Your essential guide to the swine flu outbreak
What are the symptoms of swine flu?The symptoms are similar to the regular flu: fever, cough, tiredness, muscle aches, sore throat, shortness of breath, runny nose, headache and sometimes vomiting and diarrhoea.
How is it treated?Standard flu vaccinations do not protect against swine fl u and there is no evidence that wearing a mask will guard against infections. A vaccination is available for pigs, but not humans. Tamiflu and Relenza, which prevent the virus from reproducing, are recommended for treating or preventing infection, and Australia has a stockpile of 8.7 million courses. In most reported swine flu cases a full recovery has been made without medical intervention. The problem swine flu poses, as opposed to more common flu strains, is that there is no vaccine to help protect vulnerable people from the disease.
How serious is the illness?At the moment the virus manifests as a mild illness in most affected people, with just four Australians hospitalised by swine flu. The mortality rate is one in every 1000 people affected. People under 18 are likely to be most affected as they have no existing immunity. Also at risk are those with underlying conditions.
When will a vaccine become available?The Government has placed an order with Melbourne-based drug manufacturer CSL for a swine flu vaccine, which is expected to be developed within the next few months. Doses to cover 10 million people will be purchased, which is expected to be suffi cient to contain the spread of the disease.
What happens if the virus mutates?The first phase of the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic was fairly mild but a second, deadly phase returned months later, after the virus mutated. There are fears the severity of rapidly spreading swine flu could be affected in a similar way, if the virus were to mutate with, for example, the more deadly avian flu.
What should I do if I think I have swine flu?Contact your local public health unit, or general practitioner, or go to your nearest emergency department. If you have visited a country with confi rmed cases of swine flu since March and are unwell with a respiratory illness (fever and cough), contact your GP by telephone.
If swine flu is suspected, you will be asked to isolate yourself from others to prevent further infection.
Is it safe to travel?The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade recommends Australians reconsider plans to travel to Mexico due to outbreaks of swine flu. It is regularly updating its travel advice for other countries. Travellers may be asked to declare their state of health at international airports before travel. Some countries have also adopted quarantine measures for those exhibiting flu-like symptoms or for travellers who have recently visited a country with confirmed cases of the virus. Australias National Pandemic Emergency Committee has advised all schools in Australia to exclude children from school for seven days after they have visited Mexico, the United States, Canada, Japan or Panama.
Visit www.smarttraveller.gov.au for more details.
What can I do to help prevent the spread of swine flu?Adopt hygiene practices such as frequent hand-washing and covering
your mouth when you cough and sneeze.
How many people might be affected?The ACTs chief health officer, Dr Charles Guest, said there may be a 20 per cent swine flu "attack rate" in the population.
Fever clinics are likely to be established in communities to ease the pressure on
hospitals and to contain affected people.
What restrictions could be put in place?If the virus continues to spread through human-to-human contact, there are fears it may lead to further travel restrictions and limitations on public gatherings.
Sources: NSW Department of Health; World Health Organisation and Professor Raina MacIntyre, University of NSW
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