quite successfully.

Bronchitis shows itself with cough, temperature, muscle pains, joint pains, headaches and common discomfort. In other words, a virus has settled in your bronchus and caused their inflammation.

If you are already ill, main treatment is to remove acute symptoms such as temperature, pains, etc. You should help your body to fight the disease. It is necessary to stay in the bed for a week, gargle, drink hot drinks and take Vitamin C. It would be good to make inhalations with alcalinous mineral waters that may help wet to get removed. You should forget about inhalations with potato peels and oily solutions as they may harm your body.

Workaholics should forget about their job. Going seek at the job may result in bronchopneumonitis which should be treated not at home but at the hospital. If “creative resources” did not brought cough relief and did not removed temperature in three days then you should call for a doctor. Probably, the disease has passed into a new stage and it needs a special treatment.

This often happens when acute bronchitis provokes manifestation of chronic one which is caused not just by viruses but also by bacterias. It is wrong to think that chronic bronchitis is untreated acute bronchitis. In fact, chronic bronchitis is an independent disease caused by cigarette smoke, exhaust, industrial wastes that we inhale. If you inhale those wastes every day then natural sputum discharge is lowered. The mechanism of bronchus self-purification is broken and as a result the infection is doesn’t mat any resistance and so bronchus are damaged.

An individual may live and not know about developing disease. The treatment of chronic bronchitis is very long and recovery half-way depends on the discipline of the patient. Patient has to constantly take different medications such as expectorants, antiinflammatory drugs, immunomodulators, and in some cases is used bronchus sputum removal with special devise – this method is called therapeutic bronchoscopy.

When chronic bronchitis it is important to make remedial gymnastics, respiratory gymnastics, chest message. Do not think that if you have chronic bronchitis then mucosa disorders may be restored. For example, epithelium of smokers may be restored in 10 years. If the number of contagious recrudescence may be reduced annually, some medications may be called off. The disease itself will not disappear but several symptoms will be removed.

When a man is diseased with influenza virus, almost all body systems are damaged including immune system, that is why recovered children feel weak and vulnerable to different viruses and bacterial infections. In order to lower disease incidence it is recommended to vaccinate not only children but also their parents.

In children from 6 months to 2 years with influenza virus, there is a high probability of complications influencing on cardiovascular and even nervous systems. According to research data, 40% of children of that age have complications with otitis, which often leads to deafness. New-born children diseases with influenza virus are subjected to complications.

Vaccination of children from 3 to 17 years is also necessary because children in this age often get diseased with influenza. Besides, children of that age are major spreaders of the virus which increases the risk of parents to get diseased.

The effectiveness and safety of vaccine

Vaccination practically has no contraindications but when choosing a vaccine you should consult your doctor. The effectiveness of vaccination in children is 70-100%. In children up to 6 months vaccination is less effective because of freshness of their immune system, so it is recommended to vaccinate pregnant women in second or third Trimester.

How to make a vaccine?

In order to get vaccinated you should go in one of vaccinating centers, or you can buy vaccine and use it by yourself.

Influenza is an acute virus disease that is characterized by acute toxicosis, moderate catarrhal signs with most intensive affection of trachea and bronchi.

The clinical picture of influenza and acute respiratory diseases caused by different kinds of viruses, for compatibility of common toxic symptoms, has many common features.

Usually influenza starts acutely. Incubation period as a rule lasts 1- 2 days but it can last 5 days.

Then starts period of acute clinical manifestation. Disease severity depends on many factors: general condition, age, also it is necessary to know if patient contacted with this type of virus before. Depending on all those factors patient can have one of four types of influenza: mild, moderately severe, severe, hypertoxic. Symptoms and their intensity depend on disease severity.

In case of mild influenza forms (including subclinical forms) body temperature can remain normal or it can rise up to 38C. Symptoms of infective toxicosis are mild or are missing.

