How bad is Swine Flu?

Answer 1

Swine Flu is a potentially dangerous form of the influenza virus, but it is not clear how bad the pandemic might get. Swine flu spreads quickly through populations - which is what gives it the pandemic status - but does not seem to have a particularly high mortality rate. It's likely that a large number of people will become infected with the current strain and suffer some bad flu symptoms, but not so likely that this will translate into a major public health issue. The swine flu can have as little harm as the regular flu or it could get so bad that you would need to go intohospitalization. However, this normally only happens if you have health problems to begin with. They also just came out with a new vaccine for it, so that should lower the rating of how bad it is.

Answer 2

There are many opinions about this...here are some opinions of some of the contributors at WikiAnswers, also see the related links section for more (and official) information:

• No, it is not. Any flu can be dangerous and more people die from influenza yearly than they do or will from Swine Flu.
• No. If you look it up, not many people have actually died from Swine Flu compared to normal influenza deaths. It's the media hyping it up and scaring people, which makes people panic.
• Panic makes anything seem worse, when in-fact, it's not actually as bad as they say it is. Swine Flu has the potential to get worse than it currently is, but we cross that bridge when it comes.
• No. It's the same as the regular flu, but with a different name.
• No. Several of my friends had swine flu and they were out of school for a week and came back very much alive. (see additional comments on discussion page)
• It is like having a bad cold for most people at present. It is deadly for only a few, mostly those with underlying chronic medical conditions or pregnant women. See the related links for more information on mortality rates and numbers of cases and fatalities.
• There actually isn't an answer, it effects different people in different ways. My friend had it and was just tired and hot and cold. Yet my sister had it she was vomiting, had diarrhea, passed out a few times and couldn't see for a few days.
• They are comparing swine flu to the last pandemic and saying it's just as serious, but seriously, it's not. Look back in the last pandemic there were no medications, no vaccines and now look- we're loaded with the stuff. So I think they are making too much of a big fuss. But I would not let my sister go to the local hospital because all the old people go there- she might pass it on to them and they might die.
• No. It seems bad but it isn't.
• Yes. It kills.
• Yes. Because it's very recently broken out as a near-worldwide problem. Watch the news.
• Do you remember "Black Death" in history? The flu virus changes itself and when there is no vaccine millions could die. Luckily Westernized people seem to be fighting it off with good nourishment and hygiene.
• Yes. This is subjective but I believe it is.
  
• No. The swine flu is not very different from the common flu.
• No, this is the latest "crisis of the day". Last year we were afraid of the "bird flu". We have global warming that the data does not support and this week it is swine flu. Remember that in the 80's mankind was doomed due to aids?
  
• No. I lost faith in the media's handling of this when the the death toll in Mexico was amended from 149 to - wait for it-- 7.This was reported on Australian radio at the start of the epidemic. I think there's a lot of scaremongering going on, and it would seem that this virus produces mild symptoms in over 90% of cases. Flu viruses have been mutating and crossing species since life evolved, and I don't see anything scary about this one. It will disappear from the media soon (like the deep-vein thrombosis "epidemic") and all the authorities will congratulate themselves for saving the world.
• If in doubt, ring the swine-flu toll-free hotline (you may get some crackling). Then trot down to your local pharmacy and get some oinkment for your rashers. This is not the Aporkalypse.
• If nothing else, I consider this a great fire drill for when there is a health emergency that requires a rapid world wide response with individuals being informed and equipped to prevent and protect. I believe that it is just a matter of time, even if this is not the time.
• We have variations of the flu every year. Some years are worse then others. The swine flu sounds like it may be a bad strain. Mexico has had 170, or fewer, people die from this strain. People die from many strains every year. There are millions of people in Mexico.
• Humans enjoy drama and governments control people through fear. The unwarranted concern and fear is right up their alley.
• Maybe this is a push to finish the Mexican fence?
• Scientists say a pandemic is inevitable. It would spread around the world and kill many many young innocent people. There wouldn't be a vaccine for at least half a year. But don't worry, once they do make one, it will be history. But I'm a pessimist...so yes. There will be some survivors if swine flu manages to sweep the whole world with its hoofed leg..(are pigs hoofed?) But there will be a lot of dead bodies. I only heard about it 2 days ago and already 150-200 people are dead. Watch you're back and carry a sterile mask in handy.
• Yes, you may have been one of the last people to hear about this flu and have known about it for only two days. Most of those people also died before you heard about it. How many die each year of the flu? This is politics and control of the people that can't think logically.
• On GMTV it was on about the swine flu pandemic and the expert said that those masks are not really any use because they still let in the virus. WE are supposed to sneeze into a tissue and throw it away and then wash our hands but that isn't really useful on public transport !!! I agree very much that it is more likely the bird flu is going to kill everyone.
• The answer above is a classic example of how the governments will control people through misinformation and fear. "Feeling" rather than analyzing is the problem. The reality is that the flu has come through our countries every year and we all (virtually) live through it.
• Approximately 36,000 people die each year in the US of seasonal flu, we know that from years and years of tracking and monitoring those strains world wide. It is impossible to compare the mortality rate of Swine Flu since all cases are not reported, much less tested for specific virus strains and this is the very first time it has been seen. But it is perhaps more easily spread.
• The swine flu is very quietly becoming the next great plague!While it is not the true swine flu, but a copycat that has some related traits.
• No, a lot of people at my school got the swine flu and none of them complained, they were just sort of embarrassed to say they had the swine flu.
• No. Swine flu makes you feel absolutely awful, but so does any other flu or fever-inducing virus or infection. Quote a choirmaster of mine, "there has been an outbreak of severe over-reaction to swine flu".....
• I just got tested for H1N1 and I have it. Feels like a upper-respiratory infection with a fever. Coughing, wheezing, chest pains, body aches and chills. That's about it. Feels like an ordinary flu.

