My guess on this one is that it is a man made virus which escaped from some labarotory. It may only be rumor and not fact..... but 'talk' radio has it that there were reports several weeks or more ago that some vials were missing from Ft. Detrick. The question I have, if this is true, did those vials contain anything, and if so, what?
I remember in or about 1976, a 19y/o soldier died and from that death attributed to 'the swine flu' it was determined that everyone get a flu shot and then President, Gerald Ford, rolled up his sleeve and took the vaccine before a television audience. Back in those days, I was a firm believer in vaccines, and it has only been in recent years that I view them differently. But there were 300 reported deaths attributed to the swine flu.... and it seems most or all of them had received the vaccine. Go figure.
It seems that the 'Hong Kong" flu killed more people in the 60's. Supposedly every year about 30thousand people die with the flu ......I believe this is in the US, but it might be a world wide figure?????
I hear some medical experts being consulted and it seems as far as what one can do for themself to boost their immune system is either get plenty of sunshine... so the body makes its own vitamin D or take oral vitamin D, and several thousand mg of vitamin C, at the onset of symptoms, and drink plenty of fluids...... broths and such to keep the electrolytes balanced in the body, and decrease sugars in the diet.
This does not negate avoiding the spread by avoiding contact with others who are not infected, or seeing the doctor. The reports differ regarding tamiflu. Some say pregnant women, particularly in the first trimester can take it and other authorities don't recommend it for pregnant women..... go figure.???? How soon should one begin dosing with tamiflu, if they suspect symptoms...... I've heard that to be effective in stopping the virus it should be started in 6 to 12 hrs of becoming symptomatic: It is doubtful that few people could get into a doctors office, get a prescription, and get it filled in that time frame. Other authorities seem to think the window of effectiveness in starting tamiflu is as large as 48 hours after first symptoms.
There were some reports a while back that children taking tamiflu had various types of problems including dellusions and halucinations, some which lead to violence and death. Supposedly this was investigated and the conclusion was that these 'victims' already had disturbances and that the medication had little or nothing to do with their behavior and suicides. Be that as it may, if I were a parent and a doctor recommended this medication for a child, I would specifically ask him questions about this medication and listen carefully to what he knows and how he answers before accepting his judgement..... my personal and non-professional nor expert opinion.
As far as eating pork is concerned..... I don't eat a lot of it in my diet but I haven't seen, heard, nor read anything which leads me to believe hogs should be killed or that one catches it from cooked food. I'm open to hearing more about this, besides the scare of the public, if there is science to prove a problem. This doesn't mean it couldn't happen.....as with mad cow disease....just that its my belief that it isn't likely to be the route of entry to the body. From what I understand, flu is not uncommon in swine inspite of the nasty conditions in which some live, they get over it and go on to be healthy pigs.
It is rare that bugs jump from one species to infect another, when specimens are healthy: Still it can and does happen: This makes this virus more crazy, as it seems to be a crazy quilt from different areas of the globe and different species, according to the reports of bird, swine, and human. The liklihood of this happening naturally, even with so much travel and shipping, seems beyond the probabilities of a natural occurence to me, based upon the fact that in each and every case it would involve both exposure to quantity of shedding viruses, and quantity of time during which exposure took place in each case of infection, and, it would seem that the infections would have to be running concurrent for the viruses to utilize their growth within the cellular tissue (where they do their replicating) so they could accomplish the exchanges of genetic information between each varient to form this new mix.
The truth about flu is, that it seldom is alone in killing people: Often deaths occur because the flu weakens the immune systems ability to fight off infections plus it complicates or congest the respiratory organs and opens one up to pneumonia. Other reasons that flu may kill are due to excessive fevers untreated and ignored along with dehydration, perhaps because one may not be able to keep down fluids. Another complication, if there is nausea, vomiting and/or diarrhea, is the electrolyte balance of the body fluids can alter drastically. Aspirin and similar products are often not recommended to treat fever or body aches as it increases the possiblity of neurological complications. Fever is uncomfortable, but is the body's way of fighting off infection, and tolerance can be encouraged unless excessively high.... in which case, maintaining good hydration (drinking juices and broths and water), sponge baths or alcohol baths, or even using ice packs.....on head and around feet, and tylenol or whatever a doctor recommends.
Disclaimer These are my opinions and are intended for entertainment purposes only. I am not a doctor, nor am I recommending that the information which I've given here, is a treatment or substitute for consulting a medical professional. It is within the realm of what I consider to be my first ammendment rights under the constitution of the United States of America, and is presented here as a sincere representation of what I know and/or believe and regard as appropriate considerations in caring for myself, and is presented to others on that basis.