In case of moderately severe influenza form, body temperature rises up to 38,5-39,5°С and are common the next symptoms:

1) Intoxication

• abundant sweating

• lack of energy

• photophobia

• joint and muscle pain

• headache

2) Catarrhal symptoms

• hyperemia of velum and back of the throat

• conjunctiva hyperemia

3) Respiratory symptoms

• affection of throat and trachea

• dry painful cough (in some cases wet cough)

• phonation defect

• chest pains

• rhinitis (cold)

• hyperemia

• dryness of nasal lining and swallow

Lungs skip lesion syndrome is a dynamically growing (for several hours) pulmonary heart disease with typical segmental shade in one of lungs. In case of favorable result clinicoroentgenological changes are solved in 2-3 days practically entirely – this is the major difference from pneumonia. In case of hypertoxic form of influenza is possible to have wet lungs usually ending with hemorrhagic pneumonia.

Abdominal syndrome:

• abdominal pains

• diarrhea occurs rarely and as a rule it is a sign of other infections. What is known as “Norovirus” is caused not by influenza virus.

Severe form of influenza.

Body temperature rises up to 40-40,5°С. In addition to the symptoms specific for moderately severe influenza form also may appear signs of encephalopathy (psychosis state, convulsive attack, hallucination), vascular disorders (nose bleed), vomit.

Hypertoxic form of influenza.

There is a serious danger of fatal case especially for diseased from risk group.

When influenza courses without any complications, fever lasts 2-4 days and finally patient is recovered in 5 days. It is possible to have occasional temperature rises which are usually associated with bacterial flora lay-up or another virus respiratory infection.

Influenza (flu) is a severe virus disease which affects men, women and children of all ages and nationalities. The disease is followed by high mortality, especially among little kids and old people. The epidemics of flu occur every year usually in cold season and it hit up to 15% of population in the world.

Periodically repeating, flu and ARD destroy about one year of our life. A man spends this period in inactive condition suffering from fever, common weakness, headaches, intoxication with toxic virus proteins.
Flu gradually breaks heart-vascular system shortening lifetime of an average man. During severe course of this virus disease often occurs irreversible affection of heart-vascular system, respiratory organ, central nervous system provoking heart and vascular diseases, pneumonia, tracheobronchitis, meningoencephalitis.

Term “Acute Respiratory Disease” (ARD) or “Acute Respiratory Viral Infection” (ARVI) comprises a vast number of similar diseases. They are similar because they are caused by viruses invading organism by respiring air via mouth and nasal pharynx, and also they have similar symptoms: increased temperature of the body, sore throat, cough and headache. The most common respiratory disease is acute rhinitis (cold) that is caused by a number of congenerous viruses called rhinoviruses. During recovery all those symptoms disappear and they do not leave any signs. However, it would be wrong to call “flu” all kinds of ARD and ARVI. Flu is caused by a flu virus (Myxovirus influenzae) that belongs to the family of orthomyxoviruses.

Flu and ARVI are leading in frequency and number of cases and are 95% of all virus diseases.

About the origin of word “influenza” there are several versions. According to one of them, the word has appeared in Italy in the mid of 15th century after a serous epidemic which people thought to be the result of stars influence. Another version says that the word is originated from Latin word “influere” (invade) or Italian “influenza di freddo” (cooling after-effect).

Rubella is a virus disease with a specific small spotted rash called exanthem is characterized by frank fever. The disease can affect fetus of women being pregnant. Rubella is caused by the agent called togavirus and has a RNA genome. It is nonpersistent in external atmosphere, dies rapidly when heated up to 56 ° C, when drying, under the control of the action of ultraviolet rays, either, formalin and other abluents. The source of infection of is human diseased with that kind of virus disease, especially being in subclinical form that passes without rash. In interepidemic period selected cases are observed. The climactic number of cases of the virus disease are registered in April – June. The disease represents a notable risk for pregnant women because of fetal infection. Rubella virus releases into external environment one week before the rash appears on skin and during the week when foolhardy has appeared. Infection is transmitted via airborne.