• A few months go I had gotten Swine flu, and it wasn't so bad for me. But they say that if it hits adults, its gets them VERY bad you even have to stay in bed all week. So if you are a child or have a child, go have them tested because I just thought it was Allergies but when I was at school I felt just so weird. I had a fever that I didn't know about, my ears plugged and my nose ran. Try to use Lysol around the house and Germ X kinda helps. I bring it in my bag everyday and squirt it two times on my hand per class. if you have swine flu, you will be contagious for 9 days.

Answer:

Panic was never called for and should not have been encouraged. Caution and prevention were called for and probably helped control the effects of the virus to some degree.

It is as bad as the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say it is with each new report showing increased cases and more deaths, but not as bad as they and other ministries of health feared it would perhaps become at least so far. Influenza generally spreads in waves and often the first wave has milder symptoms although it can spread more quickly than the later phases because the populations have had less opportunity for exposure and antibody development by their immune systems to help prevent serious illness. This was true in the 1918 Spanish Flu when millions of people died in the pandemic, it started with a mild first wave and the second wave was the one that had mutated slightly to a much more deadly version. It is still unknown if the Novel H1N1 virus will mutate to a more deadly form, but indications so far are that as of July 2009 there is no mutation as yet.

This flu is not the same as regular flu. It is an entirely new strain of virus and has never before infected humans. Because it is new and is made up of parts of the Avian (bird) Flu, Swine Flu from hogs and other Human influenza viruses, there is no hereditary immunity or prior exposure which would have helped people avoid contracting the virus much better. It continues as of July to spread in increasingly reported numbers across the globe.

It is a rapidly spreading strain that has swept through the world quickly with approximately 6% of the population of each community with active cases coming down with the disease.

The number of reported and confirmed cases is much lower than the actual number of cases of the flu, it is estimated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that there may have already been more than 1,000,000 cases in the US untested and therefore undiagnosed.

It is affecting younger and healthier people than the typical seasonal flu. With the season flu it is the older population of 65 years old and older who usually find the influenza fatal. With Novel H1N1, the group of Demographics with the highest Death Rate are those between 30 and 50. The median age of those who have developed this flu is 19. Most cases are among people from 5 to 24. The group with the highest mortality are those with underlying medical conditions such as asthma and diabetes and pregnant women.

Answer 3

It has the potential to be, but there are available treatments for those who are infected with the disease and there are plenty of preventative measures that can be done to prevent the spreading and worsening of the disease.

Answer 4

No, in fact it turned out to be relatively mild. Probably the worst flu is the Avian "Bird" flu since 50 to 60% of the infected die if you define worse by fatality rates. However, the bird flu is still very rare world wide and does not transmit easily from human to human. If you measure worse in numbers of people ill and lost work and productivity, then the H1N1/09 virus would be worse. The regular seasonal flu kills a higher percentage of people than the swine flu.

Answer 5

Swine Flu is REAL.

It is essentially a version of flu that pigs get that has become infectious to humans.

The bird flu that was in the news a few years ago never developed an effective way to pass from person to person, and was essentially always transmitted from bird (chicken) to humans. And, thus was not very wide spread.

The Swine Flu, on the other hand is effectively transmitted from human to human. In fact, it apparently is transmitted far easier than other types of flu.

Unlike was feared early on, it isn't particularly more deadly than other varieties of flu. Except that its infection rate is very high, so the numbers of people that are infected is higher than other varieties of flu, and thus more people are at risk of serious complications. There is also somewhat of a greater risk to young people.

Answer 6

Swine flu is less dangerous than normal flu so unless you are 80 yrs old, 5 yrs old or a fatty then it isn't bad

Answer 7

Swine flu is a new strain of flu that originates from pigs and can travel to Humans. It started in Mexico