Swine Flu Symptoms

Before delving on what the symptoms of the swine flu are, let us know about the swine flu itself. Swine Flu is an infection caused by any or several types of the swine influenza virus. Also known as pig influenza, swine influenza, hog flu and pig flu; the flu is a highly contagious respiratory disease of swine caused by orthomyxoviruses and spreads from one person to another and not from pigs. The disease is also known as H1N1 flu as it’s caused by H1N1. The flu spreads through the sneezing and coughing by the infected person. Read on to know more about the signs and symptoms of swine flu.

Signs & Symptoms Of Swine Flu Virus

The symptoms of swine flu virus include the following:

Regular flu symptoms like cold, chills, cough, runny nose and sore throat
Headache and body ache
Unusual tiredness and fatigue
Shortness of breath or fast breathing
Diarrhea (in some cases)
Severe or constant vomiting (in some cases)
Aching muscles
Bluish or grey skin color
Sudden dizziness
Pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen
Flu like symptoms improve on medication but comes back with fever and worse cough
Confusion
The child affected might not wake up or interact with anyone and gets irritable.
Nausea and upset stomach
Joint pain

Precautions Against Swine Flu

Wash hands regularly with soap and warm water. If the hot water is not available, go for washing hands with alcohol based hand gel.
Cover your mouth and nose with handkerchief while coughing and sneezing so that others might not catch the disease. Wash your hands afterwards.
If you are suffering from common flu or are sick; stay at home to avoid transferring disease to others.
Avoid going close to the people who might be sick.
Get yourself vaccinated with seasonal flu vaccination as it will give you the power to fight against the disease.
While traveling, make sure that you are aware of what vaccines you will need and where you will get them.
Keep a tube of hand sanitizer with you all the time while traveling, to clean hands continually.
Visit the doctor as soon as any one of the symptoms catch hold of you, so that the treatment is started before it turns fatal.

Other Important Information On Swine Flu

Since swine flu spreads by direct contact with respiratory secretion like cough and sneezing, make sure that you put on the mask to keep yourself away from the disease.
The swine flu virus spreads within the body from day 1 to day 7 in an individual, hence, the affected person becomes contagious during this period.
Anti- flu medications such as Tamiflu (oseltamivir) and Relenza (zanamivir) should be taken under medical advice.

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