H1N1 in the world and the flu is quickly spreading. It aims to give the entire world a fever (Even global warming is doing that). So here are some quick facts about the flu, hope to clear up doubts:H1N1 for the Completely clueless:
1- The flu once called swine flu, DOES NOT come from pigs. Yes it does not come from Mexicans either. If you do think that, you don't catch up on your newspapers. And yes there is such a flu. If you don't even know that there is a coming pandemic, or if there is even such a flu, there is a chance that you are slightly retarded. Technically it is a mix of avian, swine and human flu. It is spread from human to human, (by sneezing and coughing, not by smooching or hugging!) No, the human flu does NOT come from Mexicans either. Just think it like this. A virus infects someone and turns him/her into a zombie (Resident Evil much) and then the zombie goes around infecting people. This goes on slowly until... maybe not such a good analogy. No, you wont get turned into zombies either.
2- Since the flu does not come from pigs, you must be asking,"Then where does it come from?" Well the answer is , it comes out of nowhere! Just that the Mexicans were unlucky. A person may show no symptoms even when infected (Well thats clever of a flu virus) but H1N1 may be difficult to detect because of this characteristic. Batches of sesonal flu may also be mixed up, just like H3N2. No, you cannot go on holiday if you are infected. No, the virus is not shooed away if you eat lots of garlic. It sure drives your friends away though. Have you seen this game called Pandemic? you control the virus/ bacteria/ parasite. To win, you have to devastate the world leaving NOTHING left. Either that or kill as much as possible. So the easiest strategy is to make sure the micro-organism as a high infection rate and practically no symptoms, support it with resistances, then when the world is infected, increase lethality rate. The world will come up with a vaccine, but if everyone is infected, there will be noone to cure. This seems to be what the H1N1 virus is doing, it has a low mortality rate of 6-7%. No, computer viruses do not originate from the flu.
3- Singapore is supposedly more prepared then in the period of SARS. SARS also came out of nowhere, but at that time, we did not know what it was, so there was a high mortality rate. We werent prepared for SARS, but even though we are prepared for H1N1, the fight wont be over in a short while like SARS. No, not because SARS came from the Mexicans (sheesh) but because infectious diseases come in waves, one after another, getting more lethal every time. We know what the flu is (unlike somebody) so Tamiflu and Relenza can be used. Quoted form Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan, "For healthy Singaporeans or those who have not been overseas recently, get on with your life. Go out , exercise, cycle, brisk walk, go dancing, whatever. We all know when you are active and have enough sleep, you are in top form, you are less likely to get the flu." It is just a matter of time before the flu hits.