Symptoms

Incubation period is 11-24 days. General condition of this kind of virus disease is characterized by weakness that is why at the beginning the only noticeable symptom is rash resembling with these of scarlatina. Patients suffer from brief weakness, lack of energy, headache, pain in muscles and in joints. Temperature of the majority of patients often is subfebrile, although it in some cases riches 38-39°C and keeps 1-3 days. When woman examination low-grade symptoms of catarrh, little redding of pharynx and conjunctivitis are observed. From the identical first days of the virus disease appears generalized lymphadenopathy (in other words, the tenderness of lymphatic system). The most expressed are increasing and painfulness of back-necked and occipital lymph glands. Exanthem appears on 1-3 day from the beginning of disease, first on the neck and after several hours spreads on the whole richness and it can be itching. Also there is some inspissation of rash of extensor surface of limbs and buns.

Elements of the indiscreet represent little spots with diameter of 2-4 mm, usually they do not coalesce, are kept for 3-5 days and disappear without living pigmentation on skin. In 25-30% of cases rubella progresses without rash and is characterized by moderate fever. The virus disease can course without symptoms, having the exclusive manifestation of viremia and increasing of titre in blood of specific antibodies.

Diagnosis

Clinical and laboratory data help to recognize that virus disease. Nowadays virologic methods are not used widely. From serological tests are used the neutralization test and hemagglutination-inhibition test injected together with paired sera captivated 10-14 days apart.

Treatment

Doctors prescribe comfort care when uncomplicated rubella. When arthritis doctors usually prescribe 0.25g chingamin (chloroquine) 2-3 times a day for 5-7 days. Also are advised diphenylhydramine (0.05g two times a day), butadiene (0.15g 3-4 times a day), nosotropic treatment. When encephalitis, are advised corticosteroid remedies. Common prognosis for rubella is favorable, excepting when encephalitis which has mortality of 50%.

Preventive Measures

Are extremely important for women in child-bearing age. Some specialists recommend to vaccinate girls of 13-25 years. Diseased with rubella should be isolated up to five days since rash has appeared.

Cytomegalovirus is a virus causing the Cytomegaloviral infection – a widespread virus infection characterized by varied manifestations from symptom-free course to severe forms of the disease with affection of internal organs and central nervous system.

Ways of transmission of cytomegalovirus are different, because the virus can be in blood, saliva, milk, emiction, crap, sperm, vesical cervix secretion. Virus can be transmitted via airborne, during blood transfusion, during sexual contact and also is possible transplacental congenital infection. An important place takes infection during birth and feeding baby with milk of his diseased mother.

Only human can be the focus of the cytomegalovirus.

Under action of cytomegalovirus normal cells are increased in their size (term “cytomegaly” means “giant cell”).

Cytomegalovirus is related to herpes virus.

Cytomegalovirus has affinity to the salivary gland tissue and when localized forms virus is detected only in glands. Virus stays in the organism for all life. In reply to initial penetration the immune organism alteration is developed. If immunity is good it destroys virus without allowing it to show itself.

Factors weakening organism (diseases, some kind of medicines) can provoke the transition from dormant cytomegaloviral infection into a frank form. Last years very actual is the problem of HIV positive who get exacerbation of cytomegaloviral infection.

Pregnant women not always get fetus infected with dormant cytomegaloviral infection. The necessary condition for that is exacerbation of dormant infection with its penetration in blood with following infection of fetus. The probability of fetus infection raises when mother gets infected during her pregnancy.

Incubation period is unknown because cytomegaloviral infection bears latent form and clinical forms of disease appear after action of any weakening factor.

Cytomegalovirus manifestations:

• URI (upper respiratory infection)

• multiple affection of internal organs

• inflammation of urogenital system organs

• damage of fetation

URI

This form can be found after blood transfusion, also sexually active people can get it. Incubation period lasts from 20 to 60 days. The disease itself lasts from 2 to 6 weeks. Main symptoms are high body temperature and general intoxication symptoms. Often are noticed such symptoms as shakes, weakness, headache and pain in muscles. Also can be detected spleen increase.

