Swine flu – health protection advice

Swine flu is a form of influenza that originated in pigs but can be caught by, and spread among, people.

Swine flu is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by type A influenza viruses. Outbreaks of swine flu happen regularly in pigs. People do not normally get swine influenza, though infections do sometimes happen. In the recent past, most human cases of swine influenza have been in people who were in close contact with pigs, such as farmers. In the current outbreak the virus has been spread by person-to-person contact.

In the current swine flu outbreak, human infection with swine influenza A (H1N1) viruses have also been confirmed in the US, Canada, Spain, the UK, New Zealand, Israel and Germany.

What can we do?

The single most effective way to stop or slow the spread of diseases such as swine flu is to prevent the spread of germs

Symptoms

The symptoms of Mexican swine flu are broadly the same as those of ordinary flu, but may be more severe and cause more serious complications.

Hygiene precautions

The advice from the NHS is that preventing the spread of germs is the single most effective way to slow the spread of diseases like pandemic flu.

You can protect yourself and your family by ensuring everyone washes their hands regularly with soap and water, and by cleaning surfaces regularly.

You can prevent a virus spreading to others by:

* always carrying tissues
* using tissues to cover your mouth and nose when you cough and sneeze
* binning the tissues as soon as possible
* washing your hands regularly.

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