Experts warn about swine flu recurrence

Though the virus was less severe than as was predicted by experts last year, health professionals claim
that people still remain "vulnerable".

Expert warns
Robert Webster, a leading virus expert, has urged the health authorities around the world to stay alert.
Though influenza might not be a problem at present, he warned health authorities against complacency.

Urging the need for precautions, Webster, chairman Virology and Molecular Biology Department, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, said that though the recent swine flu outbreak was less deadly than what was expected earlier, it can again spread its tentacles throughout the world.

Chances of a recurrence
Webster has predicted that the next epidemic could be triggered by a virus which spreads from water fowl to pigs and then onto humans – like the H5N1 strain of bird flu, which has killed 300 people over the past seven years.

He disclosed that after many years of decline, the number of bird flu cases in humans have increased in 2009, prompted by an upsurge in cases in Egypt.

"H5N1 has the potential to kill 61 per cent of humans infected with it, but it cannot spread from human to human. But it could acquire that capacity. So we must stay vigilant," he said.

What WHO says
A World Health Organization (WHO) official, Sylvie Briand, also defended the UN's health body against accusations of wasting governments' money and enriching pharmaceutical companies with its strong warnings during the early days of swine flu outbreak.

Briand said that WHO’s surveillance has shown that as of now the bird flu strain is not capable of transferring between humans except in rare cases of close personal contact, but like Webster, warned that these viruses are evolving and they are ever changing.

Webster has predicted that the next epidemic could be triggered by a virus which spreads from water fowl to pigs and then onto humans – like the H5N1 strain of bird flu, which has killed 300 people over the past seven years.

Precautions
As swine flu may reach pandemic proportions in the nation, every one should take precautions.

Seeking medical intervention at the appearance of first symptoms of flu is the key to survival from this virus.

Pregnant women should take prescription flu medicines like Tamiflu, Relenza and Schuchat if they are diagnosed with the swine flu, because risks from the virus are greater than the unknown risks to the fetus from these drugs.