Complications: interstitial or segmentary pneumonia, pleurisy, myocarditis, arthitis, encephalitis, Guillain-Barre syndrome, but they are observed quite rarely. After sharp phase during several weeks still remain weariness, tiredness, bad sleep, sometimes heart-vascular problems (sweatiness, temper, crying).

Multiple affection of internal organs

It usually takes course with difficulties. It appears on the back of other disease that sharply lowers immunogenesis (neoplasms, leukaemia). In such cases often besides prior disease and cytomegalovirus the bacterial infection is layered. Here can be noticed general intoxication, fever, liver and lymphatics glands increase. Softly coursing pneumonia is a typical sign. This form of cytomegalovirus occurs rarely.

Congenitus cytomegaloviral infection

The most dangerous is congenitus cytomegaloviral infection (especially, when mother has a weak immunity). If occurs infection of fetus as a result it can cause his antenatal death or even misburth. In later period it can cause birth defects or other diseases detected after birth (icterus, liver and spleen increase, internal haemorrhage, affection of nervous system).

Treatment

It is treated with anti-viral medication, such as acyclovir, panavir and other.

If you do not want to disease with cytomegalovirus you should make wages on your immunity and not on medicines. For that purpose you should take remedies that help increase immunity. These are nutritional supplements (immunal), herbals (ginseng, magnolia vine, coneflower and other), full nutrition (providing organism with all vitamins), regular walks on fresh air and regular exercises.

Mononucleosis is an acute infectious disease that is characterized by damage of reticuloendothelial and lymphatic systems and is carried out with fever, tonsillitis, polyadenitis, increasing of liver and spleen, leukocytosis of basophilic mononuclear.

The focus of infectious organism is human diseased with mononucleosis and virus carrier. Infection is transmitted via airborne, direct contact (for example, when kissing) and via saliva pollution of articles of daily use. The virus is detected in saliva at the end of incubation period of disease, height of it or in six months or more after recovery.

The recovery of virus is observed in 10-20% of cases who carried mononucleosis over in the past. Epstein-Bar virus in latent form can keep in bursal lymphocytes and in fauces mucous membrane epithelium.

Mononucleosis meets everywhere, people of different ages can disease with it. In developed countries the disease often meets among teenagers and young people, the peak of this virus disease incidence is 14-16-year old girls and 16-18-year old boys. In developing countries often disease junior age groups. Rarely this virus disease meets among people over 40 years because majority of people being in this age are immune namely to that infection. Children up to 2 years old as a rule are not diagnosed in connection with latent course. Mononucleosis is less contagiuos: usually are observed sporadic cases, sometimes are observed little epidemic outbreaks.

First days of disease are marked with increasing of size of liver and spleen that achieve maximum size after 4-10 days. Sometimes are observed dyspeptic condition and abdominal pains. 5-10% of the diseased people can have slight ochrodermia and scleral icterus. In some cases is observed the increment in activity of transaminase in the blood that tells about compromised liver function. In height of the virus disease or in the beginning of the recovery diseased people who take antibiotics often can have rash (spotty papular, urticarial, hemorrhagic). It often appears when taking drugs of penicillic family, especially ampicillin and oxacillin (in the blood often are detected antibodies resistant to these antibiotics).

The virus disease incidence lasts 2-4 weeks, sometimes even more. First, progressively disappears fever and fur on amygdalas then normalizes haemogramma, size of lymphatic glands, liver and spleen. In some cases in several days temperature reduces and rises again. The change of haemogramma can keep for several weeks and even months.

Mononucleosis Treatment

If course of the disease is slight and there is possible isolation, then patient can be treated at home. When the condition of the patient is grave then it is necessary hospitalizing into infectious disease ward. Doctor prescribes bed rest and comfort care. Antibiotics are taken in case of bacterial complications. In this case it must be taken into account that ampicillin and oxacillin are strongly contradicted for the patients diseased with Mononucleosis. For the patients with grave condition it is recommended glucocorticoid therapy.