Beyond Classroom Walls Header
Personal tools
You are here: Home > Stories > H1N1/Swine Flu > H1N1/Swine Flu

H1N1/Swine Flu

Filed under:
Dr. Teri Shors is an associate professor with the Department of Biology and Microbiology at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh and is a leading virologist and the author of Understanding Viruses.

 

 H1N1 head shot

About Dr. Teri Shors

Dr. Teri Shors is an associate professor with the Department of Biology and Microbiology at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.  Prior to her arrival at UW Oshkosh in 1997, she served two years as a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institutes of Health, in Bethesda, Maryland, under the direction of Dr. Bernard Moss, Chief of the Laboratory of Viral Diseases, National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases. Her research training/specialy has been in the field of poxviruses. She is a leading virologist and the author of Understanding Viruses, a comprehensive introduction to human viral diseases.

 

In an interview with Grace Lim (audio only), Dr. Shors talks about her fascination with viruses and why pigs are getting a bad rap.

The following podcast is also available for download to your iPod through UW Oshkosh  iTunesU (requires iTunes).

video platform video management video solutionsvideo player

Top Ten Things Everyone Should Know About the H1N1 swine flu virus

  1. This is not 1918. We know the influenza virus causes the swine flu.
    • We have a better understanding and the technology to identify and prevent influenza infections than we did in 1918.
    • This is not doomsday!
      1. UW-Oshkosh Influenza Study
        Part 1
        video platform video management video solutionsvideo player
        Part 2
        video platform video management video solutionsvideo player
  2. You can’t get it from eating pork!
  3. The current pandemic strain often referred to as swine influenza should be referred to as H1N1 influenza.
    • The reason being is because this H1N1 pandemic strain did not come from or evolve only within a pig.  You can’t get infected by eating pork or contact with pigs. This particular strain of H1N1 didn’t just come from pigs.  Wild birds and humans also played a role in its creation.  This H1N1 virus is a mutt of a virus which contains genetic material from influenza viruses that have infected pigs, birds and humans.
  4. Wash your hands often and long (at least 20 seconds)
    • The virus is easily transmissible among humans.
    • Follow the British commercial: Catch it. Bin it. Kill it.
  5. Pregnant women infected with the new H1N1 swine flu have a much higher risk of severe illness and death and should receive prompt treatment with antiviral drugs.
  6. Besides pregnant women, the swine flu has been more severe in children under two, teens and young adults (e.g. college students) people with health problems like asthma, diabetes, and heart disease.
  7. Children under 6 months to 24 years old, pregnant women, health care workers, and people over 50 should be vaccinated first.
  8. You cannot get the swine flu from the vaccine!
    • Vaccines protect you against the viral infection!
    • Vaccines take at least two weeks to boost the immune system.
  9. If you get sick and have health problems or are pregnant, seek help immediately. Stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever breaks.
  10. The symptoms of H1N1 swine flu in people are expected to be similar to the symptoms of regular human seasonal influenza and include fever, lethargy, lack of appetite and coughing. Some people with H1N1 swine flu also have reported runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
    • Associated Press video on President Obama and the swine flu vaccine

 

Links:

 

Filed under: