What is swine flu and how is it different from regular flu?

What's happening?

Back in the fall, people in Russia began to get sick more often not only with covid, but also with other types of SARS. And the other day the Ministry of Health warned about a significant increase in cases of swine flu.

What is swine flu and why do people get it at all?

Swine flu is an acute respiratory viral infection that affects pigs but can also spread to humans.

Usually swine flu viruses do not infect of people. However, sometimes this still happens, for example, if a person comes into contact with sick animals. Such viruses are called zoonotic variant viruses. They are designated with a v at the end of the virus name, such as H1N1v, H3N2v and H1N2v. In the vast majority of cases, these variant viruses are not then transmitted from person to person.

But viruses mutate easily, so swine flu can become human. For example, if a pig infected several types at once, for example, pig, bird and human. Then the pathogens exchange hereditary information, "mix", and a new virus appears with properties unknown to anyone. If this new virus causes disease in humans and can be easily spread from person to person, there is a risk of a pandemic

influenza. After all, there are no antibodies to it, and nothing prevents it from spreading.

Therefore, from the point of view of epidemics, one must be afraid of those viruses that cease to be swine and allow people to infect each other.

This is exactly what happened in 2009 when the world faced the swine flu A (H1N1) pandemic. Then swine flu developed the ability be transmitted from person to person, and since no one had immunity to it, it infected a large number of people. In 2010, the pandemic ended, but the virus did not disappear, but became seasonal. That is, it circulates in the population and can cause epidemics every year, while continuing to mutate.

The virus responsible for the current outbreak of human influenza in the Northern Hemisphere, and also found in pigs in Canada, is a new strain of H1N1 influenza. It resembles in structure the virus that caused the 2009 swine flu pandemic, but contains genes from swine, avian and human flu viruses in a combination that has not been seen before. In parallel, cases of swine flu type H3N2 are now being reported, which also infect people, but they are not as widespread. Due to the fact that genetic changes have little effect on the structure of the virus, these strains are still considered seasonal and are helped by the annual graft.

So when we talk about the swine flu epidemic now, we mean new variants of seasonal strains, and not the flu that people get sick directly from pigs.

What do all these letters in the name of the virus mean?

Letters and numbers make it possible to classify influenza viruses, of which more than 2,000 are known. They differ from each other in the structure of proteins.

All viruses are divided into large groups A, B, C, D. Influenza C virus is less common and usually causes mild infections, so it is not dangerous to society. Influenza D viruses primarily infect cattle and are not known to be transmitted to humans. But viruses B and A give people a lot of inconvenience. The latter are even responsible for pandemics.

Viruses A subdivide into subtypes based on the presence of two proteins on the surface. There are 18 variations of the neuraminidase proteins (N1 to N18) and 11 hemagglutinin proteins (H1 to H18). These proteins act as antigens, that is, they are molecular structures on the surface of viruses that are recognized by the immune system and can trigger immune response (for example, the production of antibodies).

When two influenza viruses are antigenically similar, the host's immune response, elicited by infection with or vaccination against one of the viruses, recognizes and neutralizes the other.

Current subtypes of influenza A viruses that commonly circulate in humans include A(H1N1) and A(H3N2). H1N1 is the most prevalent and causes the most severe epidemics, such as the Spanish or swine flu of 2009.

How do you get swine flu?

Influenza viruses spread mainly by airborne droplets when patients cough, sneeze or talk. These droplets can get into the mouth or nose of people nearby (usually within 2 meters), or possibly into the lungs along with air. Less commonly, a person can get the flu by touching a surface or object that has the flu virus on it and then touching their mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes.

How do I know it's swine flu?

The symptoms of different types of flu differ little, so it is hardly possible to determine exactly by them which one you are ill with. But you can distinguish the disease from others SARS. Yes, the flu. characterized:

• abrupt onset of the disease;
• high fever for 3-5 days;
• mild runny nose and cough;
• headache;
• aching muscles;
• weakness, which remains a couple of weeks after recovery;
• loss of appetite.

Depending on the subtypes, the picture may vary slightly in some people. For example, vomiting and diarrhea are added, runny nose and cough are more pronounced, and so on.

If there is a suspicion that this is some new subtype, then you can take a swab from the mouth and nose to accurately identify the virus.

How to distinguish swine flu from covid?

On your own, almost nothing. We need analyses.

The fact is that both of these diseases are related to SARS, and therefore among the symptoms there will be fever, cough, runny nose, and muscle aches. Yes, covid sometimes causes a loss of smell, which is not typical for the flu. But the symptoms are still quite subjective.

There is also a more noticeable difference. Coronavirus is more similar in structure to an adenovirus than an influenza virus. Because of this, he distributed by faster. For the same reason, the flu vaccine and antiviral drugs do not work against the coronavirus.

What symptoms should you call an ambulance for?

You need to call an ambulance at 103 or 112 if an adult has appeared such symptoms:

• difficulty breathing or shortness of breath;
• chest pain;
• ongoing dizziness;
• convulsions;
• worsening condition;
• severe weakness or muscle pain.

For children, the red flags will be:

• labored breathing;
• blue lips;
• chest pain;
• dehydration;
• severe muscle pain;
• convulsions;
• worsening condition.

How to treat swine flu?

As well as seasonal. In mild cases need to:

• observe bed rest;
• drink enough fluids;
• eat light food;
• take if necessary antipyreticsuch as paracetamol.

In severe cases, the therapist may prescribe antiviral drugs that are active against influenza. For example, funds based on oseltamivir or zanamivir. They relieve symptoms and speed up recovery. The sooner you start taking them, the more effective they are.

Are there complications from swine flu?

The flu usually goes away without a trace, but sometimes it can cause complications. At best, this can be ear and sinus infections, and in the most severe:

• respiratory failure;
• pneumonia (pneumonia), heart (myositis), brain (encephalitis), muscles (rhabdomyolysis);
• multiple organ failure;
• sepsis;
• death.

How not to get swine flu?

The best way to prevent the flu is do annual vaccination. Because the swine flu pandemic was in 2009-2010, vaccines have been protecting against resurgent H1N1 since 2010. You also need to take precautions that protect against any SARS in general:

• cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing and sneezing;
• if there are no napkins at hand, then you need to cough and sneeze into the crook of your elbow;
• avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with your hands;
• wash your hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds to accurately remove all microorganisms and contaminants;
• if it is not possible to wash your hands, then treat them with a disinfectant that contains at least 60% alcohol;
• avoid contact with people who are sick (you should also stay at home if you have symptoms of a cold);
• do not share a cup, straw, bottle and other personal items.