Wash your hands of Swine Flu
While the likes of the UK, America and Mexico in particular are grabbing the headlines with regards to swine flu, there are serious problems in Australia where the virus is spreading and deaths are occurring. Australia is also become something of a test case with regards to the winter swine flu virus (aka H1N1) as the country is moving into the winter period as we speak.
What exactly is swine flu?
In simple terms swine flu is a combination of avian flu, swine flu and human flu which has somehow mutated into a highly virile and potentially dangerous virus. The initial outbreak of swine flu was said to have occurred in Mexico, with some US reports citing a particular pig farm, although there is some debate as to how swine flu was actually created and where it actually came from.
The virus itself appears in the form of flulike symptoms and while we have experienced a number of deaths around the world, each and everyone appears to have been linked to some form of underlying medical condition. However, that’s not to say that the virus could not mutate again and become more dangerous as we approach the winter season.
Which parts of Australia are infected?
Unfortunately for those living in Australia there is no area of the country which has escaped the outbreak of swine flu although the infection rate does vary across the region. The south-west coast, the south-east coast and the tip of the north-east of Australia are areas with particularly high infection rates. The virus is more sporadic in central Australia and fairly localised in the vast majority of areas. However, there is no doubt that the speed with which the virus is crossing Australia is frightening and the forthcoming winter season could prove very difficult for the authorities.
Are the authorities overreacting?
While there is no doubt that concern is building within the Australian population and many tourists are considering delaying or cancelling their trips to the region, there is a feeling of potential overreaction in some areas. However, it is worth remembering that the more traditional well-recognised influenza virus kills on average around 2000 Australians each and every year, news which rarely catches the headlines and has led to some people becoming overly concerned about swine flu.
That said, the Australian authorities believe that one in 10 Australians will at some stage become infected by the H1N1 virus, which could potentially lead to the hospitalisation of a small number of sufferers (forecast to be around 2% or those infected). However, when you consider that the UK government believes that up to 3 in 10 of the UK population will become infected in due course and up to 65,000 people may die, perhaps there is a need to be more concerned about other areas of the world.
A true story from a swine flu sufferer
There is a story in one of the Australian women’s magazines regarding an Australian family who return from their holiday in Disneyland in the midst of the swine flu epidemic. When their nine-year-old son developed a cough they took him to their GP who immediately tested him and later diagnosed him as a swine flu sufferer. In between the initial test and receiving the results it became clear that while the boy’s parents and brother and sister had not caught swine flu, it appeared as though it had been passed on at his school.
As a consequence the family were quarantined to their home with a supply of Tamiflu and within 24 hours all sign of the virus had disappeared and the family were fighting fitting again. In this particular situation many people believe that the authorities overreacted although it has to be said that the family received heavy criticism from neighbours and those who attended their son’s school, because they failed to keep him off when he initially showed symptoms of potential swine flu.
There is a very fine line between protecting the population, controlling the fears of the population and also protecting those infected together with their immediate contacts. In reality the Australian authorities were on a hiding to nothing because if they let this boy go back to school, and more people were infected, they would have been criticised, but the fact they put the family into quarantined has also attracted significant criticism with some parties suggesting this has heightened concerns in the wider population.
Should you delay your travel to Australia?
While officially there are few if any extra precautions on the immigration front in Australia, there is a need for all travellers to be careful and vigilant. Whether you would delay your travel until the situation is clearer and more under control is debatable, although you do need to consider the critical nature of your journey. However, it is evident by a quick look at airports around the world that more and more tourists and more and more immigrants are wearing protective masks to try and reduce the chance of catching swine flu.
There is some debate as to whether the cheaper facemasks actually work and ultimately whether any of the facemasks will protect you 100% from being infected. If you’re looking to travel anywhere around the world, and Australian particular, it is vital that you monitor the advice from your local government office and keep a close eye on the situation in Australia. Depending upon the extent of infection during the winter period, which is expected to be by far and away the most difficult to control, we may see the introduction of tighter immigration procedures and ultimately some people may be refused entry to Australia and other countries.
Where did swine flu originate from?
As we touched on above, a common theory regarding swine flu is that it emanated from a pig farm in Mexico and quickly spread around South America, into North America and ultimately air travel around the world saw the virus taken to every corner of the globe. But was swine flu really an act of nature or are there rather more sinister undertones to this potentially deadly outbreak?
