Influenza A(H1N1), a pandemic

A week before my husband left for Singapore, I convinced him to get a flu vaccine shot because he catches flu when he is overly stressed and because of the pandemic, Influenza A(H1N1). I told him that since he catches flu very often, he is more susceptible to catching the swine flu. It was my non-medical-person analysis of the health crisis effect on individuals… and I was wrong. LOL.

The health article I’ve read said “Still, about half of the people who have died from swine flu were previously young and healthy – people who are not usually susceptible to flu. Swine flu is also crowding out regular flu viruses. Both features are typical of pandemic flu viruses.”

And so I thought that I should have also gotten a shot.

Following are some of the things that I learned, one of them I mentioned already, is against my non-medical-person ideas (From the health article: Flu vaccine developed as pandemic declared).


Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis AG said yesterday it has successfully produced a first batch of swine flu vaccine weeks ahead of expectations.
The vaccine was made in cells, rather than grown in eggs as is usually the case with vaccines, the company said.

For many weeks, US health officials have been treating it as a pandemic, increasing the availability of anti-viral flu medicine and pouring money into a possible vaccination program. And scientists have grown to understand that the virus is generally not much more severe than the seasonal flu.
“That helps to tamp down any fears that may be excessive,” Frieden said at a news conference – his first as CDC director.
But the virus can still be deadly and may change into a more frightening form in the near future, and so people should not be complacent, he added.


“Still, about half of the people who have died from swine flu were previously young and healthy – people who are not usually susceptible to flu. Swine flu is also crowding out regular flu viruses. Both features are typical of pandemic flu viruses.”

Swine flu is also continuing to spread during the start of summer in the northern hemisphere. Normally, flu viruses disappear with warm weather, but swine flu is proving to be resilient.

“Countries where outbreaks appear to have peaked should prepare for a second wave of infection,” Chan warned.