An Australian researcher by the name of Adrian Gibbs, age 75, who has experience with pharmaceutical giant Roche’s, and specifically the company’s Tamiflu drug, has come forward with a suggestion that the virus was created within pharmaceutical laboratories and accidentally released into the wider atmosphere via infected eggs.
The fact that the World Health Organisation is currently looking into these claims would suggest that there is a feeling among some people that the idea that the flu virus appeared on a Mexican pig farm could be some way off the truth. When you consider that literally millions of people around the world have been infected and hundreds of people have died, with swine flu prominent as a potential secondary reason for their deaths, the World Health Organisation is obliged to investigate further
Why did swine flu spread so quickly in Australia?
The speed at which swine flu has spread around the whole of Australia is a mystery even to experts in the field of medicine, because while Australia saw its first case of swine flu well after the first case in America, the rate of infection and death has now overtaken the figures for places like New York in America.
While there is no one reason which ultimately explains why the virus has spread so quickly in Australia, there is a feeling that maybe some people believed the country was impregnable because of its position in the world – this has proved to be very wrong. It did take the media in Australia sometime to pick up on the issue of swine flu and the potential problems and possible deaths which may occur. However, the authorities have now taken full control of the situation and recently introduced an array of public adverts warning of the dangers and how you can reduce the risk of catching the virus, as well as installing thermal imaging cameras at international airports.
How bad is the situation in Australia?
While there is no doubt that the virus has spread very quickly across the whole of Australia it is still a relatively mild flulike virus for the vast majority of people. It is interesting to see that Melbourne, more than any other city in the world, has attracted significant media attention and has been dubbed the “swine flu capital of the world”. The reason for this extreme media coverage is the fact that Melbourne itself has the highest concentration of swine flu cases in the world.
So far in Australia there are more than 16,000 people infected with H1N1 and more than 40 deaths have been directly attributed to the virus. However, the vast majority of those who have died have also experienced underlying additional health problems.
Closing schools
While there is some debate as to whether public events and schools should be closed until the swine flu pandemic is more under control, many people believe that life should go on as normal, because in the majority of cases the virus has not proved fatal. However, there is no doubt that closing buildings such as schools will slow down the spread of the virus and allow the authorities to stockpile and use the millions of vaccines which they have ordered.
National treatment for swine flu
As we touched on above, the Australian authorities have placed an order with various pharmaceutical giants around the world for millions of doses of the swine flu vaccine and there are hopes that the vaccines will be administered from August onwards. It was only last week that the world’s first human trials of the swine flu vaccine got underway in Melbourne and Adelaide.
While infection rates around the world have been steadily increasing over the weeks, the experts predict we should see a drop in infection rates in the short term only for the virus to come back bigger and potentially more damaging in the winter season. As Australia is the first major country to experience the winter season, the next few weeks and months will see the eyes of the world on Australia as experts try to pick up on trends and patterns.
Conclusion
While initially there had been hopes that Australia would remain relatively unscathed by the H1N1 virus, unfortunately the rate of infection in Australia has put many other countries to shame. However, the UK has experienced more deaths than any other country around the world and infection rates keep rising and rising. While there have been no specific travel notices issued by the Australian authorities, more and more countries are starting to ban travellers from the UK and other heavily infected countries.
Thankfully the Australian authorities appear to have the situation under control and the ordering of millions of doses of the swine flu vaccine will allay the fears of many of the population. Despite the fact that there have been deaths, it is also worthwhile remembering that the more common influenza virus also kills up to 2000 people a year in Australia (the figure is nearer 16,000 year in the UK) even if this latest virus is potentially more dangerous.
The authorities have also been quick to issue specific instructions to members of the public regarding cleanliness and reducing their chances of infection as much as possible. The installation of thermal imaging cameras at airports and ports will also prove very useful in ensuring that no more infected people are allowed to enter Australia.
In summary, while there was always a need to try to control and reduce the spread of the swine flu virus as much as possible there is also a need to try and live life as normal as you can. Even though we may see the introduction of travel restrictions in the short to medium term, if as expected the situation worsens in the wintertime, at this moment in time there are very few official travel restrictions in place. In the vast majority of those infected by the swine flu virus, the symptoms will be very mild and flulike and should disappear within 5 to 7 days.
For those with underlying health issues or those who feel their symptoms go beyond the 5 to 7 days rule, they should look to take professional advice from their GPs. Many governments are looking at the UK swine flu hotline and website which has received hundreds of thousands of calls since its installation just a few days ago – this is a system which could be replicated in places such as Australia.
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